Mapmaking in Bryce. Any advice?

[nematode]

Hi Carnifex -

Thank you for mentioning my thread which is over in the 3D forum.

I don't know if I can provide a solution to issues that you've experienced with Bryce. I'll say up front, the best advice I can offer is probably - isolate the nature of the problem to as specific an issue as you can, then search the daz3d knowledgebase/user forums for an answer.

FWIW, here are some of my experiences. Perhaps they will be useful to you or others who read this thread. They are applicable to Bryce 7.

Export from Sketchup to Bryce has some gotchas. For example, Sketchup instanced components don't import into Bryce. I found that it worked well to

- texture a model in Sketchup
- explode the model in Sketchup
- group the model in Sketchup by texture
- export by group
- import the group into Bryce and texture it

Other approaches will certainly work.

Not knowing details, I can't say how your textures might impact Bryce.

When it comes to anything in 3D modeling, CPU power is crucial. For example, I began my project on a P4 2.4Ghz machine. By the time my Bryce file grew to about 50MB, any operation had become uncomfortably slow. So I got an i7-2600 3.4Ghz machine and it handled my model well, til the file grew to about 110MB, at which point it didn't.

With the slower computer, I could make Bryce crash while applying a texture to a big complex object. I could solve the problem by splitting the object into smaller groups, but I also found that the problem went away when I transferred the project to the faster machine.

Render time varies greatly depending on options you select. In particular, Shadow Softness, True Ambience, and HDRI/IBL lighting will drastically increase render times. Like, an image that renders in a few minutes without these features takes maybe a day to render with them turned on. Probably ditto with volumetric planes and volume materials.

There are other things that can bring things to a halt in Bryce, like display modes more complex than Default Wireframe.

As you work, test render regularly to make sure that the project remains within the limits of your patience and your computer's capabilities.

[Carnifex]

Thanks or your advice Nematode. I now remember that the big problem was saving the file - it literally took hours (maybe 2 hours?) to save the file. Rendering is one thing but that you could plan ahead - but long save time is actually more troublesome I think.

I just installed Bryce 7.1 and I have a fairly good computer (although a couple of years old now) so I'll try it out today - let's see where it goes.