Bryce and DAZ together
vindazi
Posts: 667
There is a feature in Daz to export to Bryce. I have never been able to get this to work. Every time I try, Daz crashes and Bryce stalls.
Am I the only one? Can someone explain how it is supposed to work?
I have defaulted to exporting an OBJ but then I do not get the textures, just the grayed objects, so this is not so useful most of the time.
Is there a way to export the textures so that they are importable into Bryce?
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What version of Studio are you trying to import from and what is it you're trying to import? What we are talking about is the Studio/Bryce Bridge. I ask what version because while all but the ealiest versions (before 2.0) of Studio have the bridge but not all of them work and some only work intermittently. As I understand it the latest version of Studio 4.5 has a working bridge and I am currently using the latest version of Studio 3 Advanced and it seems to work fine.
I asked what you're trying to import because certain textures for example will cause Bryce to crash, like the elite textures. Also very complex models can sometimes do it and I suspect things using Sub Surface Scattering might do it as well (although that's a guess on my part based on things I've heard others say. I've never tested it to be sure.)
Another possible factor could be your system configuration if you have an older system with just 2GB's of memory or less then that may also be contributing to the problem.
I am using Daz 4 and Bryce 7 pro versions on a Mac running 10.6.8 on and intel duocore 2 with 4 gigs of ram. I just retested on V5 and confirmed a crash. I am choosing the export to Bryce feature in DAZ.
Is there a list of things the bridge will and will not work on?
There is no list that I'm aware of. Okay so 4GB of memory means that's not a factor. Now you say Studio 4 is that 4.0 4.5 or some version inbetween? Version 4 had lots of problems from what I heard and wouldn't work for much of anything. Again though that's based on what I've heard from others as I have yet to try 4.0 or 4.5.
I am using the last version of 4.0 before it went to 4.5. I got 4.5 when it first came out, before DAz withdrew it, once burned twice shy as they say. I am waiting for while.
Because you said you had success with DS3 and heard problem with more complex content I tried a real simple piece of content, a sushi tray. And though it had some issues, e.g. it won't rotate on its own axis, it did export into Bryce.
I have a lot of content, how do i know what I can use? It is really a bummer to work on a scene for days and then find that something in the scene causes tt to crash when there is no way to find out what that something is.
I don;t know what you mean by 'I got 4.5 when it first came out, before DAz withdrew it, ' I am using DS 4.5.0.114, and the Bryce bridge works fine. What version was withdrawn?
You must remember that Bryce is a 32 bit app, and when you have DS4 running, and Bryce at the same time, there is not much memory left. Are you using a 32 Bit OS or 64 Bit?
If your intention is tio create a complete scene in DS4, and use the bridge to send it to Bryce for rendering, then you almost certainly wont be able to. I can send clothed characters to Bryce from DS4.5 with no problems, but you should be able to export an OBJ complete with textures as well. There is an option in the Export dialogue to do that.
I don;t think that Bryce reads the .MTL file, and you may have to use the texture editor in bryce to load the materials. The brdige brings them over usually, although the transparency may need fixed.
DS4.0 will not talk to Bryce 7.1.0.109 (that is the full release version number of Bryce 7.1) Pro - or at least I could not get it to work.
DS4.5 will talk to Bryce 7.1.0.109 Pro - it is working for me from the moment I updated to 4.5
Well I do understand the reluctance to rush out and install the latest version of Studio given how flaky some of the past releases proved to be. That said though I've seen a number of people say how 4.5 has the bridge working properly again. When I say success with DS3 I still have problems with the elite figures because it's a texture issue and the elites use Sub Surface Scattering (I think). The textures for the elite figures are fairly high resolution at 4000 x 4000 and one figure can use multiple textures (head, torso, etc.) Bryce still being 32bit only is only able to access a maximum of 2GB's even if your system has alot more memory then just 2GB's. So with Bryce open, Studio open, and then importing and converting figures with such hi resolution textures it quickly maxes out that 2GB. Now you can bump that up from 2GB to I think 3.4 GB's or there about by using a utility called LAA (Large Address Aware)
But I don't think there is such a thing for Mac's.When I say complex content I was refering more to a huge mesh (not made for Studio, poser or Bryce) in obj format I tried to get into Bryce by first importing it into Studio and then sending it to Bryce. I did it that way rather then imp[orting straight into Bryce because there is something wierd and perhaps unique to my system that is preventing Bryce from importing any Obj's. I finally got it to transfer across the bridge after I used a program designed to reduce the number of vertices in a 3D Mesh and made it about 1/8th as complex as it was.
As for the fear of things crashing after working on a scene for days, well if you save the scene before trying to use the bridge then if that happens it's not as big of a deal as if you hadn't saved things first. Which also brings up another point. Usually the work flow is this. You open Bryce, make you scene. Save it, close Bryce. Open Bryce, load the scene you saved then click the DS icon to activate the bridge and open Studio. Load whatever you're going to be sending to bryce, texture it, do whatever else you need to do to it such as posing it, then send to Bryce. Now the reason you make your scene, save it, close Bryce, reopen it and load your saved scene is to clear out the undo buffer in Bryce. It holds upto around 20 or so changes and so when it's full it can use up quite a bit of memory. Saving a scene, closing Bryce and then reopening it and reloading the scene will give you the scene but with an empty undo buffer. Therefore you'll have the most memory available for the Bryce/Studio bridge.
I don;t know what you mean by 'I got 4.5 when it first came out, before DAz withdrew it, ' I am using DS 4.5.0.114, and the Bryce bridge works fine. What version was withdrawn?
You must remember that Bryce is a 32 bit app, and when you have DS4 running, and Bryce at the same time, there is not much memory left. Are you using a 32 Bit OS or 64 Bit?
If your intention is tio create a complete scene in DS4, and use the bridge to send it to Bryce for rendering, then you almost certainly wont be able to. I can send clothed characters to Bryce from DS4.5 with no problems, but you should be able to export an OBJ complete with textures as well. There is an option in the Export dialogue to do that.
I don;t think that Bryce reads the .MTL file, and you may have to use the texture editor in bryce to load the materials. The brdige brings them over usually, although the transparency may need fixed.
I dumped the version I had loaded when it first came out so I can't research the exact number. I don't think they had advertised it, but in trying to make sure I had the latest DS4 version, 4.5 was loaded from the download page. I was told by tech support that some problems had been discovered and they put up the 4.0 version I have now to serve until the update came out. Then I heard rumblings about some things that don't work.
I like to have the latest fully functioning version, but I don't have the time or talent to trouble shoot new versions, so I prefer to work with the devils I know.
That said, I am using 32 bit because I was told the 64 bit version of DAZ4 wasn't prime time for MACs. Is that no longer true?
Since I got the clue about older content, I found I seem to be able to export older content. I was trying to export scenes with V5 and that was not working. Maybe I have to restrict myself to V4 if I want to export to Bryce?
If I get the drift my work flow would be,
tweak each figure or piece of content
export to Bryce
Arrange the figures in Bryce to create the scene
What is the work flow for working with the texture editor to bring in the associated textures. Will I have to assign textures to each section of the figure or will Bryce somehow know what goes where? There is a lot of detail on some of the figures.
Well I do understand the reluctance to rush out and install the latest version of Studio given how flaky some of the past releases proved to be. That said though I've seen a number of people say how 4.5 has the bridge working properly again. When I say success with DS3 I still have problems with the elite figures because it's a texture issue and the elites use Sub Surface Scattering (I think). The textures for the elite figures are fairly high resolution at 4000 x 4000 and one figure can use multiple textures (head, torso, etc.) Bryce still being 32bit only is only able to access a maximum of 2GB's even if your system has alot more memory then just 2GB's. So with Bryce open, Studio open, and then importing and converting figures with such hi resolution textures it quickly maxes out that 2GB. Now you can bump that up from 2GB to I think 3.4 GB's or there about by using a utility called LAA (Large Address Aware)
But I don't think there is such a thing for Mac's.When I say complex content I was refering more to a huge mesh (not made for Studio, poser or Bryce) in obj format I tried to get into Bryce by first importing it into Studio and then sending it to Bryce. I did it that way rather then imp[orting straight into Bryce because there is something wierd and perhaps unique to my system that is preventing Bryce from importing any Obj's. I finally got it to transfer across the bridge after I used a program designed to reduce the number of vertices in a 3D Mesh and made it about 1/8th as complex as it was.
As for the fear of things crashing after working on a scene for days, well if you save the scene before trying to use the bridge then if that happens it's not as big of a deal as if you hadn't saved things first. Which also brings up another point. Usually the work flow is this. You open Bryce, make you scene. Save it, close Bryce. Open Bryce, load the scene you saved then click the DS icon to activate the bridge and open Studio. Load whatever you're going to be sending to bryce, texture it, do whatever else you need to do to it such as posing it, then send to Bryce. Now the reason you make your scene, save it, close Bryce, reopen it and load your saved scene is to clear out the undo buffer in Bryce. It holds upto around 20 or so changes and so when it's full it can use up quite a bit of memory. Saving a scene, closing Bryce and then reopening it and reloading the scene will give you the scene but with an empty undo buffer. Therefore you'll have the most memory available for the Bryce/Studio bridge.
Thanks for the very helpful advice.
What I meant by losing things is, if the scene I am working on something in Daz that can't be used in the scene I intended in Bryce, it would be , for all intent and purpose, lost and my time wasted.
But your explanation helps me to see potential flaws in my approach.
David, I heard and trust what you say about 4.5 working to export to Bryce, but I just want to make sure I am not going to have to dump content and plugins or relearn software which has no real manual. Maybe I have purchased so much content that am just paranoid about losing the use of it. And of course I am not as knowledgeable about what should or will not work as you are. Just sayin' , I'm still nervous about 4.5. Thanks you’re your vote for 4.5 though. That means something to me.
Well I would not wish to mislead you in any way. I am a total DS novice. I hardly used it until 4.5 because it refused to bridge into Bryce.
This is my system info.
Windows 7 Pro
64 bit OS
Intel i7 CPU
6 Gb memory
HD 5850 GPU
I have not yet worked out how to load older content into DS 4.5 so I cannot say how it behaves. I believe Horo has got several versions of Bryce and DS to co-exist on his machine. Maybe our Bryce Content FAQ would help you since it does begin by talking about installation of Bryce and Studio. Email me
if you want a reply sent return of post.Speaking of older systems, I am creating content in BR7 Pro. However when I try to open that content from my desk top it defaults to Br7 PLE. How do I fix that?
@vindazi - you fix that by starting Bryce 7.1 Pro and then open your scene file.
If you have problems with the bridge, export as *.obj from Studio and import in Bryce.
Thanks Horo. My question is how do I open the file created and saved in Pro to open from the desktop in Pro. Should i take from your answer that this is not possible?
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I have been using the .obj route, however the textures are not imported going this route. I was looking for a way yo get BR7Pro to import the mtl files with the obj files. When Br7 is importing the obj files it acts like it is importing everything, i.e. it keeps bouncing back to the files until it gets all the info it needs, but all I get is the gray smooth texture.
Oh, it does work, but you might have to get rid of the PLE version. On second thought, if you right click on any *br7 file, you get the context menu and you can select which program starts to open that type of file by default. I always open Bryce first because I have all versions from 4 upwards installed.
Are you on a Mac? When I tried that I could not tell PRO from PLE. Just listed as Bryce7.
Also Have you tried loading a Genesis figure using the DS to BR bridge? I have loaded V4 but genesis is crashing Daz and Hanging Bryce.
No, I'm on the PC. I have successfully brought Genesis characters over the bridge. But I have made Bryce large address aware and it can therefore use more than 2 GB.
When a mountain/terrain is created it has a square mat. This mat occasionally causes trouble because it can show up when you don't want it. Is there any way to feather it or make it a circle.
Is this what you mean