Is importing Bryce content to DAZ Studio 4.5 possible?

cecilia.robinsoncecilia.robinson Posts: 2,208
edited December 1969 in Daz Studio Discussion

Hello,

I'm writing to ask a simple question: is importing Bryce content to DAZ Studio 4.5 possible? I'd like to use some of Bryce Free Content Pack in DAZ scenes, but I could not find any tutorials on how to do so. I've got DAZ Studio 4.5 on 32-bit Windows 7. Any help is greatly appreciated :). Thank you in advance!

Best regards.

PS I'm not familiar with Hexagon, so that would be of no use for me.

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Comments

  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited December 1969

    Install Daz Studio, Install Bryce 7 pro, use the bridge between the two programs.

    Some things do not transfer over seamlessly, or even well doing it in that direction, but it can be done for some part of the content, once it is set up in Bryce.

  • srieschsriesch Posts: 4,241
    edited December 1969

    Are there any specific examples you have in mind? We might be able to answer whether those items can/can't transfer, or offer suggestions.

  • cecilia.robinsoncecilia.robinson Posts: 2,208
    edited December 1969

    Thank you. I would like to convert: bridge, cathedral, cottage house, lighthouse and chapel as well as 30 islands from Bryce 5.5 Content Kit Volume 1 and possibly stuff from Bryce 5.0 Content Pack. They are avalaible in the freebie section of DAZ store and as I'm a total beginner, I would rather start working on free stuff than purchasable content. Thank you all again for instructing me about this bridge between DAZ Studio and Bryce, I'll try to do so.

  • srieschsriesch Posts: 4,241
    edited December 2012

    First item, the bridge from the Bryce 5.5 Content Kit Volume 1:

    In Bryce, load the Bridge, then from the menu bar select Edit > "Select All", then File > "Send to DAZ Studio". Transfer is flaky for me, but should transfer eventually, although you might need to try a few times.

    The first time I tried this I got an error message "Error launching DAZ|Studio!". However after testing that a cube worked and then exiting and restarting and trying again, it worked and I didn't see the error. On a second PC I tried, Bryce displayed a message indicating it was transferring, and it seemed to never end. Turns out the transfer completed, the Bryce screen just didn't refresh to indicate completion; when I selected DAZ Studio in the Windows taskbar, the bridge was there.

    Post edited by sriesch on
  • srieschsriesch Posts: 4,241
    edited December 1969

    30 islands from the Bryce 5.5 Content Kit Volume 1: I can't seem to find mine, so I can't verify this. However I'm assuming they are just terrains, in which case the following information should be valid:

    The terrain materials are not going to transfer normally into DAZ Studio. Studio doesn't use materials the same way as Bryce. However Bryce does make an attempt to paint something onto your terrain when exporting, which you can experiment with if you want, or just not use if you want.

    Exporting a terrain: Don't use the Bryce/Studio bridge. Instead, select the terrain, then from the menu bar select File > "Export Object". Change the filename to have no spaces, or it won't work (the default name may be bad). Change the "Save as type" dropdown to "Wavefront OBJ Files (*.obj)(Mesh Export)" and press the Save button (I haven't experimented with formats other than this). Drag the slider at the bottom of the next window farther but not all the way to the right to increase the resolution to the desired level (the default is far too low) and press the green checkmark.

  • srieschsriesch Posts: 4,241
    edited December 1969

    Cottage House (Country House) from the Bryce 5.5 Content Kit Volume 1:

    Although you can send this from Bryce to DAZ Studio via the bridge ("Send to DAZ Studio"), the materials look really really bad in Studio. Instead, in Bryce use File > “Export Object”, with steps similar to the terrain steps above but without the terrain slider and options. In DAZ Studio, use File > Import, and in the OBJImportOptions window, change the "From:" dropdown to "Bryce (1 unit = 8ft)" and press the Accept button. The materials aren't the same in Studio as they were in Bryce, but they seem a lot closer this way.

    Probably you'll want to experiment with the other objects to see if they work better using the bridge ( ("Send to DAZ Studio"), ) or are better when exported and imported into Studio.

  • mjc1016mjc1016 Posts: 15,001
    edited December 1969

    30 islands from the Bryce 5.5 Content Kit Volume 1: I can't seem to find mine, so I can't verify this. However I'm assuming they are just terrains, in which case the following information should be valid:

    The terrain materials are not going to transfer normally into DAZ Studio. Studio doesn't use materials the same way as Bryce. However Bryce does make an attempt to paint something onto your terrain when exporting, which you can experiment with if you want, or just not use if you want.

    Exporting a terrain: Don't use the Bryce/Studio bridge. Instead, select the terrain, then from the menu bar select File > "Export Object". Change the filename to have no spaces, or it won't work (the default name may be bad). Change the "Save as type" dropdown to "Wavefront OBJ Files (*.obj)(Mesh Export)" and press the Save button (I haven't experimented with formats other than this). Drag the slider at the bottom of the next window farther but not all the way to the right to increase the resolution to the desired level (the default is far too low) and press the green checkmark.

    Another thing that you could do with terrains...render them out to image files and use as backdrops in DS...

    Mostly, it would depend on what you are wanting to do with it, in DS, as to whether you'll need it as mesh or if just an image will suffice. While DS can do large landscapes it has a fairly small 'world space' by default, so it's often better to use a smaller 'foreground' terrain prop and images for the backdrop/distant elements.

  • srieschsriesch Posts: 4,241
    edited December 2012

    The WWII Destroyer (USS Kidd) from the Bryce 5.5 Content Kit Volume 1:

    Use the Export/Import method, but be warned, it took hours to export from Bryce on my slower PC and created what seems to be 178 copies of the same two texture files in the process. Half a GB of space isn't a big deal these days, but I do wonder what different objects might do in this situation.

    I can't get this to transfer completely via "Send to DAZ Studio". It crashes Bryce on both PCs I tried it on. It transfers the hull and most of the top structure, but it's missing the gun turrets and radar at least. Unless you are creating a render of a decommissioned ship, you don't want this option. If you or anybody else can get this to work, let us know.

    Post edited by sriesch on
  • srieschsriesch Posts: 4,241
    edited December 1969

    mjc1016 said:

    Another thing that you could do with terrains...render them out to image files and use as backdrops in DS....

    Good idea. Looks like you should be able to get Bryce skies (the backgrounds, not things like fog though) into Studio this way too; I'm going to have to experiment with that.
  • srieschsriesch Posts: 4,241
    edited December 2012

    If you import something into DAZ Studio, remember that even if you save as a .duf, you are still referencing the original textures. You don't just want to export to a temporary folder that you plan to delete or move after importing, or the next time you try to open the .duf file in DAZ Studio it won't find those textures and won't work.

    EDITED TO ADD: Similarly, if you use the Bryce/Studio bridge, apparently it creates these temporary files in C:\Users\... so it will appear to work just fine, but will fail when transferred to another PC or presumably the next time you reinstall your OS.

    To avoid this, in the example of the USS Kidd above, In DAZ Studio I imported from the temporary folder and put a copy of each of the textures in a mapped content folder. Then in the Surfaces (Color) tab I browsed to change each parameter that referenced one of those files to the new file location, adjusted the camera to make a nice thumbnail, then saved as a Scene Subset (not a Scene; that way you can add it to a new scene instead of replacing the current scene with it when loading.) I was also able to condense all of those duplicate image sets into a single set this way.

    Post edited by sriesch on
  • IanTPIanTP Posts: 1,326
    edited December 1969

    This is good stuff, could this thread possibly be added to Brycetalk? :)

  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited December 1969

    I can work some Moderator magic and have it in both forums at the same time. Which forum do you think the original should be in, and which should have the ghost copy.

  • Tramp GraphicsTramp Graphics Posts: 2,401
    edited December 1969

    So, if I wanted to convert a Bryce waterfall terrain set such this, this, this, or this, what would I need to do?

  • srieschsriesch Posts: 4,241
    edited December 1969

    @Chohole, I don't think it matters really, it applies directly to both. Whatever is easiest, or flip a coin if nobody has a preference?

    @Tramp Graphics, do you know if those waterfalls are terrains or objects?

  • Tramp GraphicsTramp Graphics Posts: 2,401
    edited December 1969

    @Chohole, I don't think it matters really, it applies directly to both. Whatever is easiest, or flip a coin if nobody has a preference?

    @Tramp Graphics, do you know if those waterfalls are terrains or objects?

    Not a clue. I haven't downloaded them because I'm not sure if I can use any of them for what I want to.
  • IanTPIanTP Posts: 1,326
    edited December 1969

    chohole said:
    I can work some Moderator magic and have it in both forums at the same time. Which forum do you think the original should be in, and which should have the ghost copy.

    I think possibly leave the original here and a 'ghost' in Brycetalk, as long as there is a reference to it, or maybe a sticky in Brycetalk pointing to this thread?
    I shall leave it in your club wielding hands ;)

    *runs away* :D

  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited December 1969

    OK, that is now done that way, so you still have the original here, but there is a ghost haunting the Bryce Forum. :coolsmirk:

  • IanTPIanTP Posts: 1,326
    edited December 1969

    Thanks sweetie, i shall be wary tho of things that go bump in the night :D

  • ThePatrickThePatrick Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    mjc1016 said:

    Another thing that you could do with terrains...render them out to image files and use as backdrops in DS...

    Mostly, it would depend on what you are wanting to do with it, in DS, as to whether you'll need it as mesh or if just an image will suffice. While DS can do large landscapes it has a fairly small 'world space' by default, so it's often better to use a smaller 'foreground' terrain prop and images for the backdrop/distant elements.

    Hi all,

    that thing with the backdrop seams to be a good idea, but I have a problem here. Can I use a Bryce scene without sky as backdrop.

    Background: I want to use a skydome (only with sky elements, no ground elements) and have parts of a Bryce scene as backdrop (additional to the skydome) for the ground elements. But i guess fot that to work, I must render the Bryce scene in a way that the sky part is rendered as a transparent area.

    Is these possible at all in Bryce??

    (I have to admit that I have nearly no knowledge of Bryce, but there are so many very nice terrain packs for Bryce, I could use)

    Regards,

    ThePatrick

  • Dave SavageDave Savage Posts: 2,433
    edited December 1969

    Hi all,

    that thing with the backdrop seams to be a good idea, but I have a problem here. Can I use a Bryce scene without sky as backdrop.

    Background: I want to use a skydome (only with sky elements, no ground elements) and have parts of a Bryce scene as backdrop (additional to the skydome) for the ground elements. But i guess fot that to work, I must render the Bryce scene in a way that the sky part is rendered as a transparent area.

    Is these possible at all in Bryce??

    (I have to admit that I have nearly no knowledge of Bryce, but there are so many very nice terrain packs for Bryce, I could use)

    Regards,

    ThePatrick

    Hi,

    Yes you can selectively render any or all parts of a Bryce scene, or at least you can render the whole scene and then render a separate mask layer of all the parts you need to see.
    You'd then need to open the original render and the mask render into a photo editor and add the mask layer as an alpha channel then save the picture in a format that you can use in Daz Studio and which supports alpha channels.

    You would then in effect create two sky domes in Daz, one for your Daz sky and one for your Bryce scene (with the alpha channel effectively leaving the sky transparent so you could see the Daz sky instead).

    The option for creating a mask render can be found in the render options (see attached picture).

    Picture-11.jpg
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  • ThePatrickThePatrick Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Hi TheSavage64,

    thank you very much, yes that looks very good to me!

    Do you have experience with it? What I effectively want to have, is using different skies that are compatible with the lighting I want but using surroundings (hills, mountains, forrests and that sort of) from different sources. There is for example a massive pack of different skies with lighting available in the pack "Skies of Economy" but those don't contain mountains and the sort of. It would be great to be able to combine that stuff and get more flexibility this way.

    One additional question would be (if you have done such things before) if the lighting will be Ok this way. The mountains or other stuff should look different with different skydones+lighting. I understand, that shadows will not change on a plain image, but at least the colors should look somewhat realistic (I am also not so firm in lighting though).

    Last question: How do you get that popup-Menu your picture shows in Bryce?

    Thank you very much!

    Regards,

    ThePatrick

  • srieschsriesch Posts: 4,241
    edited February 2013

    How do you get that popup-Menu your picture shows in Bryce?

    Click on the bottom of the 4 little triangles on the left. Anytime you see one of those triangles in Bryce, there's a menu available.
    screenshot,_how_to_get_to_menu.png
    378 x 881 - 246K
    Post edited by sriesch on
  • YamanekoYamaneko Posts: 52
    edited March 2013

    I didn’t want to start a new thread, so I thought that I would ask my question here.

    I am trying to send material from Bryce 7 to Daz Pro Studio, but it doesn’t seem to be working. The strange thing is that the scene tab in Daz Studio shows an object (I tried to send a tree), but nothing is visible in the viewer panel. Any idea what might be going wrong?

    I don’t want to give up on Bryce- it seems like such a great product., and I really want to create environments for my Daz characters.

    Thanks!

    Bryce_7_to_Daz_Studio_Pro_4.5_.PNG
    1366 x 768 - 250K
    Post edited by Yamaneko on
  • srieschsriesch Posts: 4,241
    edited March 2013

    I didn’t want to start a new thread, so I thought that I would ask my question here.

    I am trying to send material from Bryce 7 to Daz Pro Studio, but it doesn’t seem to be working. The strange thing is that the scene tab in Daz Studio shows an object (I tried to send a tree), but nothing is visible in the viewer panel. Any idea what might be going wrong?

    I don’t want to give up on Bryce- it seems like such a great product., and I really want to create environments for my Daz characters.

    Thanks!

    Is it possible that it somehow imported very small, out of view, or takes a long time to import and isn't quite there yet, or just jammed up halfway through the import? Try selecting the object and framing it, see what happens.

    Hmmm. I only have part of an answer for you. If I try to send a tree across the bridge, I either get an error or nothing happens. However, I can get the tree to transfer (sort of) by exporting it in Bryce and importing it in DAZ Studio, like this:

    With the tree selected in Bryce, from the menu bar select File > Export Object. In the "Export tree" window, make sure neither the trunk nor the leaves pictures are greyed out (unless that's what you want; clicking on the text toggles them), perhaps experiment with the slider to get better results, and click on the checkmark. In the "Save As" window, browse to a temporary folder of your choice, change the filename to have no spaces (the default value might have spaces, and this will not work correctly.) Change the "Save as type:" dropdown to "Wavefront OBJ Files (*.obj)" (I haven't experimented with the other file types) and press the Save button.

    In DAZ Studio, from the menu bar select File > Import and browse to and double-click on the .obj file in the temporary folder you created. In the OBJImportOptions window, change the "From" dropdown to "Bryce (1 unit = 8ft)"

    However, the default resolution and materials don't look too good on the trunk in my random test. Of course you can't directly use Bryce materials in DAZ Studio; I'm not sure exactly what Bryce is doing to arrive at the material it exported, or what a wider selection of tree materials might look like when tried. Also the earlier warnings about import/export file locations and .duf scenes will apply.

    Post edited by sriesch on
  • ThePatrickThePatrick Posts: 0
    edited March 2013

    Done

    Post edited by ThePatrick on
  • YamanekoYamaneko Posts: 52
    edited March 2013

    Is it possible that it somehow imported very small, out of view, or takes a long time to import and isn't quite there yet, or just jammed up halfway through the import? Try selecting the object and framing it, see what happens.

    Hmmm. I only have part of an answer for you. If I try to send a tree across the bridge, I either get an error or nothing happens. However, I can get the tree to transfer (sort of) by exporting it in Bryce and importing it in DAZ Studio, like this:

    With the tree selected in Bryce, from the menu bar select File > Export Object. In the "Export tree" window, make sure neither the trunk nor the leaves pictures are greyed out (unless that's what you want; clicking on the text toggles them), perhaps experiment with the slider to get better results, and click on the checkmark. In the "Save As" window, browse to a temporary folder of your choice, change the filename to have no spaces (the default value might have spaces, and this will not work correctly.) Change the "Save as type:" dropdown to "Wavefront OBJ Files (*.obj)" (I haven't experimented with the other file types) and press the Save button.

    In DAZ Studio, from the menu bar select File > Import and browse to and double-click on the .obj file in the temporary folder you created. In the OBJImportOptions window, change the "From" dropdown to "Bryce (1 unit = 8ft)"

    However, the default resolution and materials don't look too good on the trunk in my random test. Of course you can't directly use Bryce materials in DAZ Studio; I'm not sure exactly what Bryce is doing to arrive at the material it exported, or what a wider selection of tree materials might look like when tried. Also the earlier warnings about import/export file locations and .duf scenes will apply.

    Hey Sean, thank you for your help.

    Your suggestion that it might be an issue of scale or where the tree was showing up in the picture was totally plausible. However, when I framed the tree, it was located at the center of the plane, and increasing the scale to the max didn't do anything. Very good ideas, though.

    I tried your suggestion for saving the tree as an object and importing it, and it worked like a charm! As you said, the materials and resolution weren't the best, but at least it is a start. I now have something I can work with, which is more than I had before you answered my question.

    Thanks again for taking the time to help me out.

    Post edited by Yamaneko on
  • manekiNekomanekiNeko Posts: 1,395
    edited December 1969

    so, a general question not related to a bryce scene in particular:

    I DON'T HAVE BRYCE! only free daz 4.5 and the free bryce 5 content pack.
    i've tried bryce a while ago, what was it, a demo, or at a friend's.. but now, i haven't got it.
    i just read on the daz page that daz was listed as compatible software as well ~ but...

    most, if not all posts above were aimed at people having bryce installed as well, which i dont.
    from the daz interface i could pick the 3d meshes (3 obj only! and untextured) - and that's pretty all. :(
    probably the texture maps are useable as well, meaning i could pick them from the mat/shader panel and build my mats from scratch. *sigh*

    but all the scenes and the rest, i neither "see" them in the content library, nor do they stand as option when i try to import them from the "file/import" menu. and the bridge i have is only to export TO bryce. meaning, at the moment, 260 Mb content i hardly can use.

    btw, as i installed the .exe for the content pack, i picked "my library" as folder - now i have another dreaded "content" folder.. when i think i just cleaned out the last a while ago :/ - ok at least i can rename it to "bryce content" and find the stuff easier..

    any way to import this content easily (i'm still not acquainted with daz ~), or can i just click the uninstaller?

  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited December 1969

    The Bryce content pack is made for Bryce, meaning that most of the content is in Bryce specific format's. so DS will not recognise it, nor know where to put it, as the paths will be optimised for a Bryce installation.

  • manekiNekomanekiNeko Posts: 1,395
    edited December 1969

    right. :(

    though now, checking the daz page about bryce, i saw bryce is veeery cheap ('xept i still haven't any ccard nor paypal - don't need this here as we have a countrywide card ~).
    and the tech specs are lower than daz 4.5, which is great since my netbook crashes as soon as i try anything proper.
    from what i remember, the few landscapes i tried to make were mindblowing, with no skills yet, just the prog's features. ^_^
    let's just hope i can actually run both progs simultaneously with this toy comp to use the bridges...

    so, since obviously content can be shifted to & fro (just clicked on a mini-tutorial), what would make more sense? create landscapes in bryce and import them into daz, and finish the work in daz, with people, animations etc?
    or import people in bryce, and finish the work in bryce?

  • srieschsriesch Posts: 4,241
    edited March 2013

    so, since obviously content can be shifted to & fro (just clicked on a mini-tutorial), what would make more sense? create landscapes in bryce and import them into daz, and finish the work in daz, with people, animations etc?
    or import people in bryce, and finish the work in bryce?

    I'm not sure I can answer which way is best overall, and I haven't worked with animation at all. A few of the many things things to consider while making your decision include:
    Unfortunately, transfer is not seamless. Some things may work in one application and not the in the other, or some things might require a bunch of jumping through hoops to transfer from one application to the other, or some things might simply be easier in one application than the other. Or perhaps everything will work fine for you. It might depend on your scene. If you have an idea for a scene, you might even want to briefly experiment transferring test articles from one application to the other before doing any work to see what happens, and that might answer your question right away.
    Bryce is a 32-bit application and cannot access a lot of memory, whereas there is a 64-bit version of DAZ Studio available if you have the hardware to use it. IF your scene is memory-intensive, you might run out of memory sooner in Bryce than in DAZ Studio, but this might not be a problem for you.
    You may find one application runs with fewer problems than the other depending on how you use it, or you may also find one application more intuitive to use than the other, and may simply prefer to work in whichever is easier for you to use.
    If all you want to do is place a single figure in a landscape with a sky, it would probably make sense to pose your figure in DAZ Studio and do the rest of the work in Bryce. If you want something from your Bryce library and have already verified that it WILL transfer to DAZ studio and you are happy with the quality and materials, aren't using skies or terrains and have numerous figures that you wish to constantly adjust the poses on, it would probably make sense for you to use DAZ Studio.
    There are probably more points to consider I haven't thought of offhand that other people can suggest.
    Post edited by sriesch on
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