Bryce as a Render alternative to AutoCAD

[CADTutor]

http://www.cadimage.net/cadtutor/chrome.jpg

There comes a point where you have to admit that AutoCAD's render engine is only just good enough. If you're serious about rendering, you need to use something else. If you want to work within AutoCAD, Accurender is a great option. If you don't mind moving to another app, then something like Bryce is hard to beat - it's cheap and render quality and materials handling is superb. I use Bryce for rendering and for creating settings. The image above took about 20 seconds to produce and as you can see, the quality of the render is fantastic. The chrome material used here is simply a stock material from the library.

[gcp310]

any chance you could add some more images of what you have done in bryce.
from that image above, its output looks great. I completed a 3 day Viz course last week and am having a really tough time stumbling thru lmillions of check boxes and value settings. a basic box with furniture in it took me around 3 hours adjusting materials, adjusting lighting then adjusting decals again. pain in the !@##.

I do like the output of viz. i dont like the complexity of it.

G

[CADTutor]

http://www.cadimage.net/cadtutor/pool.jpg

I used to use VIZ for renders animation etc. but everything just took far too long and was very complicated. For basic stuff like renders and animation, Bryce is really quick and easy to use.

[robfowler]

I like the water reflection and refraction in the image.

Rob.

[gcp310]

Whats your honest opinion on using bryce for rendering products such as the display stands shown on my website? majority of the time we dont use backgrounds, But "decals" and signage are a must, As are chrome and metal reflections and light & shadows.

The water looks good. It would have taken ages in Viz.

G

[Orbit]

CadTutor, I am very impressed by the Bryces performances. I also did some renderings with it but the questions is, how to get ride of that "sky& earth" background?

[CADTutor]

http://www.cadimage.net/cadtutor/materials.jpg

Well you can have any background and floor you want. Sure, the sky is always there as it is in the real world but if you build a house and go into it, you no longer see the sky. Bryce is just an analogy of the real world. Here is another quick image using materials from the library, took less than a minute to construct and render.

[fuccaro]

About the image with the pool:
... WOW!

[gcp310]

Cool, is there any known limitations with bryce?
Like, say if i model in autocad using blocks, does bryce let you import in the model from autocad? and can you do"decals" i.e mapping bitmaps to signs?

G

[Orbit]

Cool, is there any known limitations with bryce?
Like, say if i model in autocad using blocks, does bryce let you import in the model from autocad? and can you do"decals" i.e mapping bitmaps to signs?


Hm, I was trying to import a block from autocad into Bryce and it looks like they does not want to communicate with each other. :cry:

CadTutor, is that right or something can be done?[/quote]

[CADTutor]

http://www.cadimage.net/cadtutor/infoboard.jpg

Sure, this is a simple model created in AutoCAD and imported to Bryce. Bryce deals with AutoCAD blocks no problem. You can have decals mapped as materials but you can also use Bryce picture objects as shown in the image above. Have a look at some of the Bryce tutorials at www.CADTutor.net for more information on what Bryce can do.

The best way of moving from AutoCAD into Bryce is to export your AutoCAD model to 3DS and then import 3DS into Bryce.

[gcp310]

Can you create light sources other than the sun?

G

[fuccaro]

I wish to sign up in the club of people interested about Bryce. CADTutor, is it the request enough to make you think at a step by step tutorial for the novice users? –You know, just the basics. Your renders are fantastic.
But probable we should move with our discussion to the topic dedicated for this theme.

[gcp310]

Yes, i agree, Poor orbit would be checking this for his chrome materials.
But we would like to know from a hands on experience what bryce can do for the price.

G

[superjari]

Well just a last reply for you guys; http://www.cadtutor.net/dd/bryce/atob/atob.html

Here is your step by step tut... :wink:

[CADTutor]

Can you create light sources other than the sun?


Yes, Bryce offers the same basic light sources as AutoCAD - Point, Spot and Distant although they have slightly different names.

Fuccaro, you are right - I should move this topic to the Bryce forum.

Also, as Superjari has pointed out, you'll find Bryce tutorials on the main www.CADTutor.net web site. In fact, there are 5 detailed tutorials for Bryce there and they should give you a good idea what's possible. You'll also find that if you look at the Bryce Resources page, http://www.cadtutor.net/dd/bryce/resource/resource.html that there are lots of other Bryce tutorials on the web.

[gcp310]

I have looked theu the cadtutor website and have looked at the links on the reference pages. There is a ton of outdoor and futuristic scenes but no real product design nor architecture renderings that i can use as a gauge.

Mind you, the tutorial on animating water was fantastic. and the results are very realistic.

I guess im going to have to get the program to see for myself.

G

[fuccaro]

Thank you CADTutor!
Until now I ignored the Bryce because I do not have it. You just convinced me to change my attitude. To ignore the things we do not understand it is a good way to stay in place until the world is going forward.
Thank you again!

[gcp310]

I have to agree with you, fuccaro. its good to see in a viz/max predominet market, there are 3d rendering programs in reach of the average user price wise. the final result from what i have seen is fanatastic. i have just spent 5 hours working on a 6x3m display stand, battling with lighting and mapping of materials in viz. in three words, I HATE IT.

i miss the accurender days.

I will be looking into bryce, thats for sure.

G