The Bryce 3D 3.1 Update is a free upgrade to Bryce 3D. The upgrade addresses problems you may have experienced with the initial release and some powerful new features. Most of the issues that are addressed in the 3.1 update and all of the new features are covered in the “Tech Notes” section of this ReadMe. We apologize for any inconveniences that you may have experienced and we encourage you to push Bryce 3D Rev 3.1 to its limit while exploring the new features.
Minimum Requirements
PC: Pentium processor, Windows 95/NT 3.5/NT 4, 16MB of RAM, 50 MB of free hard drive space, CD-ROM drive 16-bit video.
Macintosh: Power PC processor, Mac OS system 7.1, 16MB of RAM, 50 MB of free hard drive space, CD-ROM drive 16-bit video.
To install the Bryce® 3D 3.1 Update:
This installer supplies all of the components you need to update an existing installation of Bryce® 3D 3.0 to version 3.1. Your original Bryce 3D CD-ROM will be required for the initial launch of the updated application.
If you have difficulty updating your Bryce 3D application, install a fresh copy of the Bryce 3D application from your Bryce 3D CD-ROM onto your computer, restart your machine and try running the updater again.
Please note that this update cannot be applied to a demo, freeware, foreign, or beta (pre-release) version of Bryce®3D, nor can it be used to update an older commercial version of Bryce.
Windows
1. Doulble click the file “Bryce® 3D 3.1 Updater” to begin the update.
2. Read the Welcome screen, then click the “Next” button to continue.
3. Read the Software License Agreement, then click the “Yes” button to continue.
4. Click the “Browse” button and locate the Bryce 3D 3.0 directory.
5. Double Click on the Bryce 3D directory to select it, then click the “OK” button.
6. Click the “Next” button to continue and the update willbegin to install.
7. When the update is complete, click the “OK” button.
8. Be sure you have the Bryce 3D CD mounted, then run Bryce 3D from the “Start” menu.
Macintosh
1. Doulble click the file “Bryce® 3D 3.1 Updater” to begin the update.
2. When the splash screen comes up click “Continue”.
3. Read the Welcome screen and click “Continue”.
4. The Bryce® 3D 3.1 Updater will automatically locate the Bryce 3D folder.
5. Click the “Update” button.
6. When the update is complete click the "Quit" button.
7. Be sure you have the Bryce 3D CD mounted, then launch Bryce 3D.
Tech Notes
The “Tech Notes” section is broken into two parts, Problems Fixed and New Features. Both are extremely valuable. Read through them carefully to take full advantage of the 3.1 Update.
Problems Fixed:
Application Crash
.• Copying and pasting an object that is linked to a path and then moving it no longer causes an application crash.
• Moving key points on an “Object Path” while in Open GL, Direct X or Sree 3D mode no longer causes an application crash.
• Using the Undo feature after deleting an object from a group no longer causes an application crash.
• Using the Undo feature after using the “Edit Texture Palette” in the Materials Lab no longer causes an application crash.
• Placing a preset material on a Volume Slab while in the Materials Lab no longer causes an application crash.
• Launching the Materials Library after canceling out of the Materials Lab with a Volume Slab selected no longer causes an application crash.
• The multi-replicate function no longer causes an application crash.
• Placing the camera inside a solid terrain no longer causes an application crash.
• Launching a Bryce 3D file with drag and drop while Bryce 3D is minimized no longer causes an application crash.
Windows Only
• Applying a gel or volume lighting effect to a light no longer causes an application crash.
Data Loss
• All saved scenes open with their objects intact and in the correct position.
• All saved scenes open with the correct keyframe animation.
• All memory dots are now saved with the file.
• All velocity settings for geometry are saved with the file.
• Consistency is maintained in material keyframe animation.
• Bryce 3D will now prompt you with Cancel / Replace dialog when saving a movie with the same name as one that already exists.
• Bryce 3D will now prompt you with a save dialog after selecting Restart or Shutdown from the Apple Menu on Macintoshes.
• Copying a terrain while in the Terrain Editor copies the full resolution terrain, not just the 70 pixel square preview image.
• Merging two previously saved documents no longer causes the camera to disappear.
• All document display settings are preserved when “Launch to Previous State” is set in the preferences.
• When merging two files and then creating a new document a Save As dialog appears instead of a Save dialog. This prevents the loss of one of the merged files by saving over it.
• Undo now works after making a change to the Sky & Fog Palette instead of resetting the whole sky back to the default.
• Bump Height, Transparency, and Reflection values are maintained when switching from a surface material to a volume material and back to a surface material again.
Strange Behavior
• Every animation action can be undone.
• Undo now works after selecting a preset sky.
• Copy and pasting linked objects no longer leaves permanent stray objects in the scene.
• The second keyframe in a two keyframe trajectory path can now be moved freely throughout the scene instead of being locked to one position.
• The Remove Shear command now work consistently on all axes.
• When opening a Bryce 2 Macintosh/Windows file all objects are automatically keyframed.
• The Paste Matrix function automatically keyframes the object’s new position.
• After making a path circular the object remains attached to the path instead of separating from it.
• Grouped objects can be completely deleted instead of just the grouped objects’ linking.
• The Set as Unity command in the Object Attributes dialog now works correctly on grouped objects.
• Render to disk is now capable of rendering images with a width over 2000 pixels.
• Lowering the resolution of a terrain no longer resizes the terrain.
• The working area on the timeline resets with a new document.
• You can now see an object in the Materials Lab preview even if it is below ground level in the scene.
• Selecting which axis an object uses to track another object functions properly.
• All the Linking Propagation features function properly and do not cause the linked object to reposition randomly.
• All Object Presets maintain their integrity after scrubbing the timeline or entering the Advanced Motion Lab.
• Batch rendering works on the Windows platform.
• Panorama render works when the camera is placed at the eye level.
Presets Fixed
The following preset libraries have been fixed:
Boolean Objects (Boolean Objects.obp)
Imported Objects (Imported Objects.obp)
Mountains (Mountains.obp)
Rocks & Trees (Rocks&Trees.obp)
Skies (Sky Presets.bsk)
New Features:
New Preview Mode
In most places that nano-preview renders exist (Materials Lab, Materials Presets, etc.), you can choose to view the actual object. The new mode is called “Actual Selection”. In this mode, even booleans and triangle meshes are represented accurately. This is VERY useful for applying textures in world space and getting true results in the nano-render.
New Material Mapping Modes
The mapping mode menu in the Materials Lab now contains a few new features:
• “Scale Pict Size” now works properly. If selected, it SCALES pict textures instead of tiling them with increasing frequency. Both of these modes use the texture’s scale. This can be set through the frequency slider, or the texture transformation scale tool as input.
• “Centered Transforms” only works with parametric mapping modes. It forces the texture’s transformations to be applied around the “center” of the object’s surface.
• The “Decal Colors” mode is also new. It blends a texture’s color with the affected component’s base color, using the texture’s alpha channel to control the amount of blending. This can make decaling effects much easier to achieve.
• The last new mode is called “Alpha Scaling”. Normally, if you drive a component’s value with a texture, the texture’s alpha channel will set the value without regard to the amount that was set using the component’s slider. With alpha scaling turned on, the amount set with the slider will “scale” the amount provided by the texture’s alpha channel. This gives you more subtle control over the influence of the texture on the material component’s value.
Circular Object Path
A truly circular Object Path means that when an object is linked to the path it can travel all the around the path without being bound by a start and end point. Its great for doing orbit or race track animations . Here are the steps to create the Circular Object path:
1 - Create a four keyframe position animation with any object.
2 - Open the Object Attributes dialog for this object.
3 - Click on the Animation tab.
4 - Click on the “Make Circular” radio button.
5 - Click on the OK check mark.
6 - Go to the Objects menu and select “Create Path”.
You now have a circular object path. Try linking an object to it and orbit away!
Click-List Selection
If you hold down Control /Command while clicking an object to select or deselect it, you will get a list of all objects under the pointer. This lets you not only view the selection status of all the listed objects, but change it as well. Again, this aids in dealing with large scenes. Also the “Shift” key allows for multiple selection here.
Selection Palette
A couple of enhancements were made in the selection palette:
• Path objects now have their own menu item along with groups and triangle mesh objects. This makes selecting them much easier in a crowded scene.
• When selecting objects with the family name menu, you now have a choice of sorting styles. If you hold down the Control /Command key, the list will be sorted alphabetically. Otherwise, if you hold no modifier keys, the list will be arranged in order of family position (1 through 25).
New I/O Plug-Ins
A few new plug-ins have been added. The 3D Studio loader is now available on the MAC side, and both platforms now have plug-ins for generating movies as a sequence of images. For the PC, you get a BMP sequence and for the MAC you get a PICT sequence.
Override Drop to Boxes
A new item has been added to the wireframe resolution menu, “Auto LOD”. When checked, objects will automatically draw as boxes if it takes too long to draw the scene. If you uncheck this item, this behavior will stop. This can be useful when trying to accurately position objects, with respect to others, in a large scene.
Group Origin Editing
Group origin editing was prevented in the original release of Bryce 3D, but now it has been enabled. You can now freely edit (reposition) a group object’s origin, just like any other object.
Easier Pict Library Image Loading
Now you can simply click on an empty slot to load a new image. This is much easier than the old method and now functions like the original version of Bryce. Also you can replace any picture in the library by holding the “Shift” key while clicking on it.
Light Editor (dark lights & more intensity range)
The light editor now lets you make a light’s intensity negative, which results in a light that REMOVES energy instead of adding it. If your scene looks great except for one or two bright spots, just place a darklight near the bright spots to even the lighting. Also, light intensity can now go much higher (and lower) to accompany lights which use squared falloff. Lights which are very far away can also benefit from extended intensities.
New Terrain Editor Functions
We implemented an algorithm written by Ken Musgrave to create fractal terrains the way they're supposed to be made. Here are the steps to create the new type of fractal terrain:
1 - Create any old terrain.
2 - Go into the terrain editor.
3 - Select a new size for your terrain, we recommend 512 - 128 is just not enough resolution.
4 - Hold down Control.
5 - Click the fractal button.
6 - Wait for a few seconds for the terrain to be generated. It may take five to ten seconds for a really big terrain ( > 512 ).
7 - Say "Wow...what a realistic terrain I've made."
We added features to the “Canvas” or grayscale height painting section of the Terrain Editor to improve productivity.
• Hold down the shift key to constrain pen to movements in 45 degree steps.
• Hold down the Option/Alt key to paint with the inverse color or to swap the paint/unpaint or maximum/minimum effect respectively.
• Hold down the space bar to sample grayscale height values from anywhere.
Also the Tab key switches to next tab (Elevation -> Filtering -> Pictures).
New Advanced Motion Lab Functions
• Holding the space bar while dragging in the timeline area pans through the timelines.
• The first VCR button from the left brings up the Animation Setup dialog.
• The last VCR button from the left does a preview render.
New Animation Playback & Work Area Key Commands
(All commands are presented Mac/Win)
• The “ [ “ key moves the Time Scrubber to the beginning of the working area.
• The “ ] “ key moves the Time Scrubber to the end of the working area.
• The “ \ “ key plays the animation.
• The “ < “ key moves the Time Scrubber to the previous tickmark ( default = 1 frame).
• The “ > “ key moves the Time Scrubber to the next tickmark ( default = 1 frame).
• The “Shift” key + the “ < “ key moves the Time Scrubber to the previous keyframe.
• The “Shift” key + the “ > “ key moves the Time Scrubber to the next keyframe.
• By default dragging on the end of the work area to set duration snaps to every frame, holding “Shift” key while dragging causes it to snap to the tick marks.
• By default dragging on the end of the work area to set duration snaps to every frame, holding “Option/Alt” key while dragging causes it to not snap at all.
• Holding the “Shift” key while clicking on the “Next Keyframe” button will advance the Time Scrubber to the next frame.
• The “S” key switches between the animation palette and the selection palette.
New Object Editing Key Commands
(All commands are presented Mac/Win)
• By holding down the “X”, “Y” or “Z” keys, you can move and rotate objects along the selected world space axis. This works regardless of the editing mode you have selected through the edit palette. In other words, if you hold down the “X” key and drag an object, it will only be able to move left and right. For the “Y” key, up and down, and for the “Z” key, in and out.
• Holding the “Shift” key while clicking on the Origin Point of an object will reset the Origin Point to the default position.
• “Cmd/Ctrl” + “Shift while clicking on the Origin Point of an object will set the Origin Point to the center of all the object in the scene.
• Clicking then holding the space bar while positioning an object with its Origin Point showing will cause the Origin Point to stay in position while the object moves.
Key Commands in the Advanced Motion Lab
(All commands are presented Mac/Win)
• Cmd/Ctrl drag on a selected keyframe to copy and move it in time.
• Option/Alt drag on a keyframe, if more than two keyframes are selected, will uniformly scale the keyframes as the time increases or decreases.
• The “I” key with a position keyframe selected toggles between spline interpolation and linear interpolation.
• Pgup / PgDwn moves up / down through the timelines.
• Arrow up/down moves up / down through the timelines one at a time.
• Home/End moves to the first/last displayed timeline.
• Cmd/Ctrl “S” turns the selection filter On/Off.
• Cmd/Ctrl “H” turns the hierarchy filter On/Off.
• Cmd/Ctrl “Q” Collapses/Uncollapses the timelines for all objects.
• Cmd/Ctrl “E” Expands/Collapses the objects hierarchies.
• Cmd/Ctrl “Z” is Undo/Redo.
The Curve Editor
• Zoom in is when the cursor is a magnifying glass.
• Zoom out by “Shift” clicking is when the cursor is a magnifying glass.
• Pan by holding the space bar down while dragging.
•Cmd/Ctrl + “Shift” + Click will reset the view in the Curve Editor.
If you need further assistance, you may contact MetaCreations’ Technical Support in any of the following ways:
Web Support
Many of the answers to your questions are available 24 hours a day on our
website: http://www.metacreations.com/support
To answer your technical support question most effectively and quickly, please use the email form provided to you on our website.
If you do not have World Wide Web access, please send e-mail to:
bryce@metacreations.com
Phone Support
Phone support hours are Monday–Friday, 8:00 AM–5:00 PM Pacific Standard Time, excluding holidays. Call (408) 430-4063. When calling, please have your serial number handy and be at the computer that you need assistance.
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