Daz 3d, Bryce 7, Hexagon Free for a few weeks

[Baddcog]

Like the title says, these 3 programs are few for a few weeks, then you get upgrades for a discount.

 

I haven't used any, not sure how good they are.

 

But maybe of most interest is Bryce 7. A terrain generator that might be really good for natural terrain objects to use in TDM?

 

http://www.daz3d.com/i/0/0?

[GameDevGoro]

They're OK software for what they do, but I haven't really heard anything that indicates they can be used in game engines.

I would guess they are geared towards off-line rendered images, or movies?

 

Hexagon seems to be kinda like any other 3d suite. That can probably be used for game-driven purposes...

Edited February 3, 2012 by GameDevGoro

[Xarg]

Hah, just came here to post about it. If someone in the know could let us know if this is useful, I'll probably look into grabbing it.

[Bikerdude]

They're OK software for what they do, but I haven't really heard anything that indicates they can be used in game engines.

Bryce might be perfect for creating 3D lanscape for skybox's - I am working on a mission with ERH this wold be perfect for.

[GameDevGoro]

Bryce might be perfect for creating 3D lanscape for skybox's - I am working on a mission with ERH this wold be perfect for.

 

Hmm... That sounds like it could be a possibility. I guess maybe try it out, then.

What I meant was we can't realistically use the generated models for anything other than skyboxes, or maybe intro cinematic images?

[RPGista]

Took a look at some videos of Hexagon and it seems like an interesting/easy to get a grasp on kind of modeler, reminds you a lot of Modo, I like this kind of direct modeling programs that are about ease of use and fast creation over complex modifier based ones like 3D Studio, it's just easier to work with, if more limited. So is it really free, the license wont run out?

[Baddcog]

the licsense doesn't run out, sounds like you just have to purchase future upgrades if you want to.

[Xarg]

I guess the question on everyone's (my) lips is - is this useful for TDM? Or would people be better sticking to things like Blender.

[GameDevGoro]

I guess the question on everyone's (my) lips is - is this useful for TDM? Or would people be better sticking to things like Blender.

 

Models - No. Terrains rendered into skyboxes (or something similar) - Yes.

 

 

OH! Except for models made in Hexagon, I guess. It's not as general as the other two are.

 

Well, I might as well explain it too, so it's not to confuse anyone: When I say "general", I mean that the models made with it would have to probably be optimized to be capable of real-time application such as in a game. It would work, but not without significant changes, so the long answer is that, No, a user can't pick up Daz studio, make a model with it and place it in the D3 engine and expect it to be great.

Same goes with Bryce.

They are, from what I can gather from the site and experience, not geared towards real-time application.

 

But I can of course be wrong. I've been wrong before.

Edited February 3, 2012 by GameDevGoro

[Baddcog]

Thanks for the run down. I just saw it posted elsewhere so I dl'ed but haven't got to open them yet. The descripts on the website didn't give a good description at first glance.

 

Bryce is the only one that sounded familiar and I know people have used it for skybox images before but wasn't sure how far that went.

[demagogue]

For myself I don't want to switch tools lightly just because it's such a learning curve for each one. I already invested in learning Lightwave & a little ZBrush so it's not worth learning another one. For landscapes I used terragen before and still have an copy somewhere. Is Bryce better than that? (Edit: Hmm, the formusphere is more keen on Terragen it seems.) But anyway I don't know that I'd be building skyboxes anyway. ... Well now that you can put synched architecture into a skybox, I might be more interested in playing with the skybox more. And free app is free.

[Serpentine]

Not to be a prick, but I was fairly interested - I remember playing with Bryce 4, 11 odd years ago?

 

It looks like almost nothing has changed in it, even the demo shots look barely any better, the tool interfaces seem to be close to what I remember, and they've only managed to bump the version number by 3 in that time?

 

I guess looking at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryce_(software) it becomes a bit obvious that it's some kind of opportunistic cash cow... and the price was hardly low ;/

[Xarg]

Hrm that's two mods I'm not really hearing anything decent (as far as this enabling people to contribute things to them), so I'm beginning to think that free or otherwise, it may still not be worth the download because it just isn't really usable. Guess I'll stick to failing horribly in Blender.

[GameDevGoro]

it may still not be worth the download because it just isn't really usable.

 

No, they aren't. They are not meant to be used in games.

 

Stick with Blender. Bryce and Daz studio don't come close to it in terms of value in context to games and game engines.

And Hexagon, is probably like Milkshape 3D, an OK modeling tool that can be used for games, but again- Not even close to Blender.

Edited February 4, 2012 by GameDevGoro

[SeriousToni]

Cool! But isn't Vue better than Bryce?

[RPGista]

I think its also a lot about production pipeline - I'm good at nurbs modeling but they are very awkward to translate to meshes, so they are in fact not suited for 3d gaming, where you should have a good control of how much polygons you have and where should the detail go, manually. Hexagon seems like a easy to use, hands on modeler which can probably model anything you want, if you can get the hang of it, it's probably worth it to use a program like that (even if unsupported by the gaming community, meaning without plugins, etc), and then using blender for the exporting procedure, as it has the community tools. Its about what you feel good using, I cant really get my head around 3DS or Blender's modeling mechanics for example, but Im feeling confortable learning Modo steadily, it would be ok then to model anything on that program and then use Blender for the rest of the process - which means you dont need to master the whole process in one tool and be confined to it, you can do your modeling here, your UV mapping and texturing there, and then use this to convert, etc. I wouldnt mind taking a look at these, they are free after all and if you feel confortable learning them, great.

Edited February 4, 2012 by RPGista

[Nosslak]

I haven't used any of these programs but couldn't you just generate terrain with Bryce and import it into an optimization tool (Blender has a Decimation modifier if nothing else but it's not very good), then just export it to Blender or whatever to do vertex colors and export it for D3? It might not result in as good/optimized terrain as if you'd model everything by hand but it shouldn't require much time/skill.

[rich_is_bored]

You can export a height map from Bryce. That's probably the easiest way to get useful data out.

[AluminumHaste]

Terragen and Vue are the defacto terrain generators that I've heard of. Almost every desktop background that has generated terrain was made with either terragen or Vue. I personally used Terragen to make a skybox for Quake 3 back in the day, the program is very easy to set up and use.

[betpet]

The price is right for me so I'm going to give them a bash. Been wanting to try Bryce out for quite a while

[RPGista]

Actually Hexagon is turning out to be a fun and easy to use modeler (for a subdivision novice like me). The surface, line and boolean tools are good features for me, coming from Rhinoceros. Oddly enough, the documentation is not linked to the program, you have to navigate manually to the program's folder, its in docs (manual, shortcuts, etc).

 

For anyone interested, this video series is a good start - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zu-xZNYYv20&feature=list_related&playnext=1&list=SP595BF1A1310CC20F

 

These are also very good - http://www.geekatpla...ials/index0.php

 

Should take a look at Bryce too, had a couple of ideas for exterior missions (if I can survive my first one), maybe it will help with the terrain.

Edited February 14, 2012 by RPGista