Um... some possible dumb questions
fictionalbookshelf
Posts: 837
Okay I am not new to 3d. I am new to Bryce.
I have caught on rather quickly in Bryce to so many things and I am loving it but I have some questions. I've been browsing Horo's website trying to soak in tutorial information and other websites as well but I'm not finding answers to a few questions that's been plaguing me.
When I see Bryce Scenes for sale or for free many of the descriptions say things like trees (using trees as an example only) created specifically for this scene as well as realistic textures. So when I look at what's included such as what files, it's a just one scene file or however many scenes that come with the set. No separate materials file or object files for Bryce. It's just those scenes. So my possible dumb question is when the creators save the scenes does the scene automatically save the textures, object and etc? Meaning they don't need to save materials file, obj file and then the scene calls up those items from a Bryce runtime?
I guess what I am getting at is in Daz and Poser you have your Geometries folder, a pose folder for materials and or a materials folder for materials, and in the runtime folder the actual textures folder containg the jpeg/png/tiff images that textures the objects. So when you click on a scene file or prop, or figure - Daz or Poser needs to have all those folders in place in order for the prop/scene/or figure to work right.
But in Bryce I am not sure if that is the case because of the couple scenes I have bought all that there was is the Bryce scene file. The textures, objects and etc appeared just like the promo image.
I realize that you can buy or download Bryce materials, objects and etc so you can create your own scene therefore artists save the objects and materials separately, which I have figured out how to do.
I am asking this because I have created a few scenes that came out really nice. I have saved them, used them over and over for my own use but I love to share. If I wanted to share a scene it would be with items I purposely create myself. I wouldn't be sharing anyone elese's terrains, materials and etc -. I want to in the future share scenes that I have created from scratch.
Also I love the sky lab. I have saved several skies I've made and I notice on some of the thumbnails there is an a little H icon in the corner at least I think it's an H. The icon is small so I maybe wrong. Anyways what does the H stand for?
Now I am going to go hide under a rock because I feel so silly for asking this stuff.
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Comments
The H shows that the sky has a HDRI image loaded with it. If you look in the IBL tab you will see what HDRI this is. If things like HDRI and IBL sound a bit mysterious, this is something you can learn about on Horo's site or here http://www.bryce-tutorials.info/bryce-tutorials.html or indeed here https://www.youtube.com/user/davidbrinnen
OK now for your other question... The nice thing with Bryce is that it wraps everything up in one file. This means you can share a file and the recipient gets all the content wrapped up in a nice bundle. The down side, well... mainly that that source files get very large. Also you may find you inadvertently share content that isn't strictly speaking yours to share.
You can export some of the Bryce made things in mesh files - some things export better than others. And there are various Bryce specific formats for the libraries that also can be exported for sharing. For a run down of those and other useful things to know. I highly recommend reading this if you've not already done so.
http://horo.ch/docs/mine/pdf/BryceContent_v4.pdf
And don't be afraid to ask more questions or ask for clarification, we all have to learn sometime!
Thank you very much! This helps a bunch.
Edited to ask
So would saving a Bryce object I made with textures I made all be in the OBP file? Like the scene as well.
@fictionalromance - it is generally a good idea to save parts you made in the Objects library. The Objects library holds the object as it was when it was saved: including materials and textures.
Even trees you made in the Tree lab should be saved in the Objects library. There are means to save trees otherwise, but only the trunk material is retained, the material for the foliage is lost. A tree saved in the Objects library keeps everything and the tree can even be modified in the Tree lab later.
About the H on the thumbnails in the Sky Lab: of course, David is right. This H flags that an HDR Images is used in the sky. Unfortunately, however, sometimes the H is added even though there was no HDRI included when the sky setting was saved. But if you have saved a sky with the HDRI, the HDRI is in the library, not elsewhere. Since HDRIs can be quite large and no library must grow beyond 2 GB, not many such skies can be saved in the same library. But then, you can open a new library anytime and there's no limit in the number of sub-folders and libraries.
The 2 GB limit applies to all libraries, also the Objects library. Take the time to check the file size from time to time. Once the 2 GB are overrun, the library is corrupt and cannot be recovered. Everything in the library is lost for good. Better be save than sorry.
FWIW, I believe the answer is simpler than being presented... - I gently submit that all of the parts are there, but I don't believe they've answered the question in way that I once needed it answered.
Let me give it a try...
When you receive a Bryce scene-file - *any* Bryce scene-file, you can either save, or 'copy' and 'paste' *anything* from that scene file into any other Bryce scene-file you are working on. Sometimes you may want to create a scene file that contains nothing but a brilliantly produced cloud slab, that you can pull into another scene later.
Additionally, for certain materials, objects, and 'entities' (e.g. skies), you can save them directly to your existing or home-made Bryce libraries.
So... a complicated scene-file, while kind of singular, is in many ways *like* a zip archive of all the goodies in that scene, and the Bryce program is the "unzipper"...
Please realize that all of those scene items are yours to use and extract for your use, you do need to be aware that each element is not yours to 'share' without the permission of the original seller/creator. There are many ways things can be made available to you, but it makes sense that typically, most things you buy cannot be resold/given away... I'm not sure what happens if I buy a sky, change it a bit, then want to share it, but in this community and context, I don't think that's much of an issue or concern. Most folks here just want to render and see cool renders. Not a huge amount of $$ to be had in filching Bryce skies, me-thinks.
From here I may need correction:
- to get clouds-slabs out of a scene, select the cloud slab, copy (ctrl-c), open a new document (existing or new), and paste it in (ctrl-v), tweak it, save to a new scene, etc.
- to save skies, open the Bryce sky library, pick a folder/collection, press the 'add' button and name/describe it so you can find it later.
- to save objects/things, select the thing(s) and either export as a mesh, or save to your Bryce object library folder/collection as above
- to save materials, select the item with the material, and save it to your Bryce material librar(ies) in the same way as objects/skies
- I'm not sure about trees, but would assume that they're saved like cloud slabs or a library of their own.
- snazzy terrains can be saved in the terrain editor with the export command (as a greyscale square image - Horo has indicated the best formats in a few threads), or exported as meshes (I believe there's a dedicated dialog for terrain saving as meshes)
- And I believe saving HDRI's from a scene is done in the IBL/skylab, with the export button/options. You can save HDRIs from scenes, or make your own from your own skies. See David and Horo's videos on this process (you may need some additional scene-mapping tools that are very affordable at Daz).
- animation paths can be saved in the Bryce path libraries, and used later with other things attached to those paths.
I believe this stuff is so common-sense to my many Bryce-heros (Mr Brinnen, Horo, Mr Carter, Oroboros, etc. etc. etc.) that I fear they have no idea how many various ways there are to see this amazing Bryce world and its conventions for the first time - especially if you come from another 3D "neighborhood" and have seen the variety of conventions that are out there, etc.
I thank them profusely and recommend that you watch their every video 4 times (Rashad's PDFs/tutorials too), and buy everything they produce, as it is all amazing, and you will certainly get support, even if you don't understand a lot of it at first.
cheers,
mindsong
Thanks everyone.
Trust me anything I create will be from scratch. I make props and clothing for Daz and give them away for free. Then I just had to start using Bryce and I love how everything renders beautifully. So I wanted to make sure how to save what I make because I am thinking of offering my props for Daz and Bryce both.
I already figured out how to save materials and objects from scenes for my personal use. I love that you can do that. I have bought several of David and Horo's items and Estevez plus a few content bundles. I have a huge wishlist of Bryce stuff I want to get in the near future. In the meantime I am learning by doing and reading/watching tutorials.
I hope I didn't sound accusatory or condescending! It's clear by your questions/comments that you know what's going on in 3D, and you respect intellectual property.
I hope, at the risk of being too simple, my answer may help others (like myself), save some tufts of hair as we collectively sort out this beast called Bryce.
I suppose it was a long-term generic answer to a question that I had for the longest time, and really wish someone had told me sooner. Hopefully it will serve others who need the detail more than you probably did.
cheers,
mindsong
Fictional Romance, I too will buy scene files, especially when they contain Trees and plants, and Estevez tends to have 2 different types of trees in his scenes, Some are Bryce trees (form the tree lab, and some are mesh trees he has made. The only problem I have found with the mesh trees, when saving them out to use in your own scenes, is that the has a habit of just labeling the parts as "part 1", "part 2" etc, so often it is handy to relabel the parts before you save them to a library, in case, like me, you end up with well populated scenes and will find you have many parts just labeled "part 1" which can be annoying if you want to change materials to give variation in your scene.
Though DAZ 3D insists that individual part in a mesh are clearly identified, it happens that some don't do it properly. When I encounter such a model, I go through all parts, identify and rename them. Parts that have the same material are given a family. Then I save the model in the Objects library. Though this is very tedious and time consuming, it will save a lot of time when the model is used in a render and needs other materials applied.
Oh no I don't find it condescending. I also thank you for you input. I do hope other newbies like me find it useful.
@Horo & Chohole Thank you for the tips on renaming parts
This is also exactly what I do.
I'm not sure about other platforms but one thing to note on Mac is that when you change the family colour name (so for instance, if you decide all chrome is going to be family colour 'White' and you name that family 'Chrome Bits'). it's great in the document but as soon as you save the object to your object library, it will loose the custom family name you've given it.
It's not a big issue, because it's not much time to just relabel them in the new document.
@Dave - that's so, also on the PC. The rationale behind this is that the family name belongs to the artwork, not to the object. The colour, however, belongs also to the object. I'm not exactly a great fan of this but on the other hand, if you load different objects with the same colour but different names assigned, Bryce will get confused.
And I'd like to add one more thing. There's no such thing as a dumb question. Just people with questions, hoping to find answers.