What is Bryce 2?

Bryce 2 is a stand-alone application that offers a revolutionary new way to design and render breathtaking natural 3D worlds and abstract 3D sculptures with unprecedented power and ease. Bryce puts the power of high-end workstations into user's hands, whether they are a beginner or a professional 3D artist. Bryce's intuitive interface simplifies learning and makes exploring creative options as fun as viewing the final masterpiece. In no time, users are rendering beautiful, never-seen-before 3D images and scenes.

Bryce 2 is dedicated to designing and rendering breathtaking natural 3D worlds and abstract 3D sculptures. Priced affordably and easy to use, Bryce 2 provides the ideal entry into 3D graphics on the Macintosh. Though inexpensive, Bryce 2 provides powerful technology on par with the best of higher-priced applications.

MetaTools, Inc. (1996) Bryce 2 Product Information. www.metatools.com/bryce/

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MetaTools' Bryce 2 generates stunning, fractal-based 3-D terrain objects that you can embellish with natural-looking textures and visual effects. Ray tracing enhances the photo-realism of these images, which are suitable for professional-level illustration, video, or multimedia production.

Beyond generating terrain objects, Bryce 2 gives you tools for building infinite planes representing the ground, water surfaces, and cloud layers; an array of object primitives for building simple structures; and an assortment of lighting options. Other tools build symmetrical terrain objects, variably shaped stones, and freestanding 2-D PICT objects. Bryce also lets you apply Booleans to grouped objects. You can gouge one object with another or build a new object from the intersecting surfaces of two shapes. However, these are rendering Booleans, not object-editing tools; the objects themselves aren't altered, and the effect exists only in the rendered image.

Bryce 2 won't be your first choice for object modeling. It's more capable than its predecessor, but its shape-manipulation capabilities are limited. Producing complex Boolean objects can be cumbersome. You will appreciate Bryce 2's ability to import models as DXF files — a feature sorely missing from version 1. Of course, Bryce's forte is creating images, not modeling, and it does that beautifully. With the terrain editor, you can manipulate the gray-scale map that controls the visual contours of mountains. You can make mountains taller or more jagged simply by painting in the editor. Other controls let you change surface conditions; for example, you can sharpen or soften edges.

The Sky&Fog palette offers a wide array of shadow, fog, haze, and cloud effects... You can adjust the clouds' frequency from a few fair-weather puffs to completely overcast, and fine-tune their density from lacy cirrus to dark, threatening nimbus. Similarly, you can obscure nearby objects with fog and drape distant mountains with wispy haze. Each element is independently adjustable and infinitely variable.

Bryce 2 offers equally extensive control over individual object texturing. The materials editor lets you combine textures and manipulate surface properties and has some of the best texturing controls anywhere. In fact, it's so easy to add rendering complexity that generating images can take hours, even on a Power Mac.

A large collection of preset options for environments, terrains, and material textures is included, as is an assortment of useful Boolean objects and PICT images. Best of all, the CD includes dozens of completed landscapes that you can deconstruct anti study

Bryce 2 invites you to experiment. Unfortunately, it also requires that you do so; the thin manual only skims the surface and would benefit from a thorough edit (for example, it refers twice to nonexistent sidebars). The CD-based documentation duplicates the printed manual, errors and all, and includes a Deep Reference that’s deep in name only. Bryce 2 isn't difficult to use, but expect to spend time learning its nuances and adjusting to its unique, visually pleasing interface.

The Last Word

Although limited in its object-modeling capabilities, Bryce 2 is wonderful for creating professional-quality 3-D landscapes and natural-looking environments. And have I mentioned how much fun it is?

Domingo Martinez, Carlos. (August 1996). Bryce 2. Macworld. (pgs. 59-60).

Download Bryce 2 for Mac

Architecture

68K + PPC (FAT)

System Requirements

From Mac OS 7.1 up to Mac OS 9.2

Compatibility notes

• MC68040 with FPU (PowerPC processor recommended)
• 8 MB RAM
• System 7.1 or later

Emulating this? It could probably run under: SheepShaver