Again, I do NOT wanna piss off anyone here, as it's just my crappy opinion, and to each his own...
I Could not agree more with Rage. I really did not want to offend anyone I was simply speaking out of angst and frustration towards those depend on the presets and default shaders, yet get the most attention and are regarded as being "Skilled Modellers." As Laurie priest said many art communities are overcrowded with those who simply think they're the best because they abuse the presets. I think presets can be great for example purposes when it comes to learning how things work and are put together on a professional level, I know I have learned much from looking at the presets in the Maya shader library as well as the fluid presets and even some character models on the A|W website. However for those who abuse them, defaults and presets do an injustice to those artists who actually spend weeks or months modelling/texturing/mapping/rigging and animating a quality character. I do understand that Bryce is a good stepping stone towards greater 3d programs like Maya and I agree with you that many people have used it and have learned much from them. I know I have used it quite a few times in the past before I even knew what Maya was, and I still use it occasionally(rarely) today. It's just sad when people claim they are skilled because they simply create a sphere, use the multi replicate tool, and slap on a F-ing Christmas Ball shader for every single image they make.
I call Bryce "crap" because it has the single most agonizing and painful workflow/interface layout from just about any other software program I have ever used in my life. I appreciate that not everyone feels this way about the program, but once again, I am only stating my opinion. I did not want to seem ignorant or biased, and I do not consider myself either since I have experience with those programs. I just think the purpose of threads like these are for people to state what they think about the program. I know I have read posts on this site by people claiming the Maya software renderer was "crap." While I do not fully agree with this I can understand that they feel that way and once again, the purpose of threads like these are for people to state their opinion.
If on the the other hand you were to post an image that I did not particularily like I would not bash it and call it a crappy image, because that obviously does not help anything. Instead I would simply state that I did not like it and explain why I did not like it as well as offer constructive criticism on how I think it could be improved.
I know I may seem a bit blunt on this subject, but as I said I do not think the best image should go to those who use the best presets.
To each his own.
-Aerlinger
"The nutmeg is the epitome of nuts"