Corel Corporation has announced Bryce 5, the latest version of its 3D landscape creation and animation application. Available for the Macintosh and Windows platforms, the program, part of Corel’s creative collection, is scheduled for shipment in July 2001. Bryce 5 is Corel’s first application designed specifically for Apple’s new Mac OS X platform. Corel plans to release a number of products for the new operating system over the coming months. “With Bryce 5, we are delivering on our promise to release exceptional applications for Mac OS X,” said Ian LeGrow, executive vice-president of creative products at Corel. “Based on customer feedback, we’ve tailored Bryce 5 to meet the needs of serious Bryce users and 3D graphic artists. This includes the addition of time-saving Network Rendering and the ability to create premium photorealistic images.” Bryce 5 lets users create photorealistic landscapes, models and other images. The new platform independent network rendering feature increases rendering speed through the use of multiple computers for a single image or animation. There is no limit to the number of systems used, enabling Mac and Windows users to render their images on either or both platforms simultaneously. The Tree Lab feature enables the creation of organic 3D trees. Users specify the exact look and feel of trees in a scene - from the number of needles on a branch to selecting one of over 60 different tree types. Metaballs are a primitive object type that enable users to create and experiment with organic shapes quickly. In addition, the Light Lab gives more robust control over lighting direction, intensity and tinting, which increases the accuracy of the production of real-world environments. For more information visit www.corel.com.