You gave up C4D for bryce? C4D has one of the easiest shader systems (sorry, material; I’m used to Maya now) that I’ve ever used. Not as powerful as Maya, but a hell of a lot more intuitive, at least to beginners. I’d highly recommend that you stick with C4D and play around with the shaders some more.
FWIW, I find that making the materials is the best part of the whole process. I made a great carbon-fiber material the other day…it’s so fun making these glorious shiny objects that you just want to pick up and heft and feel the smoothness of their surface…