Marc, I can answer half of your question: before the sword will be visible, you have to give it something to reflect. You've chosen a chrome-like texture, which doesn't have much of an intrinsic color of its own. The quickest way to give it something to reflect is to add a sky to your scene. 1. Click the word Scene in your Instances palette (it's in a larger font than the other items, but it's clickable) 2. In the Effects palette above that, go to the Atmosphere section and click the word None to show a pop-up menu of atmosphere choices. Choose Sky. 3. You'll see a pop-up menu of sky presets. Try one and render your scene. You should see the sword. Once you have some more objects in your scene, your sword will reflect those, and it will be that much more realistic looking. - Joe