cog, your funny! RTFM <--- ive never seen that one, im gona add that one to my list (: i think lights are a highly underrated part of 3d. well, in the rendering part, anyways. ive never used cinema or rhino. i started with anim8tor and thats what kicked it off for me - im just a bryce/max/poser user now. peppered with the odd demo. i think maxes lighting-kit is pretty good, but i think i like bryces, over all the programs ive used. i dont think its so much that i know it so well, but rather, it was so easy to learn, imo. (if i may) having come from an early schooling in film and video and being exposed to rl lighting of sets and people, i find the bryce kit to be the most user friendly kit, for me. (take that with a grain of salt since i done have alot of 'other' software exp) the volumetric factor alone, its just a few clicks and BAM you got it. (i never did figure it out in max, though never researched either ((so i should say that i never did come 'across' it)). poser is little finicky, though ive had good experiences with it) ive always had a LOVE for volumetrics in rl. even had my own fog-machine. on the rendering side of things, i understand theres some 2d plugins, but nothing beats cutting the light, for me. (just my humble opinion on lighting though i dont know if its a statement on bryces lighting-kit, per-say, or rendering capabilities)