It's not a problem surely. It is a EUREKA moment!

As this WIP gets further along are we going to get to see the "object that has shocked, puzzled and concerned the archeologists"? My curiosity is UP!

Cool image. You have a gift for attention to detail. Obviously an asset in work like this. I appreciate the exploded image too. That helps to make the operation of this filter more understandable for someone like me who has no background in these.

When are we going to see the current version of this wonderful WIP?

Alan, you say you still have a lot to learn about Bryce but it is obvious that you have learned a lot ALREADY! Either that or you apparently have some other advanced modeling skills from other applications. I like your cutaway. Very precise and yet has some nice extra touches that really adds to the appeal (ie, the little pieces of dirt & gravel). I vote for the technique of the two separate renders. That would be the simplest to achieve I would think and in the business world the quicker route is more money in the bank as long as the result is as desired.

Ricky, my personal opinion... The foreground might have more contrast. Less haze in the foreground. Not sure how you are doing this but maybe your camera is too far away and with too narrow of a field-of-view? That would cause more haze to be evident in the foreground.

Hey, I like building things in Bryce, but I've never put anything together to upload. I'm not really sure how to go about it. How do you prepare a "construction" and save it out of Bryce so that it can be uploaded to here? Any tips in that area? I've noticed a "export object" command under the file menu but it always seems to be grayed out. What kind of object CAN be exported? and how do you make that kind of object with Bryce? -- Jeff in Arkansas

Yeah, I've noticed there are a lot of whiners and gripers here. When they are complaining about a glitch or bad design in some software or something then that is understandable and workarounds need to be found if possible. But lots of people get their "feelings" hurt for just about anything. I think they'd be happier if they'd learn to just let it slide like water off a duck's back. But, I also understand that they're artists and artists (of any sort) can be tempermental and moody. Live and learn.

Thanx again everyone for the great tips. I've found some other useful information elsewhere in this forum as well. Quite a bummer to me that Wyrmmaster is closing shop at the end of this month. That is TOO SOON! And Becco, I did NOT know that Maya doll was free. That is great news and especially thanks for the link. I went there and downloaded and will soon try her out.

Thanx for the suggestions. I am already signed up with DAZ (but I've never bought anything, just got the freebies and looked at the public gallery), and the announcement about the Platinum Club is what prompted me to try to find out where would be a good place to start. Does anyone else have any other advice?

Okay, you've all hit a nerve with me for sure! I have for a long long time been totally baffled by how prolific so many of you are in your artwork. I know you must be spending a LOT of time at it for these pieces to come out as beautiful as they do and for you to have developed the skills you have. Let me say now that I for one have noticed and admire and appreciate all of your hard labors to bring these fascinating bits of eye candy to us. If you will look at my gallery you will notice that I haven't added to it in ages. I have realized that I am at an awkward stage in my skills. Finally advanced enough that I can (sometimes) create some decent images worthy of sharing. And advanced enough that as I get into an image I am working on I think of ways to tweak it and fine-tune it to make it better, or things that it needs that I am just "not quite there yet" to do. And all this adds greatly to the time it takes to finish a piece. I have dozens and dozens of unfinished pictures and pieces of pictures all over my hard-drive and on CDs and such. My hat is off to all of you for your great dedication and perseverance!!! -- Jeff in Arkansas

Thanx for the tips about getting my scene dark to work in. I have tried a few more experiments and though I am not fluent with it yet, I think I am beginning to understand it better. You've been a big help!

This is fascinating image. Thanx for sharing with us this simple but amazing discovery you made. I do have one novice Bryce question in regards to this. You said that there is "no sunlight on this one, of course." I have struggled many many times to try to figure out the "no sunlight" settings. If I select "disable sunlight" in the sky lab my scenes do get darker but they don't get DARK. And the sky hardly changes at all. Any tips for me on this?

Wow indeed! This is incredible. An excellent modeling job and render for anyone and for this to be from a newbie is awesome! Your lighting is superb as well. Okay, so you told us how you did the LPs... I'm curious how you did the arm for the needle? That doesn't look like a standard Bryce shape for sure.