So these were made completely in Poser, back in 2005(!) For the life of me I can't remember how it was done and I would like to try it again. I've searched the forums for nano, microscope, spikes. Anyone have a clue how it was done? Back then there were several threads about how this was done and the shaders used here at RO, I think (could have been rdna) but I can't find anything for it. I know it was just common primitives used and somehow manipulated. It's not displacement maps. I don't have the completed scenes or saved props but I still have the shaders!

Actually, I've been thinking about this ... I think I figured it out. I used this technique when I was trying to get street lights to look more realistic back in Poser 6. I have it in a Poser book on P6 ... HERE is a tutorial on it. Basically what it is is the "gather" node, which no longer exists as far as I can see. What it did was "gather" the light from a nearby object. So it is sort of a glow in reverse. It was a work around for the day.

Oh darn, too late to edit my post. In my head of course I was more specific. What I'm wondering on how it was done was how were the spikes made? I remember it was a fairly easy thing once the (points, vertices?) were selected and then I think dials were spun to get them to grow or shrink. These were all ones I made in Poser. I don't remember using another program and importing an .obj, or using a displacement map.

Also, I wish I could (easily) search all posts from 2005 to see if it was even here where all this info was shared.

Displacement?

As far as that goes ... I think displacement is the answer here. It was the first time displacement was used in Poser and a big deal.