Scott, Hi and how are you. I've just recently started lurking the modeling forum in hopes to pick up a tip or two. I'm a trueSpace user. Who laughed? Hey, I also have Lightwave. But I enjoy tS more. But that is not the point of this discussion is it. "If I create a simple ball prop. I should be able to render it so it looks like a real Ball without any textures applied to it. " There is no program that lets you hit a button to render a simple sphere photo-real. As been stated textures and lighting are key here. If you know your way around 3d and getting all these calls because of your talent then you should be fully aware of this. "I have tried every thing from Maya to 3dwings. And everything in between." I checked out your gallery and since May of 2000 you have posted one Bryce image and the rest are Poser. Don't bother checking my gallery for it would stink it up. I'm just pointing that out. I actually like the one with the pups alot. I'm not saying you haven't tried the other programs either. "Who said it's secret software? Not me. I said "Special". I was just asking what the studios use" In the begining you posted..... "Who is hiding the secret to creating a truly realistic rendering engine?" You don't seem to care for anyone's answer as to what the studios use. I believe if you research the company websites they'll have employment opportunities listed and what software is used. That should answer everything for you. "I know It exists. I've seen the results in lower budget work such as "Walking with Dinosaurs"." If they are on a budget I doubt they are using a expensive secret. Probably Lightwave or Max. Again, researching the company that did the animation will answer this as well. Now comes my uneducated and very novice thoughts. From my reading of 3d it is stated that in order of importance for any 3d image/animation is 1)Lighting 2)textures 3)modeling That vase image by agentsmith is proof to that. An amazing image. From what little I understand of Maya is that the Mental Ray render is programmable. If I'm wrong about this, please, someone inform me. If that is so then perhaps that is where the secret lies. A smart programmer. I doubt that anything I've written will convince you or anyone else for that matter. I wish I could understand your resistance. I hope your travels are succesful but do be more open minded. I do understand where you are coming from. On the Shrek DVD they state that they used only 10% off the shelf programs and the rest they programmed. Also, Messiah was a in house only animation tool for awhile. I'm sure that there are alot of in house tools to help ILM animatior/texture artist/etc. jobs easier than yours or mine. But with effort and a good 3d program, anything can be acomplished. And don't take offense to anything I've posted here. It is not to be that way. I hope I've been of some help. Vincent