Why do my trees (especially the leaves) look so crap? I'm on about the default ones - theyjust don't look reall enough. My vue ones are much better. Help? PLease?

To get good trees you have to go into the tree lab and fool with the controls. To get there select the tree then clcik the little "e". http://www.brycetech.com has a good tutorial on what the different settings do. If you have the 5.01 patch hold down the alt key when clicking on the create tree icon and a load window will appear with some fairly good tree presets. If you create a tree in the tree lab that you like you can select that tree then ctrl click the create tree icon and save the tree. Also many people have done some trees with settings on websites (can't find the URL right now) or in the freestuff or the marketplace.

For the leaves, you'd better use a photo of a real leaf. Search through the forum for a series of posts that I posted with photos of leaves. madmax created transparency maps for them and Zhann named them all. :-) Hmm, I could post another photo or two. Especially since I bought a digital camera.

For close-up trees, get leaf photos, as Erlik says above. For trees you are going to put in the middle-distance or distance, try using some photos of tree foliage to make picture textures, using parametric or random settings. This works especially well for trees which are meant to be large, as it breaks down the leaf outline and gives the impression of smaller leaves, and more of them. you also get a variation in leaf colour, which helps with the realism. For the trees themselves, you do need to experiment with the settings. You can also get some interesting shapes by skewing them with the Resize controls. For mature trees, try combining two or more slightly different trees together - you get more branches, and you can add branches where Bryce won't put them, such as low on the trunk, or to make an asymmetrical crown. Bryce trees can actually look quite good, and I think it's a lot of fun experimenting with them. It does take time to learn what works and what doesn't, though.

Thanks chaps and chapesses - I will try them all - but just a beginner.