OK I removed the pipes on the back wall altogether. I tried the shader on the free stuff page and it has the same problem as the shader I was using. The way the light was hitting the pipes made any bump-mapping washout. Worked like a dog trying to get the cinder block wall to look good and could not get it looking right so I change to a red brick. I like how it looks but I am still going to work on the cinder block shader. Added the blue gray light as suggested by Eric and loves the effect it has on the image. I added a dial to the wall in the shadows to give a hint of more to the image. I am having a problem with the picture that I will not mention for fear of biasing you response. If you would, could you please tell me where your eye is drawn to in this picture it would help me solve my problem. Thanks for the comment on the last post everybody and please comment again on this one. -Grimpup

Grimpup, I like htis one better than the last. Nice improvements! My eyes are drawn to the wheel and the bolts right behind the wheel. The only thing that sticks out to me is the spider web. The part in the shadow appears to bright to me. But not a big deal, really. Excellent work! Clint

Hi Grimpup, This version is much improved over the last. I'm drawn to the lower portion of the pipe but then back up to explore. The forum had a discussion on brick bumps earlier. I think that those files are still up so a search for that may help. Ok, Ok, I'll admit it. I'm a spline junkie. What I like about the spline modeler though is that you can more accuratly control procedural textures (or any other texture for that matter) more concisely. The issue that you are having on the pipes (vertex I assume) is that the facets are elongated. Consequently, the textures stretch to fit. While the above image isn't the look that you are going for it is a display of the difference in mapping the corrosion shader from the free stuff section. Mark

I think this image is much improved over the original. My eyes are drawn to the hub of the wheel.

Is that spider web any different? It looks a lot different to me..maybe just the lighting tho. But I totally dig the spider web this time around..for some reason the other one looked really boxy..must be b/c the light changed. Anyway I like the picture a lot better..I really really like the web :) oh yeah..my eye seems to rest on the gauge..but I still dig the wheel so I keep going back :)

I'm writing this response before reading anyone else's, so as to avoid any influence on my comments. My eye is drawn to the bolts left of the center of the wheel. I think it has something to do with the shadow line across the top of the image and the framing by the wheel and struts. I like this image better than the first. A note (and if anybody else has said the same thing, sorry for being reduntant), the texture on the pipe still feels a bit stretched to me. I like the fact that the spider web is partially hidden in shadow, and I love the pressure gauge in the BG. Nice improvement. OK, now I'll read everybody else's comments!

Thanks for the comments. Yes the Spider web is different. At my wife's urging I removed every other strand on the web (not a fun task). It makes a world of difference in how the web looks. Judging by your comments the problem I was worried about dose not exist. After working on the wall texture for so long my eyes would only focus on the empty wall to the right. I could not tell if it was the image or me that was having the problem. For the most part your eyes travel like they should so I will not worry about it. However, always a however, when I view this on my work computer the image is really light. I can clearly see the gage on the back wall. On my home system the gage is peeking out of the shadows. How do I tell which monitor is out o' whack? I think I am going to convert every think into the spline modeler and experiment with the shader some more (thanks for the tip Mark). Thanks again for you help in this. I will post what I believe to be the finished image this weekend (I hope). -Grimpup