Not much help will this be, but I'll try... >To get the best of both worlds in other programs its not >unusual to use a high-res map for reflections and a low-res map >for the IBL. Does Bryce 6 allow for this also? No. >Do blurred or non-blurred HDRI's affect the look of the IBL? Haven't really tried, but a blurred HDR should have softer lighting, as the transitions between the light and dark areas is gradual, just like in other programs. >Does the resolution of the HDRI affect the results in terms >of lighting? Not that I can tell. Control-wise in Bryce 6, Quality regulates the number of rays, Intensity darkens or lightens the whole of the HDR, while HDR Effect regulates the intensity of light areas on HDR. >Can seperate HDRI's be used for HDRI reflection and IBL? No. >Also, there's already been some other tool in bryce since >version 5 that can be used for realistic lighting, known as >True Ambience. Does the HDRI and IBL support work well (or at >all) in combination with TA? And on the performance side, does >TA seem to be faster in B6 compared to B5 and 5.5? and how does >IBL affect TA performance? TA seems to be faster in B6. IBL works with TA and in the way you might expect. TA gave a lighter image because of the "reflected light" in the previous versions, and it does it again in B6. A quick and dirty test (without final results) on a P IV 1.7: 680x920 image with 140 million polygons: No IBL at all - Bryce reports to need 16:35 minutes at Regular setting, plus AA pass IBL, no background - Bryce reports to need 59 minutes at Regular, plus AA pass full IBL - Bryce reports to need 45 minutes at Regular setting, plus AA pass full IBL + TA (4 rpp) - Bryce reports it will need 4 hours The second and the third ones are fishy. But I guess the results would be different if I closed down Bryce and tried every option afresh, instead of just changing the options. PS. TA at 4 rpp without IBL says it will need 1 hour 15 minutes.

-- erlik