Paul,

First off, great pic. Looks like your getting the hang of our Vue program in record pace! Nice job.

For a scene like this one, I would try a Spectral atmosphere, and use Global Ambience for the lighting model. It will render much faster-- especially with all the trees. GI, AO, and Radiosity, IMO aren't necessary as they provide subtle shading effects which wouldn't be visible in a scene like this one.

In fact, for those of you who worry about why your scene looks like a small model, and not like a vast vista, I'd make the same recommendation regarding lighting model.

Paul, next in the Fog and Haze tab, there's a quality boost setting which should be pretty high as well, to remove the noise from the light rays. This setting can be a very render intensive and time consuming.

Next try 4 min 8 max subrays / pixel automatic AA at 95%. You may also want to soften the sunlight to something like 5. Sometimes, duplicating the sun and positioning it as a fill light works better than adding a bunch of ambient light (which creates more noise). If you do dupe the sunlight, be sure and use a cool dark color and turn shadows off.

Keep up the good work!

best,
Chipp

PS. I do find it a bit offensive your icon and some of the language you've used in previous comments. Sometimes my daughter, who's not yet a teenager visits these boards. Thanks for your discretion in these matters.