First let me apologize in advance as I know my reply will be a rather lengthy one, but the best way I know to clear the air is to try and say what you mean and mean what you say. So I will attempt to explain. To begin, I want to thanks one and all who responded to this "cry for help". Your encouragement and comments here mean a lot. Not so much because I want my ego feed, though I am human and we all like to feel appreciated. But rather, because I truly want to get better and I find it frustrating when I specifically turn to this forum for feedback on an issue I am trying to better understand - such as the recent lighting test I posted (just one example of several I could cite) - and I get very little or no response. Rather discouraging. Not only to me, but to others struggling along to improve as well, I am sure. I finally decided I must be going about this all wrong, and that the only way I was know to fix it is to lay my cards on the table, hence the reason for this post. I know the folks here are basically really nice people and do not want to hurt anyones feeling, but sometimes I need to be told things I may not know or may not wish (at firt) to hear. I am well aware that I am no Rembrant or Picaso, so I have no false illusions about my Art. A comment, like the ones Aprilysh made here, may sting the pride if one let's them, but when given honestly the feedback offered can only help show a path to improvement. Provided the comments made are the right ones, which is why it helps when others also comment and either support or refute the points being made with their own thoughts and comments. In the example here, Aprilysh was able to state what seemed wrong, but was unable to suggest a way to fix it. Okay, no problem so long as someone else picks up the ball, so to speak, and gives some additional enlightenment. That way, I can try to make an informed decision on the criticism being made and what needs to be done to address it. It may be I am going about this all wrong. Hey, I am an old dog and am sometimes slow to learn a new trick. When I first became a member here, when we wanted feedback on a WIP, we posted it here to the Forum. Well that doesn't seem to work anymore, as the last few time I have tried clearly show. More often than not these days, I feel like a I'm sitting on the sidelines watching the game, while this little kid inside me keeps crying out, hey coach let me in." The most recent example of this was the Flute (V2 little girl) preset I finally posted to Free stuff. If it had not been for a private email to bloodsong (bothering her when I know how busy she is) I would still be waiting to get the figure finished as I got almost no comment from here when I asked for help. Okay, I got big shoulders. I struggled along, I persevered. I bugged bloodsong. I over came. :o) But, now, some 800 plus downloads later, I still haven't a clue as to whether or not the preset has been of any use to anyone, or if it has bugs in it that need to be fixed, etc.! Without feedback, I must assume that everything is okay and that no one is having any problems with the file, or else it is really lousy and they have no use for it. Like so many here, I do not have the luxory of a lot of time, but I do want to give back when and as often as I can. But that is complicated when I start a project, need an answer, and have problems getting it. It is also sort of hard to improve that way, which only means that the next Free item or Art work I post will probably be as flawed as the ones before. Lastly, I know that I am not the only one feeling this way. I am not sure what can be done. I do understand why a lot of this happens, as mentioned in this thread by some of you. But this is a community and like any communtiy we all have our individual strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes, viewpoints and opinions. This gives us a wide range of diversity and what should be a great source to tap into for comment and feedback, particularly when you paused to note the number of surfers currently online. Can that many people not have an opinion? G Thanks for indulging me. And a special thanks to any of you who actually read through this discourse, your patience alone is admirable. (shadownet will shut up now and let the issue lie, chips faling where they may)