Many folks have provided some very insightful answers to the poster's original questions. My assumption is that giddings came to this forum in an honest attempt to get a balanced perspective from folks who know the tool the best. ["I figured this was the place to get honest answers"] Is there anything else needed to round out the review? Could we help in any way with examples of what Bryce is best at? [Good place to start is the gallery.] Or show how our best practitioners organize their workflow? [The tutorials!] I'd also like to know, what was that first "simple landscape" that took so long to render? Was it appropriate for the Bryce tool? Could the experts here provide assistance on how to improve it or make the workflow better? Could the artistic concept of the scene be better handled, quicker, with another tool? This is a difficult question, as all our expertise is different on different tools. [I'd like to buy Maya someday, but I'm sure my first renders would be dissapointing, particularly after checking the bank balance.] The absolute best "feature" of Bryce is this Renderosity community. Until seeing the efforts being posted here, my renders were pretty pathetic. [Some may say they still are, but everything is relative. Actually I post mostly in Poser or Mixed Media.] I plan on using this Renderosity "feature" of Byrce for continuous improvement.