All these little tricks I know there must be a way of doing it... Is it easier to make engine streams for spaceships in Bryce, or in Photoshop? And if which one, how? Or some points on where to get that information? I have been playing with trying to get it working for about 3 hours now - but not really getting anywhere. tracy-ann

I am not sure what kind of effect you are going for but it is fairly easy to get it in Bryce though it sometimes requires some touch up in Photoshop ... You looking for the rocketship burst or more of the hyperspace after trail from the engine? (Not sure on how to explain it) ...

Seeing your image above I can see sorta what effect you are going for. What I would probably do is create a sphere. Kind of shape it like an M&M and apply the green lit materials from the miscellaneous or complex section. You can color it to what you are looking for and perhaps dim the opacity and add another smaller version as the core. Could also put a little light in the center. That should help some. One thing to worry about is the light bouncing off of nearby planets and such sometimes. Could also stretch out the sphere so it trails better. I hope that helps and sorry about rambling .. need to wake up ...

You can also try to use electricity material or sparks material and apply it to a long bumpy stretchy curved nurb. That sounded funny , also you could try using volumetric or metallic material as well and then use a broad spotlight over it. This is something that I've been experimenting with for a few days now and I'm still trying different materials. Hope this helps