I hate to disagree with everyone, but . . I'd say "yes", you DO have to be an artist if you want to do good work in Bryce. By that do I mean be able to draw or paint? No, but it doesn't hurt. What I mean is that success in Bryce requires the same set of inner tools that ANY artistic medium requires. The most important, I believe, is an artistic eye . . a unique way of seeing. If this is present, and you are willing to spend the time neccessary to master the tools of your craft, you'll be successful. 3D programs (especially Bryce, IMHO) can be deceptive, make a person feel like an "artist" right out of the gates. Load up the program . . throw in some objects . . load a sky, and render. Voila! An image. But is it art? The other thing I disagree with is the assessment that the Bryce manual is worth the paper it's written on. It's really not. It's Bryce kindergarten. If you want advanced education , buy and read (a million times, you should see MY tattered copy) Susan Kitchen's amazing "Real World Bryce 4". You won't regret it. That's not to say I don't think that you shouldn't read the manual if that's as far as you're willing to go with your Bryce bookwork. Personally, the very LEAST you should do is read the manual. I get the feeling (visiting the many Bryce message boards) that some people don't even do this. Some of the problems that new users come across could be avoided if they had just read the manual. Okay, rant over. Sorry to take up your time. -Otis