Thanks Cyberbeast. Perhaps my images might have benefited from photrealism but that wasn't the goal. I intended them to be symbolic- perhaps another level of reality. At any rate, I didn't have the time. The reason for their being was a thread at the Bryce Forum. People were complaining that with today's software and readily available models that there was no longer any value in skill or craftsmanship. The fear was that anyone with a few dollars could create decent work without requiring any actual ability. I set a personal public challenge to create a series of simplistic work, with very basic models, during the coming weekend. The goal was to produce something that some might consider "artistic", thus showing that art went beyond mere craftsmanship or component parts. In total the set, including the web pages, took about 16 hours. The forum members received it very well and as I said, a number of people were actually willing to pay money for prints. I found it particularly interesting that the images appealed to the technically savvy Bryce Forum members as well as public gallery goers who knew nothing of digital techniques but were interested in "art". Frankly, I was surprised at how well this series was accepted for in terms of time or effort it was a trivial undertaking. My comments in this thread are not intended to belittle photorealism. It definitely has its place and its admirers. But Renderosity portrays itself as a place for artists and I contend only that there are other, equally valuable, approaches to art. If this contention is true then future advances in computing hardware and software, while not insignificant, will not be the sole or even major determination or influence for digitally created art. Therefor I must conclude that no, it will not be silly if we are still rendering our efforts when computer game imagery finally rivals reality. In fact, presumably the same tools available to game designers will also be available to other artists. My comments so far have been somewhat academic. But on a personal note I have never been much interested in reality in my imagery. The big advantage of artistic imagination is that it doesn't have to be constrained by the mundane mechanics of the "real" world just because today's software is so adept at producing "real world" effects. If your preference is for photorealism then more power to you. It is a worthy goal. I intend no argument, just an alternate (and I hope legitimate) viewpoint. - Jack