Open in any Video editor and do "Save frame" or the like. Lots of demo editors available for download, VideoWave is one of them and Microsoft has Windows Media tools available for free. At worst do screen capture with vid paused and edit borders (erase).

THANKS! That was the one. Best thing about this site? I got a return on my question in less time than it would have taken to take one more lap around book! Thanks again!! Seems like a small thing but you saved me from having to re-model complex piece I created in Truespace and (brain fade again... hmmm) then deleted original. thunderdon

This is just an UN-TRIED idea. Set attributes of all three objects to intersection (and apply texture of negative object to off just to be safe) and create a cube that encompasses entire model. Place it so that model is inside and as close to centered as possiable. Set cube attributes to intersection and texture. Render. If this works you may have to play with texture mapping to get right. Let me know if it works! Believe me it might not! Thunderdon. Oh, select each part of object and click on the terrain editor icon to activate the smmothing options panel for all three objects first. Make sure "solid while boolean rendering" is on for all three. Smooth while at it.

Rayraz has the answer. Just remember to set compression options on avi to none (full frames, uncompressed).

Thanks for advise and I will check threads later. I have to sign off for 2 weeks. JUST MIGHT HAVE A GREAT JOB! Assistant instructor, Computer Technologies Dept. for a local University. The next two weeks will be full of interviews and testing. ARAGH Be careful what you wish for! Anyway they came a-courting me so I have a leg up on this one already. Let you know what happens (If you hear sobbing late at night it's ME!). Don

All I can say is WOWWW. Of course I don't mind! Thats what Renderosity and these forums is all about. Plus it gives me a chance to learn. Now on THAT note would you (or could you) send me the photoshop image you created to do above. That way I can dissect the layers and history buffers to see what you did step by step. I am hoping that you didn't delete it. How much time (approx) did you put in? I really like the interaction between the rocks and water on left fall. Thanks and send me Pshop doc if you can. thunderdon

Ok I posted this message a while ago with picture and everything and it never got here? To get a feel for the things I want to do with camera go to http://www.marlinstudios.com and take a look at the texture libs and images created with them. As photographers you might want to pay attention to the pricing for these products and what comes on cd's. These libs are the best available to 3d artists (in my opinion). To a 3d artist they are important, as anything that doesn't have to be explicitly modeled saves time in both creation and especially the rendering end of image creation. It would take a supercomputer to render some of the sample images if everything were done with polygon meshes. The attatched image Deep Forest 2 is a sample of my work and what I want to use a camera for. The background and main element are photos with foreground and ground plane detail being 3d models. I will be adding buttetflies and other small 3d modeled details soon. Entire time to create image AND render was under 2 hours. The link below: http://www.renderosity.com/gallery.ez?ByArtist=Yes&Artist=thunderdon will lead you to some of my other work. Textures of rust, bricks, bark, distant trees and other details are scattered throughout. I appreciate all the advise and have made notes on products mentioned. Any more thoughts you have after reviewing this message would be appreciated. Just a thought... After you check out the testure lib link above I may be able to interest some of you in joining forces, your photo skills + my digital skills = texture lib $$$. We may not get rich but it could help you pay for that new lens or ?. The product could be sold right here in the store. After all you're taking photos and I'm working on digital images anyway?

thunderdon casts one vote for... HUMORIX!

Ok humorix, Please accept my sincere PUBLIC apology. I was obviously wrong. I thought I was wrong once before but I was mistaken. Any way good work and again my apologies! thunderdon

I would kill the glass or make sure casts shadows, accepts shadows, self shadows are off for the panes. Turn refraction to 0. Remove the posters or whatever they are from glass. Make sure that glass touches nothing else. Copy the material from one of cars (windows) if cars didn't add appreciably to render time. Or Hide bus stop for all renders and after final is done plop render window around bus stop. Export image and edit main render in graphic editor, pasting the plop rendered area into main render. I would lose glass and then add glass in PhotoShop

Use images with alpha channels or do following. 1. Create a new image in whatever graphics prog u use (photoshop or?). CREATE THE IMAGE IN THE SAME RATIO AS THE SURFACE YOU ARE GOING TO USE IT ON. ie if a glass door is 4 feet wide and 9 feet high create image with same ratio (300x900 or 600x1800). REMEMBER THAT IT WILL HAVE TO APPLIED TO OBJECT ONCE ONLY AND NOT TILED SO USE ENOUGH RESOLUTION. 2. if you want text or anything else on object put it on image. This includes the details of holes (cracks around edges etc) 3. Save color version of image as whatever.name 4. Now convert original image to greyscale and leave the areas that are holes white. 5. Now save as whateverA.name the A meaning alpha 6. now in material editor in bryce apply the color image to the A position of texture and the greyscale image to the B position. 7. Click the indent under A to right of diffuse and right of Ambient settings 8. Click the indent under B to right of TRANSPARENCY SETTING and make sure that the "blend transparency" option is checked in texture settings option box The object you apply texture to should now have transparent holes (put light behind or in object and point camera at it and render, use spotlight with volumetric settings on to see light rays through holes)

I have a hard time believing that the image by humorix is a metaball character. Looks like PhotoShop greyscale into terrain edior to me? I'm being polite, so if I am wrong I apologise. If humorix can do that in metaball format what do his serious models look like?

OK seems so simple I'm embarrassed! I'll give it a try Thanks, thunderdon

Picture shows one way using HOLLOW sphere with holes cut in truespace and exported as dxf (bryce will fill holes if not dxf). I haven't tried with holes cut by bryce. Just rember that sphere must be hollow or light will have to fight through sphere material (1 positive sphere + 1 negitive sphere scaled on x,y,z smaller than first(differance in volume is walll thickness) and grouped together. Another way to fake it is; Use paralelle lights grouped like cross duplicated and rotated until density is correct then grouped again and rotated on y axis (to form a complex spiked object) then regroup with the light settings set to surface visable and infinate. I'm not sure that the effect will be alll you want but it may halp.. Good Luck! td

This may work: (has for me) 1. Set all spheres to positive using the attributes panel PRIOR to grouping them. 2. Still PRIOR to grouping, select individual spheres and pull up material editor. Use the rendering options triangle and set the object recieve shadows to false. You could also set object cast shadows to false if the spud doesn't need to cast shadow on supporting surface or neighboring spud. 3. NOW group them and render.... This works for me when I use intersecting shapes to create swirling or "controlled" smoke and mist. Check my gallery images with fire and or smoke. They all had the same problem you speak of until I applied above... good luck! (Why a spud?)