There's a way of getting rid of the preview pane in OE. If you go to the view menu, and the 'layout' there's an option under there to turn it off, so messages don't open automatically. Hope that helps!

cneofotistos - I got to his gallery and was stuck there for over an hour - amazing content!

The hanging and freezing used to happen to me all the time - but not so often now, since I read a post here from someone who suggested downloading 'End it All' and 'Rambooster' (both of which are free - I'd give you the URLS if I could remember them, but I found both bits of software easily with a google search on their names). I have more RAM than you, but it might still help - run End it All first, and then Rambooster, and see if it does any good. The difference it's made to me and what I can render without a crash (even hi-res textures, which I never could before!) is amazing! But you really do need more RAM... (not that I'm an expert in these things!)

I've got four of the bloody things - and they start crowing at 5 am every morning... they were supposed to be hens, but grew up into something entirely different. Can't bring myself to eat them, though.. oh, you meant POSER cockerels? Sorry...can't help you there!

OK, I'm downloading the file as I type - I'll see what I can do with it over the weekend!

Erm...here I am - someone tell me if I'm supposed to be doing something! Sorry - had no idea Eric was having problems!

Today, I have been educated. Thank you all so much. :)) I shall spend the rest of the evening making hoodoos with manga eyes peering out from them. Life gets very exciting in rural Ireland at times. :))

Even with the pic above, I'm still at a loss as to what a hoodoo is! And Ang - got ya beat by 3 years! Someone tell an old-timer (shall I get my zimmer frame?) what a manga eye is too, please....

Something I noticed is that you've got duplicated terrain in the background there - and you can see the duplication! Try revolving one of the terrains so that it looks different from the other one. I like the ice-storm effect - but think that you need to add some transparency (or texture)to the skirt material on your model - something more 'icy'. Also, a bit more expression on her face wouldn't go amiss - I find that I get good results by applying expressions made for Mike to Vicki faces - they're sort of 'bigger' and come across well. As far as the lights go - try turning off sunlight, so that you have control over all lighting. Turn everything (clouds, atmosphere etc)off in the sky lab that you can find, until your pic looks practically black, then add lights one at a time - it's much easier that way! As for the hair - well, since I got my Wacom tablet last week, I'm all for drawing it in postwork - but to make it a bit easier - try rendering the hair in solo mode, and saving the result as a separate pic. Then you can use it as a separate guide layer in Photoshop, draw over and around it, then delete the guide layer out afterwards. If that doesn't make sense to you, let me know and I'll try to be clearer! (Solo mode is accessed by first selecting the object you want to render separately, then clicking on whjat looks like a 'stop' button at the bottom right of your screen - between the 'forward' and 'back' arrows)

I got it last week - my first Wacom tablet - and I love it! Other than that, LOTR Two Towers 4 DVD set NOW, not this time next year...(not that I've watched all the extra bits on LOTR 1 4 DVD set yet!)

Thanks so much for this! I have no idea what I'm going to use him for, I just know I want him! Merry Christmas to you too!

Thanks for the replies - now, there's a real mystery in this pic (at least, it's mysterious to me!). I lit the tree with a few spherical lights (which were supposed to be visible objects, but ah, well) - none of which were blue - they were either red, gold or green - and yet I've got a huge blueness in the reflected light - an inexplicable blueness, I feel. Anyone know why? Not that I'm complaining - this is now my Official Christmas Card - which I've been printing all afternoon - but I still don't understand why it does what it does... Oh, and thanks very much, Eric - I'm a fan of yours, too!

Lovely work - it really evokes that 'first thing in the morning' snow, before people have walked all over it. Wonderful shadows, too - I'm in the middle of a snowy render myself, and am discovering that it's not easy to get snow to look like...well, snow! You seem to have cracked it, and I'm jealous!

I really hope this works - I enjoy the Bryce monthly challenges, and was hoping for something similar over here. Thanks Eric (and Lyrra) for your efforts!