You know, you might want to check out the patch for 5.04 posted around here, somewhere. Or check out the Metacreations website. I think they still have that posted there. I personally haven't had the problems with RDS/OS 9 others have reported; but I have noticed that RDS doesn't like Quickeys. Hmmmmm....

Clint, pretty cool. A good example of 3D art that doesn't try to mimic "reality". I like. Reminds me of the V'Ger spacewalk sequence in Star Trek: The Motion Sickness. (I must admit however, that ST:TMP is probably my favorite Trek movie. Call me sick.)

Okay, Clint. All i did was render it in RDS 5.04, open it in Photoshp 5 on my Mac, save as a jpeg, and post it up.. or rather, not post it. >:P Let me try another different image, and see what happens.

Nope. E.E> Smith was indeed male (you may be thining of James Tiptree, Jr. who was a woman [whose name escapes me] who published in the '70s). According to the History of Science Fiction, written by James Gunn, "Doc" Smith received his doctorate in Food Chemistry, and held professional positions as a doughnut mix specialist. You think maybe doughnut holes wre the inspiration for the negasphere?

Cool!! I broke it!! Thanks for the preliminary good word on the characters. Everything done in the free form modeler. And for those of you wondering, well, i'd be happy to e-mail you...

dammit! I'll be back...

yyou know what?... I'm uploading this from work. I wonder if I'm having trouble getting the image up through the !@#$%^&* firewall. I'll try tonight from home. thanks for your patience.

yeah, it was a jpeg. Is there a file size limit? the original jpeg is about 900 K.

Okay, i've downloaded Cox's UV mapper, followed his directions, played with it a bit, AND I STILL DON"T GET IT! I may not be the sharpest tool, but I get the feeling I'm missing something somewhere. The Ray Dream user's Guide is none too helpful. The only real mention of UV mapping that I found talks about how boolean perations will change UV coordinates; there is brief discussion of mappping modes (parametric/box/cylinder). But nothing more detailed. It's kind of like those how-to-draw books my son has; the first three steps shows five connected ovals, the last step shows a fully detailed F-16. AzChip wrote >I've been a fan of EE "Doc" Smith since I was a kid< Glad someone has picked up the reference! Ten points to you if you can name the field in which the good Doctor received his PhD.

"No, not to me...." Is that the next line? AzChip, I've been running that line through my head all morning. I can see it, but not place it in the film. (Am I remembering the movie, or plugging into the Collective Unconscous, where this scene has been played out in bedrooms across time and spce?) So, having no lifelines left, I'll take a stab- "The Fly"?

I cant wait to see some of your work!!< AAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH! Performance anxiety!!! But seriously... I'll post some (unfinished) ideas up here tomorrow. Thanks for the interest! AzChip wrote >it's arguable that Kubric really did it first in 2001< yes.. I had forgotten. The scene in the Tycho excavation is what sticks in my memory. Hey with 2001 coming up in a month do you think MGM (or whatever it is now) will rerelease Space Odyssy?

REgarding lens flares in space... My fave show, Babylon 5, was the first to use this effect, and use it well, I think. That, along with the Jack Kirby space backdrops (filled with nebulae, gases, etc) really set the show visually apart from what had preceeded, like Star Trek. But like anything, exp. in TV, if Show A (or B5 ;) ) uses it and it works, then every show afterward makes use of it. I noticed DS9 started adding nebulae and such... And of course, the short lived Crusade series departed from the B5 look, with simple star-filled skies. On a related note, my own personal work I'm trying to head for a more iconic style (see Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics") to break out of the "hyperreal" 3D art we see everywhere. I'm not trying to smack anyone, I just want to do something different.