Hmmm... I agree, it looks kinda like the Windy City coming from that one bridge from Indiana (along I-94 I think.) Not exactly, but something about the buildings etc. I've found that volumetric radial lights look alright if they're placed inside/over a glass sphere. Dunno if this helps or not. You kinda have to build and boolean the light fixtures in a way similar to the real thing and actual light would be radial. Also a lot of tweaking and spot rendering would be involved in getting lights right, as the light setup window doesn't always show the light as is. I usually don't play with lights much myself 'cause the render time. Dunno what else to suggest.

Yep, plenty of tutorials out there... Now if only something could be done with the dead links that don't work and the non-english ones that I can't understand. Oh well, but there's still a lot of good stuff out there. Don't forget that Renderosity was kind in providing a place to host tutorials. So if you're willing to take the time, you can post one here. No bandwith/storage cost on your personal site, and 'osity is reliable as far as I know. Which usually keeps people from seeing that annoying 404 page or dead links.

Got started on Bryce 4, and then found Anim8or. I use Bryce for boolean construction, landscapes, Multi-replication, layout, materials and rendering. I use Anim8or to make wireframes of shapes that aren't always easy to come by when using Bryce (although this prog does more than what I use it for.) When using Anim8or, I find the box method to be the easiest way to get started. Usually start with some primitive shape convert it to a mesh and start extruding out the faces. Then perhaps subdivison for smoother contours. Then I go and play with the points on the mesh, etc. to try and work out the details better. When in Bryce, I approach it however I want. Start creating the primitive shapes I will use and throw them together until they resemble what I want. Then it's just a matter of setting the attributes. Tweak and peak the materials until it looks right. More or less the experimentalist method, although the presets give easy starting points. I'm still not a pro yet, but it's all fun.

Ummm... Try playing with the glowing green light material that comes with Bryce, and don't forget the power of the different cloud materials. Used with lights and tweaking to the colors and transparancy controls, you can get some cool stuff going on. Dunno if that helps, but experimentation is the major part of the game. L8R!

Whoah! That is freakin' impressive and cool! I'll have to try that some time. I especially like how you not only make the fancy buildings, but the vehicle and engine pod. Inspiring work, to say the least.

Hey cool tutorial Alderon... Now all I need are 3D models of Wiley Coyote and the Road Runner... Heh... Well, one could hope to find those I guess. Something like that would be cool to have in a badlands type landscape. Hmmm...

Cool... As of this night, I see that's it's up there. I still wish I could edit the description. Why's that? I guess I feel a bit like an a** for poking at the Rhino guy with my modest Anim8or abilities. But I didn't mean it all that seriously. Hopefully most people will get that I'm not 100% serious, and learn something at the same time. Lemme know what you think.

Just wondering... Were there any light objects that were added to a group? I've heard that causes things to happen. Something to do with light source attributes that other objects don't have, and when they get grouped Bryce gets all confused and... Well, it's something that I've heard of.

Uh... You could create one of those infinite plane objects and use your pic for the material. Dunno if that's the effect you're going after, but it never hurts to try. Hmmm... L8R!

Now we have to find the magic button-alt key combo in skylab... Odds are, its sleeping power might be possible to invoke. Other mysterious things are found with hitting various controls and the alt key. Cool!

Hmmm... Cool... Might be neat to boolean the top of the ball thingy and put a fire in it. Make the "windows" transparent a bit. And then put the cauldron balanced on top. Have it cast some light on a darkened scene... I wonder if anyone else was thinking this looking at these objects.
Dunno what the cube could be used for, but I suppose somebodys imagination can think of something.

Alrighty then... Dunno how much this will help.
Click to see the pic of two terrains and two spheres.

Probably not the worlds best, but a little postwork and it would look good. :)

Well, even though I'm not a physicist or an aeronautical engineer I have a plausible guess to why the water is going forward. Simply put - some form of turbulence is creating a standing wave type pressure pattern over the railcar. Since the pressure from such a thing is greater to the back of the window than the front... Well, like you said it'd be interesting to model. Too bad I don't know how. I've even seen something similar to this when driving my car. A low-pressure pocket caused by the front roof pillar sticking into the slipstream will suck the rain forward and upward. Also I'm willing to bet if you went to a different spot in the railcar, the rain might be moving in a different direction against the glass.

Shhh... Don't tell anyone that this post inspired me... I made a watery explosion with 2 terrains and 2 spheres. Heheh... ;) L8R!

I wonder if he's a BF1942 fan like myself... Heh...