I have yet to get this to work on one computer in OS X. Your results may vary. But, even if you don't get it to work, You can happily perform other tasks on one processor while Bryce uses the other one thanks to Mac OS X's Finder.

What OS? Have you burned CDs successfully in the past?

Thanks! Well, I figured that the toys are actually a medium for a child's imagination, and the toy box is place to store it. So, I went at it from there. I've thought of a ton of other things since I passed it off but I guess that's just part of the group process. Oh, Rendering and Driving? That's still legal. That is, unless you're rendering terrorists, then they'll lock you up in Cuba. ;) Anyway, I don't think the two projects will merge, but they might. I think that we split up based on platform so that there wouldn't be any issues with compatibility.

What Rayraz said. You can either render it once and do the pendulum effect in post work (I use QuickTime Pro for movies, and gif builder or Live Motion for animated gifs) or, you can add key frames and manually recreate the pendulum effect in Bryce. A gif file can be set to repeat infinitely, every movie format that I can think of cannot.

Eeeew. You have the puck mouse and like it, huh? I won't even get into trackballs. That's a personal preference, I don't like them, personally. Others love them. Tablets too. Some love them, I hate them. As for mice, I don't know what to tell you. I can honestly say that my favorite mouse is the Apple Pro Mouse. One button, optical, and I love the shape and size. I've tried the old school beige Kensington 4 button mouse, and it's OK. (In fact, it's on the old 7100 behind me) It's a bit larger than the Apple ADB II mouse, and a bi less comfortable, but I like it. And, I like the four buttons, and the Mouse Works software. I recently bought a Kensington with 5 buttons and a scroll wheel. It was silver and blue and it was optical, I can't remember the model, it cost $30. I returned it. It was crap. And what's worse, in OS X, it would cause the CD tray to open and or close everytime I turned the machine on or off. So, now I'm back to my Apple mouse, but I still crave three buttons and a scroll wheel. And that other new Kensington, the Studio one, I heard that the touch-pad scroll whell is terrible. So, my advice is to pay Apple for their over priced Studio Pro Mouse. Or, shop around retail stores and try them for one that you like.

I am recently having the same problem, and I can't figure out why for the life of me. I was streaming light through a window (no one has ever done that before, right?) and though the light was brighter where it passed through the window, the spotlight still penetrated the wall. I wish I knew what was causing that.

Set its size attributes to negative instead of positive, or use the flip command in the pull down menu in the edit pane.

I'm plodding away. I'll have something over the weekend... I don't know what yet, but I'll have something!

Hey... I was going to do cobwebs... and an attic.... Aw, rats. Well, you've got a good image there. And you just sent me back to the drawing board.

Nice nails, big improvement! Great job!

Heh, you know, I never did comment on the box, sorry hoovie. I have to say that the material you picked is 100% dead on balls right. It's a very good box. And, the next person has a lot of room to move with it. It could go anywhere from there. Kinda makes me wish I was on the PC team... naaah. =) Still, it's a great box. Fine work there.

I agree that the hand looks off because of the grip on the pistol. Though, while we are talking hand, I think the index finger should be slightly extended for the trigger. That leads me to the confusion I get from the image. After studying it more closely, the driver is not shooting at the aircraft at all, but a different target altogether. The laser looks headed for the aircraft, but her eyes don't, and her arm appears to be bending backward, but it can't be. I think that if she has to be shooting at something, it should be in another direction altogether because it would be less confusing. Plus, it would eliminate where her laser crosses the muzzle flash from the other gun. That's another confusing part. I also get confused with the light on the car. I don't like the way it blends with the big gun, I get confused about what it's a part of. Maybe if it were tilted a little outward to show the back of the big gun it would eliminate that, maybe depth of field, I'm not sure. I would also like to see a motion blur on the background instead of a gaussian. I think it would reinforce the forward motion considerably. The scaffold should be treated very carefully. As it is now, it appears to be travelling at the same rate as the car, and that just can't be. I realize we are watching it break, but I'm not sure how to better show it... maybe more blur on the ends and less on the middle, I don't know. Also, more blur on the wheels and tire tread would help with the motion. The action in the scene is very present, and there is an intensity you've created with this conflict. That comes through very clearly. I also like very well the cold, industrial color scheme. Especially because the people contrast it so well. And also the orange jumpsuit is a great color choice for the same reasons. The organic leaps out of the industrial, and it's really nice. And I suppose I should say that the frame is very cool, though I don't think you were looking for a crit of the frame. :) I think it's a really strong image, and I'd love to see where you take it from here.

I say do what you will as long as something of big-hoovie's work remains.

I'd get a Mac. Any model will work great for you with graphics -- out of the box. I'd shy away from the iBooks because of the G3 processor, but it would still work fine (I think it's going to phased out in the next year or so) G4 is the way to go. Basically, set a budget and decide what you want from there. And don't buy RAM from Apple, it's too expensive. I'd recommend at least 512 MB RAM for the apps you run. You could use less, but RAM is cheap. Oh, and Bryce 5 in OS X renders faster than any other operating system. The only thing that would hold me back if I were you is software. You may need to buy Mac versions of your software, or contact the manufacturers about switching platforms, they may help you out. I'm not sure, I've never switched. So, figure out what it will cost you in software and hardware ($1000+ for the Mac depending on what you want. The entry level iMac (and iBook) cost $999 right now. If you have to buy the apps you listed above, you're looking at around $1200, but again, maybe you can switch without buying new software altogether. And kiss Microsoft, Palladium, virii, and the security holes goodbye forever! Did I say I was biased?

Congrats to all five (three, sir!) of you! And congrats to everyone else too. I know it was hard for me to decide on only 5 (3 sir!) winners.