This is not to belittle the genuine feelings of anger at betrayal by Corel, but I ain't rich and upgrading to XP seemed like a very affordable choice (I paid about $150 American for it). I had noticed that a lot of the new software coming out was focussed on running under XP, so I thought it was time. Haven't regretted it. How many of us are still using Windows3.1? We adapt or die, folks. I have been buying new machines every 3 years or so for similar reasons. PC's keep getting bigger, better, faster, and most importantly, CHEAPER. I paid about $3,000 for my first PC clone. I paid only $1,200 for my current HP, and moved up from 300 MHZ to 900 MHZ. Now I'm looking at the 1.7 and 1.8 GHZ machines for about $1,400. You can still get some pretty good cash for the old machines, so it becomes worth trading up, for me, anyway. I found out long ago, computing is the most fun I've can have with my clothes on...but it's also a Money Pit. Still, I wouldn't give it up for the world. :^)

I don't work for Microsoft either, but I installed XP Home on an HP 8766C that came native with Windows ME and other than a compatibility problem with a couple of peripherals I've had relatively little trouble. No lockups, and when a program crashes (seldom, and usually after running several different programs without a reboot) the program asks if you want to send Microsoft a message about the failure- I presume so that they can improve compatibility in upgrades to XP.

To ajtooley: So you have problems with finding software for the Mac? You should have been an Amiga User (Commodore) back in the late 80's and early 90's. LOL! I still bear the psychological scars and sometime wake up screaming, "Software! I must have software!" Only a trip to the local computer stores can make me feel better. :^)

If you're not using Soft shadows, this can help. You have to turn on the sun's soft shadow in the Skylab and in Render settings in order to get it to work. The suggestions above are also very good and I have used them all at one time or another. Good Luck!

The spider looks a little large to me (IIEEEE! Giant spider! Run away!) but it gave me an idea. How about adding spiderwebs to your pic? If you search "All free stuff" here keyword: spiderweb - there's a nice .3ds object there. A few of these around your room would add to the abandoned look your going for. As for a different title, how about "The Bad Old Days" or "Old West Bathroom"? BTW, I'm still looking for the "Rain" texture to show up in one of your posts. Great start to the pic in question!

Thanks for the input, guys. I went to the source (well, I am a little slow) and posted my problem at the Cafe forum. If they have a solution I'll post it here in case anyone else needs to know.

I tried about 20 diffent downloads at random from different categories, all came up empty. I wonder if 3D Cafe is trying to read my C:drive in a way that is being blocked by my firewall? This happens on occasion at Renderosity, but it never seems to affect the download. This only started happening (I think) when I upgraded to XP. Oh, well, there's nice stuff there, but I guess I'll just have to learn to live without it unless someone can give me a fix. I guess I should post this question at 3D Cafe (duh).

Just thought people would like to know the server is up again.

Doesn't seem to be working right now, though.

Attached Link: http://www.brycetech.com/

Also, I believe the posts that contain nudity are supposed to have thumbnails that are "nudity-free", although this rule appears to be widely ignored. If this is the case, then a pic with nudity would not have the complete artwork show in the thumbnail, if the nudity is censored.

Very nice, indeed. You have addressed the problems of the WIP post, well. If there's a flaw in this version, I can't see it. Congratulations!

I agree with Cambert on this one. Most of my renders are done in Bryce, due to a better and more flexible render engine. You also have procedural textures in Bryce, and better lighting options. Still, if you are doing a human object character study without the need for a lot of props or environmental objects, Poser is capable of very good (and fast) results. In general, like Cambert says, the programs are complimentary. No question that most Bryce artwork can benefit from the addition of a Poser figure, and Poser figures render better in Bryce. The only drawback in rendering Poser figures in Bryce is the steep learning curve in "adjusting" the Poser figure textures, transparency maps, etc., so that they work properly in Bryce. It is well worth the time spent, though.

Sorry, SAMS3D, didn't mean to "step" on your answer, but it wasn't there when I started typing. :^)

HardRock: Check the texture materials that came with Bryce. In "Fast and simple" or whatever the category is called is a mat called "mirror". Or, I think you can get the same basic effect by turning the diffuse and ambient color sliders to zero on your mirror object in the texture editor and turning the reflection slider all the way up. This should give you a plain mirror. Hope I got that right?