I'll be honest, thought this thread was meant as a joke... Was expecting some level of "sphere", lol... But that does look awesome =) Those stands make such the difference!

I love Carrara, and anything that is for Carrara I am for... I have heard of things like this before, but for the most part they were for programs I didnt have or use or plan to acquire, so I pretty much turned away from all the talk. So I am truly ignorant when it comes to stuff like "this", and if you t a l k  s l o w, one day, maybe not in the near future, but one day nonetheless, its possible that my brain has a chance that it might consider the information and absorb it. And definitely not to come off as lame, but i don't "see" it.... Don't get me wrong, those renders are awesome, but I want to understand that "this" is something beyond and other than lighting and texturing... So now that there is something like this for Carrara, could you please explain it to me. Start from the beginning, and when you get to the end, stop...

im just curious, sorry for coming to the party late... is there something "new" out there now that are causing people to switch off that would give need to worry? ive been out the loop for a while now. its still the same stuff out there right?

I actually like it embedded in the PhotoShop file as such... But I am curious (hurt) at what I dont have access to because of my dumbed down software, LOL =P

And why the mirror effect?!?

Thanks =)

WOW, thanks for all the tips and ideas!

I had no idea so much can be done using the various passes....... Definitely going to have to try to NOT embed them, I don't think the version of Elements I use can use them or handle those advanced channels and such, and I've not used a regular version of PhotoShop since version 4 =P

If anyone else want sto offer any tips, PLEASE do so, would be great to hear them "all" =)

Can someone explain why the solid area of my orignal map appears as so?!?

Also, is it just me, or is there a glitch in the editing window, it seems to "mirror" the image...

What is the "proper" way to load/apply a height map?!? I had to crank the "blend" to the left in order to get the image to show properly in the far right square. Is that the "norm"???

Again, many thanks for the responses =)

Much better... The noise and the material applied to the terrain is the magic to the grass effect, pretty slick (not that I pulled it off =P)

I don't even remember the files you speak of... Old age?!?

Marinating......

I "think" that's what I did =/

Used an infinite slab?!?

Oh Yeah.... I'm using PhotoShop Elements 7, and I added the diffuse layer and "shut the eye" myself, but that rendered as a seperate image... Other than that, the image loads as you see it...

I find it interesting how it sets the layer blend modes automatically... Usually I just go for the squashed render, but would be good to know how to take serious advantage of these features/layers...

I'm admittedly VERY curious as to what files you speak of =/

But to answer your question, I believe the common way is to take a sphere and shoot it wayyyy into the back, then enlarge as needed...

You can preview how much distance effect is given, and see how it interacts w/ the atmosphere... There arent any "set" rules, just go for the "end visual"... Bryce has always been about trickery, doesnt have to be planet size or millions of miles away in order to give the appearance of being that far and that big... All illusions, if that makes any sense.

Good timing, I just added a TON of Bryce presets to the freestuff section, hope it can help you in your quest =)

Didn't think of that, thought "actor $CURRENT" worked for anything, thanks =)

The only difference from the working material .mc6 is that I changed mtlcollection to actor $CURRENT and then changed the extension to .pz2...