A word of warning- if you are still using CS2, motion paths were a bit squirelly- save often! I had the most luck making sure that any changes I made to the motion path were done with the scrubber at the frame 0 position.. Markd

I like it! I always wanted to model it, but never had the time. I went as far as finding some reference pics on the web (of the plastic model). Looks good! Markd

I like the logo! I move we change immediately.. . 2nd? :-) It would keep the riff-raff out too. ;-) Markd

You can use an HDRI for both background and lighting, but for background it will need to be much higher res than 1024x768- since it is being stretched all the way around your scene. . . your camera is only seeing a small portion of the image. For lighting the image size is much less critical, unless you are rendering a big mirrored ball. ;-) Markd

I would, but I'm already playing there. ;-)

Very nice! No idea where the double post came from. . oh well. So you can use a gradient to control colors. . . but you can't assign a regular shader for setting the colors? For transparency and stuff? Markd

Can you shade it with the regular shaders? Markd

It is the regular lighting model that you are used to- in CS4, they have exposed the lighting models to the SDK. Take a look at DCG's new product, Shaders Plus- it adds some new lighting models. This menu is where those new lighting models will appear. Markd

Shader ops Fake Fresnel would do it too. . . Really the same effect as Mark is talking about- just that the shader is aware of the angle of the surface being rendered. The environment comment stands either way- giving highly reflective materials something to reflect makes them much more realistic. Good Luck! Markd

A fresnel shader might help a little too- maybe some sort of environment around it (hdri, etc) so there is something to reflect. Markd

Mine shows. . . (PC) Are you looking through the render camera?

That one is a little harder- takes someone at Eovia. It can take a couple of days. Be patient. Markd

You're welcome! I like the look of it- can't quite put my finger on it, but I know I like it. Maybe the bits of lighting? Or the fade to gray? Looks like a future asteroid city. . . In another vein, I was pondering (during my commute) whether it would be possible to do something more procedural. If you added/multiplied a bunch of shaders together, it should be possible to get adjustable layers of greeble effect. . . I'll try and play with it later today. If the tree gets too awkward but the idea seems sound, I'll make a custom shader for generating greebles with Agrooves. Markd

I'm pretty sure he is wrapping the current issue in the next few days. .. . wait for next month and make it more complete. (with lots of maps for us lazy sluggers ;-) Maybe falconperigot can contribute the nice one he used on the sphere? Markd

You should do an article for 3dxtract!