AzChip, do you mind if I ask what settings you use to get nice anti-aliasing? That's one thing I'm still having huge problems with. I thought I had everything set to max, but I still get jaggies. What do you do to insure maximum smoothness? Or do you just have to do it post rendering? I guess POV-Ray spoiled me in that respect, you just set the anti-aliasing by setting a number, and you could smooth things out as much as you liked.

You floor me. I am very surprised, especially because of those technical defects. I sure hope this isn't an April Fool's joke! But then, Moms are always right, right? We can't argue with somebody's mom. So nobody demand a recount! Thank you so much litst, I am actually quite excited about this. If I'm sounding too flippant, that's why. --Terri

Well done.

Here's what I think is wrong: You are better at this than me. Waah! Great pic. Reminds me of the landscape around here (Missouri), I love the way things look silhouetted against the sunset, and you've really captured that.

Cool. The plants in the shadowy foreground are a nice touch.

I've found welding to be sometimes unstable, so it's not just you. Sometimes exiting and restarting helps, sometimes not. Computer voodoo strikes again. Here's something I've done when I can't get a particular weld to work: I link two vertices I want to weld, then I go into the properties tray and make their xyz coordinates match (linking allows you to see both sets of coordinates at the same time). Then I save before I weld. If it crashes, at least my model looks like the point has been welded. Hmmm. It occurs to me that maybe one could weld by hand, just by linking vertices, and deleting the duplicate. Like, say you have two triangles and you want to weld the top point of one to the top point of the other. You could link each of the bottom points of one triangle to the top point of the other, then delete the the top point of the first one. Sort of a manual weld, if you see what I mean. I wonder if that would work... if so, it might be a solution when a particular vertex object is being weld-cranky. --Terri

You can put my quick and dirty figure-from-a-cylinder project if you think it would be appropriate. It's not very advanced, but it might be a good way for beginners to get their feet wet. --Terri

Actually, looking at the work Stacey's done on Flog, I think he's advanced past my "voodoo dolls".

Thanks, litst. I've found it very helpful so far.

Honestly, if I can get a picture done that matches the idea I have in my brain and that I won't be embarassed for anyone to see, I'm gonna count it was a personal win. That's my goal. Baby steps, you know? I was just kidding about winning the contest (even though I covet the prize); I still have a lot to learn about lighting and textures (among other things) before I become A Force To Be Reckoned With, contest-wise. So don't worry, I don't plan to be a sore loser. Much. --Terri

I'm working on my machine even as we type. I think I have a good chance of winning, assuming no one else enters. Of course, if anyone else enters, well, then, I'm probably toast. But I have learned a TON doing this project, so I guess I win anyhow. Ha! Take that! --Terri

Thanks, litst.

Silly question... how does one rename the Shader?

Yeah, that one is painful. I've gotten into the habit of saving 3 version, like "anubis, anubissub1, anubissub2", and I made a rule for myself that no subdividing until the file is saved under a new name, because I was always saving to the wrong name. Sorry I can't be of better help, Stacey, but maybe your message will prevent someone else from doing the same (you know what they say, if you can't be a good example, be a terrible warning). --Terri