This worked in B4 I haven't tried it in B5, To turn off AA for a single object or group. Open the attributes menu, then hold down Shift + Ctrl keys while clicking the check to exit the menu. To reset AA to the object or group hold down the shift key as you exit the attributes menu.

<< Is it worth upgrading? >> IMO yes, the new features are well worth the money. I'm on a PC, and find it very stable.

Grass is a hard one, Here's a place which has some grass models http://www.3dplants.com/ They work good for patches, but you can't really fill up the whole scene with them. Another option is to use a flatten cube or even a 2D plane with a decent tex & trans map for distant grass ( doesn't work to good close up ) Infinite planes don't work to good for this, because the tex map gets to stretched out. Then there's always the mask render and post work.

The only problem I've had with lights in B5 is when I turned other objects into lights. When I would save the material would revert back to what it was before I turned them into lights.

I use Posers for Characters, Amorphium Pro and I.E. Universe for modeling, Photoshop & Photo Impact along with KPT 5 & 6 for post.

For the most part I set up the scene in with an imported default figure as a guide to get objects proportions right. Then create my figures and import them into Bryce. This works pretty good for me. When a figure will be interacting with props ( sitting in chair, holding a glass ect.. ) I set the props up in poser to then import into Bryce with props intact. Another option is to set-up and import your figures first, then build the scene around them.

On the Bryce 4 application CD are a bunch of goodies which don't install with the program. Some of these goodies are terrain materials. Not sure if their on the B5 CD since I just have the upgrade to B5 and there are no extra goodies on the upgrade CD.

Try 512 X 512 pixels, ( should keep everything proportioned right ) you can up the resolution after it's loaded in Bryce.

As far as I know, what you see is what you get. One basic brush shape with a size, edge softness, flux control, and a shader scale to determine height. There are also some behavior options for the brush. But...You can import a grayscale from an image editing app. like Photoshop.

Have you tried creating a path or using one of the paths from the create palette.

With larger resolutions part of the foreground isn't seen in the scene window in director or camera view. I use top view to places objects in the foreground then use a side view to place the Y position ( up & down ) If you select an object and use the plus or minus icon it will zoom in or out on the object. ( in any view but directors and camera ) The nano preview will give you a good idea how the foreground looks. You can also do faster test renders with materials turned off ( one of the left render buttons ) to check placement.

Just select the ones you want to save and export them using the option at the bottom of the library. Multi selections can be made by holding down the shift key as you select them.

Umm.. that's what it says, so technical many of the images in some of the other galleries could be posted there. Since other apps where used to create models, textures, post work ect... That's why personally, I go by the render thing. I would post a pic in mixed media if it were rendered in 2 programs then combined in an image editing program, or if a render was mixed with other images created in paint programs or plug-ins like KPT. But that's just my interpretation.

This is one of my early pic. Terrains for waves, lattices for splashes. http://stevesartgallery.bryce-alive.net/gallery10/blowhole/pic55.html

I haven't posted to many images here, but I put mine according to what program they were rendered in. I do post and use other programs to create models and textures. But I figure where their rendered really reflects the appropriate software