good progress TJohn but I have to agree about smoothing out the clothes. One other critique, the catepillar's texture bothers me a lil bit. maybe a brighter green/yellow DTE mix with a more slimy glossy less bumpy look to it...hope that made sense. But maybe thats just me great job though!

but i do not believe that the glow mat acts as a light source. It just makes it a purrty color :-) I think the only way is TA or using lights

ummm...wow! Ive always been wondering where you get your textures Rudy? They are always so well done. Pictures? scans? internet? painted in PS? other? P.S. your postwork is always top notch as well. Someday you gotta post an in depth tut on how you do it ;-)

originally posted by foleypro: "They want to Turn Bryce6 into a Higer end Software that will eventually rival Max or maya Or Lightwave..." ...God I hope not...do they realize that companies like Alias Wavefront (Maya) have more than 20yrs of experience with development of high end software.? NO program gets it right the first time. if Bryce 6 attempts to include these features into its product it will turn out to be an expensive mess of half-cocked and poorly executed ideas.

oops...sorry should have read closer that your were goin for the tunnel rather than cave...sorry for the mix up

the texture is nice...but this looks way to smooth/clean to me to be a naturally formed cave. One thing that was mentioned that I think is pivotal is stalagmites/tites forming throughout the cave. This will also give you a chance to make some real kool DTE textures because cave walls have all sorts of mineral buildups which create those amazing red/orange/white etc colors. Good start and good luck...looking forward to seeing updates :-)

Max is worth the buy...Its alot easier to get the hang of then say Maya or Lightwave. If you do get it, Id be happy to help you figure out a few things to start you out. If you need to get it, I say get it as soon as possible...get a headstart for your college. Also, check out journeyed.com for student discounts. 3d max 6 with character studio and reactor for like $650...thats a helluva deal.

I am truly sorry to hear this pidjy, but I think I speak for the rest of us when I say we WILL see you around here again. You can fight it! Take care, and can't wait till to hear from you again best wishes, Matt

or use an actual renderfarm that charges like $.25 per GHz hour. Might be the quickest way to get your animation done.. Other than that faster processor and more Ram (Slakker, almost every render engine is CPU based but most are much quicker than Bryce's)...Beyond that, do what the others said and use simpler mats, less geometry, less transparency/reflectivity etc...Beyond that use a different program :-p (J/k but Bryce and animations are like oil and water...dont mix)

whats the poly count? almost looks like it could be a game model. And thats a nice texture on there so far? Is it normal mapped? I didnt even know you could do that in wings great start

Excellent start i dont find it dark at all actually. I would keep lighting the same. I agree with the dirtying up of the knife. Other than that, there arent many improvements I can think of. Great job! P.S I actually felt that the grips had a lot of depth. I didnt notice that it wasnt part of the mesh until you mentioned it. Kinda like doing tire treads, I dont think it would be worth while to actually model it...the effect created by the bump map is very nice.

nice render drac! I have one crit since you said you will probably re-render it. The texture on the statue. It may just be a bumpy texture but it gives off the impression thats its not antialiased. Other than that, damn near photographic! Well done :)

that is not bad at all..fast as hell!

DVD burners are great but there is nothing like a 160GB external firewire HD for instant data transfer access :-) Got mine for around $200 and it has served me great for my animation/film projects at school!

postin' just out of curiosity as well...would be interested to find out the reason for deletion