Back in the old days while in high school (when we walked to school barefoot in the snow - by bus), I and another art student stumbled into doing dungaree jacket paintings for a while. Anyone interested was always willing to pay 'something' for the work involved. The work was frustrating and time consuming, but it was always gratifying to their love of the work and to receive compensation was an added bonus. Be optimistic and subtly remind them that art, whether on canvas or computer, is work requiring skill and time. BYS

I don't understand that either. Currently, all of my "work" is in learning, learning, and getting more experienced with Poser, C4D, LightWave, and Maya (PLE for now). Actually, something may have just dropped into my lap - nothing like friends in high places with connections. ;0) A friend and I may just be working on setting up render farms and doing some animation stuff for an unnamed big corporation. This is like getting your foot through the door because it's wide open, but when you're not quite certain of your salesmanship skills. I still consider myself a consumate beginner and, if this is what I think it is (Maya on SGI systems), it will require much time and effort to become useful. Time will tell...wish me success. BYS

Got 5" here in Parker, Colorado (nowhere near the mountains) on Mon-Tues. Luckily, the budding flora survived. Still waiting for spring to arrive and decide to stay put! :0) BYS

Depends on how the renderer removes objects not visible in the scene. If Poser considers the "parts" of Victoria as separate objects that can be removed because they are not within the view frustrum of the camera, then they will be removed early enough not to effect the rendering time much. Also, most renderers (hopefully all) do what is called polygon clipping at the view frustrum. Here, polygons that are completely outside the camera's view are removed from consideration. Still, there are times when this must occur later in the calculations - when shadows or reflections must be calculated - can't remove objects and polygons before doing these. If you want to do a head shot and definitely remove unnecessary geometry for quicker render calculations, you should make those areas hidden or not used in the render. BYS

WaxTextures (cute name - won't ask!), I only take responsibility for my actions as I cannot take responsibility for everyone else's actions. That said, I am a member of the ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church & State, two organizations which understand and try to uphold/retain Constitutional laws and rights. Being an atheist and skeptic, which is almost as bad as being a gypsy in National Socialist Germany some time ago, I am also a member of CSICOP and JREF. I vote (and am not a member of any particular party) as often as possible, but it's hard to make rational decisions into law when you're in the super-minority. It seems that the only way to avoid these breaches of Constitutional law and rights is to bring in the lawyers. I'm still fuming over the "under god" ferver that engulfed the nation after the 9th Circuit Court CORRECTLY ruled that it was unconstitutional. It is - it violates the spirit (and precedence) of church/state separation. Even if "God" were not capitalized, it still excludes athiests, agnostics, and any religion or belief system not theologically structured. It was added in 1952 (circa) during the height of McCarthyism and the "red scare", not in the early history of our nation as some deluded religious-right idiots would have their sheep believe. With them in mind, the laws embodied within the Constitution were not based on the Decalogue (Ten commandments). Four deal only with religious matters (other gods, sabbath, name vain, graven images), three more are more advice and cannot, by precedence, be considered law (honor mum+dad, covet goods, covet wife - which are mind crimes, as it were). That leaves killing, stealing, lying, and adultery (which in some situations and in some religions is not a sin or against the law). Note that the total is 11 since even the bible can't decide on which 10. Constitutional law is based upon English law, Roman law, and a myriad other "enlightenment" sources. BYS

Nice. Like the scripting (what did you use - flash?). Thank you for using gray on black. Thin white fonts on black almost give me a seizure, a migrane at the least. Some color (even at low saturation) would be nice, otherwise it seems a little too bland. That's just my preference. :) BYS

Well, if you see any textures of fingers (prints) that detailed, wow!, let me know! ;0) I'm sure you've heard about "the list" that the FBI is using in concert with airlines to check on and prohibit those on it from flying. The fact that two female peace activists ended up on it is unsettling. The other unsettling thing is that the FBI will not disclose who is on the list nor are they expected to remove names from it. "Kan vee zee your papers, bitte, er, pleaze." The worst was some idiot on CNN trying to tell Paula Zahn or whomever that since 9/11 we must give up some of our most precious rights. BS!!! Next there'll be search and seizure without warrants, incarceration without review, lawyer, or trial, and tracking of our movements. Oh, wait, they're already doing this. Welcome to The Facist States of America. And any more insulting comments from certain members of Congress about homosexuals (who make up about 10-20 million residents of the FSA) and I'm moving somewhere safe like Zimbabwe. This place is getting to be a racist, bigotted, paranoid, theocratic nation. And the uppercrust of the business world forcing their employees to take a severe pay cut while they stock pile bonuses for that twentieth house in the Bahamas - this is one f#cked up place anymore. Time for some economic equality (which, by the way, would decimate much of the crime in this country). BYS PS: Sorry for the rant, but humanity sucks. What a bunch of self-serving idiots with blinders and delusions.

TMPGEnc is considered one of the best MPEG encoders, especially for the cost. One thing that you have to remember is that "DVD-compliant" still means MPEG. If you're writing to a DVD to be played as a DVD video, it's MPEG. MPEG is, by definition, lossy compression of the video stream. You'll never get results that look as good as a lossless digital input and will loose even more on a quality analog input. Look closely at even your best commercial DVDs and you'll notice artifacts on fast changing video. Some of this can be 'smoothed out' by a good MPEG decoder w/filtering and correction (i.e.: a good DVD-player). This is where VBR (Variable Bit Rate) comes into play. VBR will compress the stream more for low-variant sections while compressing less for high-variant sections (lots of motion or changes). The only way to achieve quality DVD-quality MPEG is to use VBR. That'll be 2 cents, please. BYS

In remark to the "they won't chase the little guys" sentiment, I had to laugh. Does the person who said this live under a rock? Recently, the RIAA has pursued lawsuits against individuals, college students, using school servers to serve illegal MP3 files. How's that for chasing the little guy? And as far as I know, they weren't selling them, just making them available. I agree with many here that it depends on the intent of the use of copyrighted/patented/trademarked materials that is the real issue. If one uses a picture of a Mustang in a render or a painting, I don't expect Ford to send in the lawyers - what would be their case? They'd have to sue anyone, anytime, anywhere who uses a Mustang in a picture or photographs one or uses its likeness, let's say, for a cartoon or comic. But, if the person is using it in a way, such as an accurate model or as a logo, that is being sold, then permission is required. There is a thin and difficult to traverse line between infringement and proper use made only worse by the lack of clear, concise delineations between them. At what level does a 3D model of a car become copyright/patent/trademark infringement? I see the day when companies will "license" or sell their products as 3D models just like physical models (e.g.). No more making your own that is very accurate, fearing court summons; you'll have to buy the "legit" model. Somewhat scary... BYS

Ouch, that's bad. Carpal tunnel syndrome is where the "tunnel" (a ligament) at the wrist that sheathes the tendons and nerves going to the fingers gets crushed or squeezed and causes pinching and inflammation of the nerve. The resulting symptoms are tingling, numbness, or pain in the hand. This is a difficult problem to overcome and have known people to have taken several years to heal and sort of return to normal. This can also result in tendonitis (inflammation of the tendon). One of my close friends ended up with it from improper lessons on guitar speed techniques and couldn't play for over a year. Me, I felt it coming in my right hand from excessive typing and trackballing without support. The support has really helped and I remain conscientious about how my wrists feel while working on the computer. If you play an instrument, be very aware of the possible damage that one can incur by improper and excessive repetitive tasks involving your hands. Use support, take frequent breaks, and be aware of awkward positions, feelings, numbness, and stresses on the hands and wrists (as well as your back!). BYS P.S. I'm not a doctor and nobody would allow me to play one on TV! :)

How about a Trinitron flatscreen? My Sony display is a Trinitron (it's even marked on the frontispiece), is not washed out, and achieving true color was very easy. The Samsung required a lot more fiddling to remove the yellow-green tint, but that's what color correction is all about. Heck, they're not as sharp and crisp and bright as my 17" Apple Studio Display was, but then they cost less (together, about the same original price for the ASD) while also being able to display 1600x1200 - not remotely possible on the ASD. Look, there are professional-grade graphics monitors (like the one linked above for $350 - which normally costs over $1000 - might I add), but you'll pay (and pay and pay). A pro 21"+ graphics monitor, unless you get lucky as above, will cost you over $1000. That's what I found when looking. Marque, you may be referring to a Flat Panel Display which uses LCDs. The original poster said that he wants to avoid them. BYS

I won't mention brands, but certain features to look for. FPDs are very nice, but there are some caveats:

• Maximum resolution is recommended resolution - other resolutions may not be as clear and crisp.
• Dead pixels - higher quality FPDs may have few or none, lower quality ones may have too many. Once a pixel goes, the only solution is to replace the monitor. Apple Studio Display FPDs are truly amazing (but also truly expensive).
• Viewing angles are narrow
• More expensive
• For best image, requires DVI out on video card (ADC for Mac FPD and systems)
• Do not support 3D stereoscopic shutter glasses - this is more of a personal quip, but I use them alot for stills and, soon, animations.

As for CRTs, one thing is to get one with a good dot pitch (0.25 or smaller). Another thing is resolutions and refresh rates. The bigger the display, the higher the max resolution and the better the refresh rates. IMHO, 19" and 21" are great. The 24" Sony mentioned above might be amazing, but do you have room and a sturdy enough desk for it? :) My Sony 21" weighs in at 68 lbs. Flat screen CRTs are sooo sweet that anything else is rubbish. I have a Sony G520 and Samsung SyncMaster 763MB, both flat screens and very nice to view because of it. Even my main (Sony VEGA) and computer office (Emerson) TVs are flat screen. You do get a slightly longer monitor (front to back), but the lack of distortion because of a rounded screen make up for it. So far, I like the Sony monitors and their customer service. Was able to discuss the different models and features live with a salesperson who was extremely helpful and responsive. Still, don't take any of this on faith. Check out online reviews, do comparisons, go to a computer store with a good monitor selection and compare features, quality, price, and so on. Good luck and take your time. A good monitor can last for years. BYS

GigaRoc, I use a "trackball" (rollerball, whatever). ;) I use a Logitech with a "thumb" ball. Prefer the other way, but haven't found one that I like - mostly Microsoft crap. No callous, but was having wrist pain from keyboard and trackball until I got the supports. Now, no pain. BYS

The only thing you have to watch when playing guitar, especially classical, is over bending the wrists, which isn't a good thing while flexing your fingers. On the other hand, plectrum picking is probably good as it'll strengthen your wrist and arm without the undue stress. Oh, of course I meant CTS (carpal tunnel syndrome). My brain is on standby today; must be the a brain callus. :) BYS

Mouse calluses, no. Guitar calluses, yes. I use a wrist support for mouse and keyboard, so that part of my hand/wrist doesn't ever drag across the desk. Yes, guitar calluses are a good thing at least. And I also use a wrist support for both my keyboard and, umm, what's a "mouse", trackball. Nothing worse for a guitarist than CPS. BYS