I think the most stunning aspect of the demo is the ease with which they move around, add elements, update the scene in real time, with animated elements, full shading and shadows. If Vue only had half of this ease of use, it would be a real joy to edit a scene. Instead, we have scene previews that are constantly flickering, disappearing objects and badly managed levels of detail.

I have the Antec P182 and the switch on and reset button are behind a door that can be locked. That would be a handy feature for your kids.

Also, I have a Q9450 Intel Quad core CPU, the successor of the Q6600. Its stock clock speed is 2.66 Mhz and I have overclocked it to 3.2 Mhz with no problem (so far). It stays reasonably cold thanks to a good CPU fan.

I have detailed my setup on a post on my website : http://www.virtual-lands-3d.com/A-computer-for-3d.html
It is slightly more expensive than your budget (1500 €), but you may reduce the price by choosing less expensive components (GeForce 8600, DVD Burner instead of the Blue Ray, Q6600 CPU instead of the Q9450).

Nice picture. I especially like the large moon.
Congratulations for this POTD.

As I now work a lot with GeoControl, I tend to give terrains realistic sizes and then scale everything else.
I find that atmospheres are typically set up for terrains of realistic sizes, especially haze, which is critical in order to give a sense of scale.

Yes, I used the same file and the "classic" terrain resolution is 2048*2048.

I think there may be more differences with 4096 maps or if you zoom on the terrain a bit. But it is true that with a proper texture, there might be few differences.

I will make a series of benchmarks with or without textures to see which option is the best in terms of quality / render speed.

 To show the difference, here is an example with the same image file.16 bit tiff, 2048*2048 size. The procedural one looks a bit different due to the 1.01 resize.

Bitmap

Procedural

The new artwork looks nice, but also feels far darker than the works of the old masters. I must say that even the D&D art of the late 1990s look too "modern" to me... and I have not played since the beginning of edition 2!
I also liked the 1rst edition of Forgotten Realms... especially the booklets covers.

Chipp, this method was recommended by Cajomi, the creator of Geocontrol. But your question is interesting and I will add a short explanation in the text.

I have used some sample objects from this collection in some images. The ones I got were quite good, but also very complex with lots of different objects and materials.
I had to simplify this ship model a lot in order to be able to export it in .obj format from Max and use it in Bryce, for instance. And the .obj exports from Max did not work very well at the time.

Some thoughts:

• I also have trouble with getting realistic skies. I first used some modified stock ones, and then tended to use only a few ones I knew that "worked well". I then purchased atmospheres and am starting to use them. Making good cloud textures takes a lot of time and studying existing ones is quite informative. Check out LightVue (they have freebies)
• Have you checked this PDF that shows you how to optimize render settings?
• Your jungle scene has a large number of trees and the light panel. This is probably what makes the render time so long. But it would have been far worse if you had included water or volumetric lights!

I would also go for a Quad Core.
I have just upgraded from a AMD 4600+ (2.4 Ghz dual core) to an Intel Q9450 (2.66 Ghz quad core) and it feels noticeably faster.
I will make a few benchmarks when I have time (I am currently embarked in a 12 hour render).

Nice website.
I see that you used Joomla. You should try the Artio SEF plugin to rewrite URLs.

Otherwise, your scene is indeed very handy to display materials. The use of transparency over another material is a very good idea.

Just assembled mine yesterday. Still waiting for the additional Vista Licence Microsoft still has not delivered to install and configure it.

Antec p182 case (VERY silent with three large fans)
Seasonic S12 energy+ power supply
ASUS p5E
Intel Quad Core Q9450 (got an OEM one, they are still rare here in France)
Scythe Katana 2 CPU fan (no fans provided with OEM CPUs)
Nvidia 8800 GTS video card
2x2 Gigs of Corsair P6400 RAM (may upgrade to 8 if needed)
One seagate barracuda 7200.11 500 Gig (will add another if needed, have a spare disk for backups)
Blue Ray / DVD / CD burner
Total cost was 1250 € (VAT included)

PS: Silverblade, is it a Forgotten Realms calendar I see on your wall?

Thanks for those hints Wabe.
I think I will try to stick to the Vue stock plants, even if I have seen some brokers use other "base plants" for their production.

Sorry if I did not explain myself correctly.
I am looking for the additional "base plants" from e-on that are sold on Cornucopia 3d but cannot see which ones I should get.

Here is my current attempt at making stinging nettle. It almost looks good, but there are still problems:

• the leaves color is quite different at the base and top of the plant
• the plants scale strangely when I use variants. Smaller plants have larger leaves.
  I am trying to see If I could use different base plants for this one or for others.