In Accutrans the asteroids are barely visible, but they are there... many, many small objects. I needed to zoom in.

Well, I tried & tried, but I couldn't convert these object files to either .obj or .3ds. I followed everyones advice, but whatever files I produced wouldn't import into B5.5. I followed CrazyDawg advice to use Accutrans to convert it. (Nice program)I even saved each layer as a separate object. Nothing.

Anyway, should anyone like to have a nifty model of an asteroid field follow this link and D/L from the bottom of the page.
http://www.newtek.com/products/lightwave/tutorials/specialfx/asteroid/index.html

And if anyone gets it into Bryce I'd love to hear about it.

Thanks everyone... it just confirms that I found almost everything available out there on the net. ernyoka1: yep! I found your finger cymbals and D/Led them. I am going to try and tweak them into the BIG ones in Bryce. hawkfyr: Just what I was looking for... IF I only had modeling skills. :~

Well, I didn't exactly find my 'magic' button, but I sure learned a lot. Thanks all!

Thanks everyone! Both sites referred to me paid off. Vince

Thanks for all your help. I got it figured out. Ain't UF a great program?!?

Attached Link: http://www.macdirectory.com/reviews/KPTeffects/

Thanks everyone for your input. I would have responded sooner, but I've been out of town... and I've been busy building myself a new computer. Fun! I'm going to scan at a very high ppi (at least 1200 ppi) and then I'm going to resize in the scanner. The file will be huge, but I should get the print quality I want.

Aaaa... Am I missing something... it IS late at night & I am a bit wuzzy, but... Starfield on a black background? Just do a gross sort of selection of the areas that you don't want and then past the remainder into a new layer in the 'Screen' mode. The stars will remain, but the black background will disappear. This will work only if the background is a perfect RGB 'black'. Actually the night sky is not perfectly black, but somewhere in the range of R-15 G-25 B-45, for a very dark blue. Good night... I need to pass out now...

oH! My GAWD!!!!!!!! Thank you! I thought there must something quite simple about this brain lock, but... yes... View > Show > Annotations works!!!!!!!!! BION... I DO have manuals, and I DO read them (RTFM) [or whatever that acronym is]. Tanks loads 'dreamer101'! I knew I'd find the answer here!

I'm not sure exactly what effect you seek to accomplish, but I'll send you a "cut 'n paste' from my personal 'Techniques' file.

Make a Models Skin Look as Smooth as a Plastic Mannequin's. Part 1
Try this:

1. Duplicate the layer with the persons face.
2. Apply Gaussian Blur of 3-5
3. Set the duplicate layer to Softlight or screen and pull back on the opacity.

Using this technique allows you to add a layer mask to the blurred layer and paint back the person's eyes to keep them sharp.
(author: Katrin Eismann)

Part 2. A Similar Approach For Nice Softening of a Person
Something you cannot do in camera.

1. Duplicate the layer
2. On the duplicate layer apply Gaussian Blur - apply more than you want, maybe even lots more.
3. Adjust the opacity of the blurred layer to taste (depending on the amount of the blur the opacity may be as low as 10-20%)
4. Open a mask on the blurred layer
5. "Erase" (apply black at 100%) to the areas you want sharp - eyes, eyebrows, lips, teeth, jewelry, etc. You may want to apply some to the hair.
6. Flatten the image

This allows you to adjust, on screen, the exact amount of the softening. Even more important you can have part of the image sharp and some diffused. You will be amazed how much softening you can have on the face if the eyes, eyebrows, mouth, teeth, and earrings are sharp and have it look really good. In fact, after masking the parts you want sharp, you can again adjust the opacity to taste.

I hope this helps.

WOW!! Such passion.. what next?... intelligence?!? [Does that offend everyone?!?] This sounds a lot like political pornography... or pornographic politics.........whatever.

Kerry,

What a wonderful picture! I struggled with the difficulty that Mondrian's simple structures didn't quite go with the vibrant colors one usually finds in fractals. So I simply went with black & white fractals. I never thought of using color translucencies! Very subtle & effective.

Try this:

1. Duplicate layer
2. On the Dup layer Filter:Stylize:Find Edges
3. Press 'Shift-Ctrl-U' to desaturate all color.
4. Now remove 'unnecessary' noise by using the Levels adjustment. Drag the top-right Input Levels slider to the right. This should leave only the boldest outlines.

Hope this helps.

You wouldn't be able to see the small stars through the gas clouds. Lasso select areas of these clouds, feather the selection quite a bit, and apply Guassian blur.