Sure enough, Striving, I was wrong. I don't know why people were unable to vote for some of my images, but it's been mentioned to me before, including in the (now deleted) comments on my newer image, Song of Dragons. Must have just been an error on my part...

Message edited on: 12/03/2004 14:56

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/messages.ez?Form.ShowMessage=2029219

Oh yeah, Striving, and others... There IS a "disable votes" clicker in the Upload Images dialogue. That's why on your brutal (and well worth it) last big thread, I mentioned that I'll never make it into the Hot 20. Been there before, but never again. I don't want my crap compared to other people's crap that close up... (refer to the above thread, if you have the stomach!)

(laughs) In a blatant unresponse by other forum administrators who like to pretend to do AS's job when he's not here, I took the liberty of turning off comments on my past images which contained the comments in question. Don't worry, I took screenshots of the existing comments before I did that, just to satisfy my own sense of ego, which is obviously tremendous given my ridiculous screen name. But now I've cooled down quite a bit, I still believe that these features should be easy to implement and may become necessary the more users we have around here... I guess it's not that big of a deal, I just feel like our individual galleries should be places of peace and order, not chaotic revenge machines. Enough about that, now back to our (rendering) story...

Still, you never know how good it might taste until you try it!

I'm not sure I like the plantin the right foreground, but I do like the spiderwebs and of course the MilDragon... Maybe use the spider as a larger element, such as bring it to the foreground even more? Like it's hanging off the camera? Just an idea...!

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/gallery.ez?ByArtist=Yes&Artist=FuzzyShadows

Aye, it's clearly a simple case of newcomers to Renderosity feeling offended. Sometimes, these people show up in the forums and ask for advice, and we all greet each other and everything rocks. Sometimes, I'll see an image from a new artist that I like or have criticism about, and invite that new artist to the forums so we can meet them. This person is either an adolescent or very insecure, and that's an entirely different issue... What muddles ME is that LFNForever actually took time to look at many, many of my images, and left frank and honest comments, in no way insulting, and even praised me! Thank you for your praise, my friend. And thank you for being objective. Almost. Then, this person sends me three or four IM's, insulting ones which I don't even feel are worth the copy-pasting. Then this person posted an even worse image than any of her other ones, and wrote a huge dialogue about how much I and other Brycers suck. Too much drama. I'm not a child anymore, I really don't feel any emotions inside about being insulted by text, even on my favorite 17" Viewsonic whose base is broken off. And as for you, FuzzyShadows... Or should we say, LFNFuzzy? You gallery is every bit as impressive as hers is, that's for sure. I really hope AS gets back in time to lock this thread... It's gonna get nasty, with all this text-warring, somebody might sprain a pinkie or something!

Aye, I was being more than a bit elitist. And considering NONE of my pictures will ever make it into the Hot 20, I guess I don't really care. But alas, Fuzzy. I wasn't talking about professionalism. I've never made a penny off of any of my images. I was only agreeing with Striving, and others. It's been an ongoing topic around here. The problem isn't so much what they produce, FuzzyShadows, it's that other people aren't honest in critiquing them. My problem is that people are LYING to other people, and I think that is wrong. I don't care how bad a picture is, lying to someone about the image will only convince them to produce more garbage, and to never progress. There are many, many different styles of Computer Generated Imagery. One thing that is NOT a style at all, but a complete lack of humanity, is the types of images that actually LOOK computer generated. Hell, these newer processors could nearly make some of the crap in the Hot 20 right now without any human intervention at all! The point of CGI isn't to let the computer do ALL the work, it's to use it as a tool or brush. It's to express one's self. The images and "style" we are talking about aren't even remotely art, because computers do not have emotions or the need to express them. The computer did all the work, and in some cases, there wasn't more work aside from three to ten quick clicks. I would go so far as to say it took more clicks to upload the images than it did to make them. So, Fuzzy, until the Renderosity banner at the top says, "Computer Generated Art Community Only - No Human Assisted Art Will Be Allowed", then I will continue to analyze and hold other artists to my human standards. Dali's remains are certainly not at rest, tonight...

I think that I was too agressive towards one of those posters, and I'll have to mail them back and apologize. But seriously, if you're a beginner, why would you want to STAY a beginner? And if you need help and have questions, why not ask someone? We all started somewhere. But my 5-year old son draws better pictures with CRAYONS than some of these people. Much, much better. If the post-ers were also 5, then things would be different...

I actually posted a message to one of those artists in the iamge comments section of that image, then thought better of it, and sent them the message directly and deleted my comments. No sense shaming them publicly.

If you ask me, the Hot 20 is just plain garbage. I would be embarassed to show anyone those images, if they were mine. It's no wonder people think Bryce is a kiddy program, with people like that ruining it's reputation. I hope to god that DAZ makes Bryce 6 so complex that none of those idiots can even start the program up. It really makes me angry, that some of us slave over our imagery and a few retarded people can click ten times and call it art. I hope somebody finds this message offensive, I honestly have never been more offended with 'Rosity than I am right now. Those pictures are garbage, and it's a tragedy that Renderosity as a community allows people to upload that crap. They made a Beginner section for a reason.

Aye, as for number 7... If you're using Windows XP Pro, like what Erlik said, Bryce will never use the full amount of power, no matter what you do. The only time I've actually convinced Bryce to use full capacity was when I was using the, "Drop To" function on 600+ ground objects. But, even then, it will oscillate between 98 and 99, and never go to 100. If you try to set it's process to "Real Time", chances are you'll just crash, or it will take so long to un-set it that you might as well just reset your machine. But I think you were asking more about render options...? In which case Drac had good answers. There's very few instances when you actually need to use Premium AA modes, but they are a cool function to have around. One way to optimize is to adjust the Ray Depth / Total Internal Reflection in the render options. If you're not using glass or waters or reflections, there's no need to have these higher than 4. If you ARE using transparencies and reflections/refractions, experiment with these numbers. For example, in "endless mirror" types of scenes, you'll want the Ray Depth as high as you can make it, but not necessarily for the whole scene. You can render most of the scene at 4 or so, then plop-render the mirrored parts at the highest level you have patience for... Another thing you can do with shadows, instead of using the Soft Shadows Hope that makes some sense! There's a lot to learn about this program, but don't get frustrated. Just keep experimenting! And have fun, don't waste your time on projects that aren't fun unless someone is paying you for them...

Excactly what I was gonna say... This is definitely a project for the Terrain Editor. No amount of bum mapping will really bring out enugh detail to match your other elements, such as the puzzle... Now, if Bryce had displacement mapping, it would be different! Good luck, can't wait to see your finished product.

Yep, Kaleasha rules. Very cool... The latest render is a much better image, in my opinion.

Aye, in this case, since your image has come so far already, a few quick lens-flare style lights done in post would be much faster... Perhaps someone with PSP could help you out?

Exactly my point, my friend... You bought the model, which means it's yours. Obviously, you can't resell it as yours or anything that would infringe upon copyrights, but seriously you can do whatever you want to it now! Adding some lights in post would be much easier than tweaking the actual geometry, in this case. If you add any Brycean lights to your scene it will certainly interfere with your lighting scheme, and most likely make the trees look silly. But you could use ranged lights, or spotlights to light the ships up a bit... Create a sphere, set it to "hidden", call it something like, "Light Target". Then put the sphere(s) where you want to shine lights. Make a spotlight, and set it to Track your null-sphere... Piece of cake!