When you say tangential normal maps do you mean with texture and everything. I was able to get the normal map in Vue but I could not put a diffuse/color texture with it. Are you saying that you figured out how? If so, I would like to know what you did.

I hear ya. I think I'll just have to stick with full poly modeling and texturing in 3d coat. The poly's in 3d coat can be downgraded without loss of detail or resolution. Not so bad really. I learned a hell of a lot with our communication. Thanks again.

Hey, the video was cool! Actually I don't know if I mentioned this but Vue will correctly apply normals to an object. The problem is that Vue can't do both the normal and color or diffuse map. It's either one or the other. That's too bad. Vue is top notch for rendering scenes with atmosphere and lighting, scenes to put the models into. I don't suppose Modo or Blender have any significant rendering abilities.

Yes it is uv mapped through blacksmith 3d. (great program).

Do you mean that if the normal comes from a flat plane it will still render correctly to the object that is not a plane? such as a ship or archetecture? I"m kind of new to the modeling and mapping thing, so you'll have to excuse my ignorance. Trying to learn. I could download blender. I use to have that program but to me it was a steep learning curve at the time. Maybe not now. I never really have looked at the export dialogue box in 3d coat very closely. I might want to do that. It sounds as if you are saying I might need to get a baker plugin? Is this something that comes with programs like maya, blender? or is it a third party plugin that I would have to get. (My ignorance shows I know). Anyway, I really appreciate the responses. Extremely helpful. Thanks.

Thanks for the responses in regards to normals. I figured there must be a way to export normals with the textures right from 3d coat but I havn't figured that out. I"ll have to go to the 3dc forum with that question. I"d hate to have to get another program like Modo just to take advantage of normals. The reason I would like to use normals is that it doesn't raise the poly's but rather fakes the displacement. I know it is usually used for gaming characters but you can get some high res textures that way. Thanks again for the response. Actually very helpful. I'm clearer on the subject now.

I use Vue 10 complete. Does that make a difference?

I guess my concern with Geo is with Geo 1 not Geo 2. I watched the video by Artur and he had Geo 2 and the brush seemed much better than the brush in Geo 1. And I can't afford Geo 2 yet. And the whole program seemed much more intuitive. So, do I need to get Geo 2? The Geo 2 demo I downloaded didn't give me access to any brush activity. I couldn't find the brush. Is that common in the demo for Geo 2? So, I figured if I could do terraine shaping in Vue and export it in greyscale I could easily do distribution maps and start creating again. (I've been in a slump and haven't produced anything lately.

Let me see if i can be clearer. Let's say I have a blank terraine, standard, and I carpet it with a grass ecosystem. Now, the whole terraine is covered. I save this eco and go to apply it to another terraine in another pic I'm working on and the eco shows only a few patches of the grass eco (no other objects in the scene). Does the size of the terraine make a difference? Or the height? Distance from camera? Also, this is kind of strange, when I apply the eco to a terraine in a new screen or scene it will initially work just as I made it. But when I copy and paste the eco to a terraine in a new screen or scene, it applies with only a few patches of the grass eco again (even after I populate) Also, before I save the newly made eco I put the presence dial all the way to full and it still renders with only a few patches of the grass. It appears I have a lot to learn about this eco system. In essence, the "eco's" that I make and save are not applying to terrains correctly. Hope I didn't do more confusing than clarifying.

Thanks for the input. It does work when I hit populate, but it doesn't populate with the number of instances that I populated it with to begin with. When I create, say, a terraine of grass, the terraine is full when I make it but populates in a barren way when I apply it to a terraine.
Thanks Rutra. Yes, it does load with the material eco system objects showing in the general tab, but when I applied it ,it wasn't showing up. Now I guess I have to figure out how to save the eco system so that it applies without any additional adjustments to the "presences'" or number of instances?

Thanks for the reply. That cd isn't available yet, I take it. Lay man's terms is just what I need to begin. I am familiar with Poser and basic modeling. I'm going to experiment within poser, and through trial and error,I'll come up with the creature I want. Again, thanks for the reply, and I'm looking forward to your cd. Castaneda

Love your tutorials on painting clothes. My first attempt is seen in the "Mists of Loheroan" in the what's new section of poser gallery. (uploaded here?)It does not give your tutorials any justice, but hopefully practice will change all. Your artwork is excellent. Also, in your tuts, you mention mask renders from Bryce to photoshop. I'm tired of taking the time to erase the halo around my poser figures. Does the mask render eliminate this problem? I need a tut on masking as I don't understand masking in full yet. Any help?