Thanks for the reply! I think that an option for internal gear is missing as well unless there is a way to adjust the parameters of the standard type gears to achieve this. I was able to create, arrange, and keyframe two gears succesfully. I think with the script there is a way to simply keyframe the first gear. From swineworld.org:

• place the two gears with their radii touching
• rotate one of them so that the teeth mesh properly
• key that rotation at frame 1
• go forward 1 second (= frame 26 if the framerate is 25 f/s)
• rotate the same gear the number of degrees it will turn in 1 second and key that rotation
• set the extrapolation of the curve to 'linear'
• drive the rotation of the second gear by creating a new IPO and referenci

I have to confess that most animation I have done with all the applications I've used has been via key frames. Im a bit lost at the last two lines. After a hubt about I haven't found where to set the extrapolation curve type and I'm not sure what a IPO is or how to ref. it... 

Who knows.....

Thanks all for your comments and suggestions.

D at M: When you export from Solid Works what file format do you use?

Alex: Thanks for the compliment on the ship. I worked on it on and off for quite awhile. (Way longer than I'd like to admit.) I made some mistakes in modeling and texturing but its good enough for the back ground of a scene at any rate.

Thanks again!

Thanks all for the info and warm welcome.  I'm more of a TrueSpace 6.6 user but I have been so impressed by all the images in your gallery I wanted to give Bryce a try. I bought ver 5.5 when it was on special a while ago and have just got around to using it.

Right now I'm doing a tutorial by Rudolf Herczog in 3D World #88. His screen caps looked a bit lower poly than what I was seeing on my screen so I thought perhaps I was missing something.

Thanks again, looking forward to meshing some of my TS models with Bryce landscapes. (Pun intended.)

yep, cntl + up did it thanks haloedrain

oodmb - thanks for the tip on the vertices.

I guess this is where I need to try and put a mental block b/t myself and previous apps I've used. I'm just so used to seeing the whole mesh all the time in any mode that I'm more comfortable that way.

I see the merits of having slow draw turned off and I'm sure I can get used to it. Starting out and not knowing that option was there though I thought something was lacking with my graphics card.

Nice one, thanks to both of you.  Those were all good pointers. oodmb was spot on with the slow draw setting, thats exactly what I was going for.

While I was doing trying out your suggestions I somehow closed the buttons window by accident. I tried to use the "split area" function but it refused to work after that. Is there a key-in I may have hit accidently that causes this or did I just hit a glitch somewhere? Haven't had this happen before.

Wow, that was quick! Thanks for the reply. So do the "doubles"  you mentioned slow down rendering at all or are they ignored by the render engine b/c they don't have any area?

Thanks again,

John

Well, membership to Rendo is free so I find it difficult to complain. One request though for the staff. Could we get a link from the new front page to the list of user communities please?  :-) Maybe I missed it if there is one but I had to go to the site map to find it.

Thanks!

I have the guide and its pretty good. If you are concerned about changes in the interface between the current version when the book was written and the present version then you can install the version that comes w/ the book. (Or downlaod it from blender.org) Lately I have just been picking away at online tutorials. The Wiki online book mentioned above was very good as well. The help menu in v 2.37a (and I assume earlier versions) will lead you to a lot of good stuff on the web.

Thanks llotcat, As far as the shaded view goes - should that be displaying non-uv'd textures OK? I just realized in my image above I improperly labeled that view solid shading, sorry if that caused any confusion. Thanks again for everyone's help! j

thanks for the input guys. tried the tab button trick but no dice. I think I'll load up an older version of Blender on another drive and see if I have the same problem. BTW, I realized I'm using Blender v 2.37a if that makes any difference.

Attached Link: http://www.elysiun.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11889&highlight=landis+airman

I had pretty good luck with this one: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Blender_3D:_Noob_to_Pro There are a few things that don't work in version 2.37 (Like the Stucci shader - you'll know when you get there.) but generally it is a pretty clear intro to whats what with the interface and so on. Good luck!

Guess I will, maybe someone with v 2.36 or earlier can have a shot at the same tutorial and let us know. Thanks for having a look.

There was an article in 3D world on interior lighting a few months back and they suggested turning off "recieve shadows" for chrome. This was in a Maya tut and I'm just learning "to blend" so I don't know if Blender has that option but if so maybe worth a shot?