In the interest of generating some philosophical conversations, I'd like to offer the following: I've been struck recently by the pursuit of realism by Poser hobbyists (artists?) and the high value placed on it by gallery viewers, as indicated by comments left in the gallery (e.g. "wow--fantastic realism!" in response more to a texture that was created by a vendor, and has little to do with the rendering created by the person who posted the image.) Personally, I think it's valid to pursue reality for the sake of the challenge as well as to push the envelope and encourage the software and hardware developers to strive for ever-greater levels of realism in the renderings. However, it also seems to me that something gets lost in this pursuit of realism--and that is the search for everything else that makes an image a piece of art: balance, composition, emotion, meaning, mood. There are many images in the gallery that, while highly "realistic", leave me cold. Conversely, there are images that could never be mistaken for a photograph that I think are brilliant. In the end, those whose main pursuit is to see how realistic an image they can create through 3D renderings are more technicians or craftspeople than artists. Those who seek to evoke a powerful mood, or communicate a strongly value or a belief...these are the artists in my book. I want to clarify that I'm not saying there's more value in one or the other...I'm simply saying that what interests, motivates and inspires me are the work of the artists around here...of which there are a few. I do owe something substantial to the technicians as well, because they often provide valuable tips on technique, and often have a wonderful discerning eye. So I guess there's room for both. Pookah