I have been experimenting with making skies in Carrara and so far I have not been able to get anywhere near the same level of quality as in bryce. does anybody know how I can do this? if so please tell me. thanks alot.

In my opinion Bryces render engine is better. I get better quality renders from Bryce than I do from Carrara and/or Ray Dream Studio. Bryce is the slowest thing I think I've ever seen but the results are worth it. To answer your specific question. I cant get Skies in Carrara to look like the ones I produce in Bryce 4. They look OK in Carrara but just dont have that punch. Maybe someone else has some tips on getting better skies out of Carrara.. Clint

Clint is right. For a wide range of skies, Bryce is the master. If sky is one of the most important elements in your image, then a Bryce backdrop is the way to go. I've had the best luck with Carrara and windblown and sunset types of skies. I'm not saying the above image is a good sky image but there are some things that I've found to help. 1. Use all of the cloud layers; change their color, density, x-y ration and altitude. Density I usually have around 2 percent. 2. Use fog and haze; again select 'horizon' colors and have them obscure the actual horizon. 3. Throw in a volumetric cloud; either with the native Carrar Cloud function or with Lost Horizons Software Volumetric Cloud (my personal favorite since you can change colors within the cloud itself) The addition of the volumetric creates a little more irregularity in the image than the Four Elements does. Hope this helps! Mark