Here's a try I did made using volumeteric light. I like how it turned out but I did get some odd rays on some of the light beams that I had trouble getting rid of. Anyone have any helpful ideas on this? Thanks for the help.

Nicely done. But traditionally, Vicki should be naked and brandishing a sword. J/K I don't see the problem. The rays look good to me.

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Yeah they improved a bit when I adjusted the curves in Photoshop. But there's a weird stepping in the upper left corner for some reason. It was very noticeable.

Actually, it's nice to see Vicky looking so elegant...

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Here is my 2 Cents the Gold Should be a bit more Dull, it is too shiny the dragons genital area looks too funy with the reflection of the pillars. otherwise the Scene Looks Great. Just bring down the reflectivity. If you have any gold rings or something at home take a look at it and you will see the Reflection in the gold is not clear and shiny its a bit dull and fuzzy looking.

Aye, I think that whiter volumetrics and MUCH thicker density would be in order here... It took me a few re-looks just to even notice them, and it's such an enchanting effect you might as well overdo it a bit. You can always settle for a happy medium later... Still, back to the topic : Perhaps it's your volume quality settings? Are you using multiple spotlights, or just one? Are you using a spotlight with a radial in front of it? Just some ideas....! I agree with Analog about the gold material, way too shiny for gold. More mercurial, with an orange tint? Also, I'm not sure about the WHITE parts of the scene. What is making them so bright? I see some candles in the scene, why not use THOSE to light the scene, alongside the volumetrics? It would be much more accurate... Give it a shot! (try the lights on squared falloff for the best results, just crank up their magnitude a bunch...)

Using one spot for the top. I tried using a light on each candle but when I turned up my shadow settings to where things looked decent it was just too long a render time. There are some settings I've tried on the premium render area that are suppossed to help with the shinyness two of you mentioned about the gold but they give it a speckled look when turn on. Going to try some more tweaking on that.