I can see that my image I just posted is rapidly getting pushed off the front of the gallery's new pics page, so I figured I'd share with the Vue forum. I've lurking here for a while, mainly due to the fact that I couldn't decide on what 3d scenery package suited me. But I finally did finnaly settle on Vue a couple of days ago. There are couple of things I don't like about this rendering : one, the lack of a realistic looking surf, and two, the wet sand should be a little shiney. If anyone has any tips or can point me to any good tutorials, I would be in your debt. Your critical comments are welcome. -Luv, Nik

Hi Nik, Welcome to the wonderful world of Vue d'Esprit! That is quite a nice image for an early rendering; very nice work! There are several little "tricks" by which to create a surf. If you do a search on the archived messages here (for "surf" or "waves") you'll find a bunch of tips to get started with. The easiest method by far is to utilize a paint program after rendering, but I realize not everyone feels comfortable doing that. There is also at least one wave object in the Free Stuff area, as I recall, and if you check the Tutorials section, you can reach Tesign's "Splash" tutorial, hosted by Bloodsong. I think there's another one, too, but I can't remember offhand who's it would be. (Sorry!) The Tutorial listings are searchable, too, however. IMHO, your sand looks great to me! The only change I'd make is to enlarge the material scale a bit to spread out the "dune" lines a little. But to each his own, of course. To add a wet-shine, adjust the highlight color to something brighter (more white) and tweak the Dull --> Shiny slider until you reach an appearance you like. You might try it more to Shiny first, but sometimes you'll get nicer results with the dial tuned more towards Dull (None), so just fiddle with it. Others here made have more tips to add, too. We're a pretty gregarious bunch! :) Varian -- Treasures d'Esprit

made have = MAY have I'm going to learn how to type sometime next week. ;)

Never mind all that technical stuff - THAT is a very beautiful picture, quite indicative, no doubt, of what else is possible. I LIKE THE PICTURE VERY MUCH! Larry F PS: Not that technical stuff doesn't have it's place, else how would we have these wonderful tools/toys to play with?

Thanks Larry, I do tend to get bogged down in the technical stuff. I feel like I pulled this one off with more luck than skill. However I do like it too. :-) And thanks for the info, Varian. I found a neat tutorial on tides in the tutorial section, like you suggested. It's a Bryce tutorial, but I think the concepts apply. Also, you made me realise I was forgetting to adjust the highlight color on my material. Doh. :-P Also, I should clarify my newbie status. I've been playing with both the demo versions of Bryce and Vue for a few months off and on. Also I've been diddling with Poser4 for ... jeez ... maybe a year and a half now. Just hobby stuff, nothing serious. :-) Wait a minute, I just checked your web site, Varian. I feel like a total newbie now. Love your work. Hmmm ... and it does seem like I remember a wave in the free stuff somewhere. I'll scout around a bit. Anyways, I'm glad to be here. I hope to contribute something to the forum. Long live Vue! -Nik