Attached Link: Vintner's Daughter.03

I'm in need of an experienced observer's opinion.  This is my third of forth formal render in Poser 5, and while its not the first time I've posted a P5 rendered here, I'm still far from being an expert on how to utilize it to its full potential.  Therefore, I'd like any and all expert opinion on what I could have done to enhance it.  I've experimented with displacement and bump nodes, and have tried my hand at the specular settings, but still many things are beyond me.  Example:  The stalks of the Lavender are supposed to be green, and yet they render black, or dark slate.  I'm unable to use Raytrace (not that I've seen that it actually improves anything), because of the amount black blobs it leaves ALL over the place.  And for some strange reason, it seems to me that P5's P4 Render Engine does a better job than FireFly, and yet all these years I've heard naught but how FireFly does such a superb job over the Poser4-Pro Pack render engine (I will admit that the P5's P4 render engine seems to d a better job than my Pro Pack one does, but I think that's do P5's advanced materials bump mapping). Anyway, the only way to learn is through doing, so please give me the benefit of your experience, comments, critiques and advice. Yours truly, David P. Hoadley

Hi, David

"I'm unable to use Raytrace (not that I've seen that it actually improves anything), because of the amount black blobs it leaves ALL over the place."

Let me guess... You've used the "square" prop (from primatives) to put your background image on to...
Never use that one (for anything). Use the "Single-sided" one instead..:-))

The square prop is "double sided", and P5 and above has problems with these (for technical reasons I could explain, but not unless you really want to know).

Just substitute the single-sided square and see if that improves matters (in FireFly)

or ... it's something else altogether..

Cheers,
Diolma

(IM/e-mail me if you want more info..)

Dear Diolma;
Thank you for responding to my thread.  Actually, I used the box.  I flattenind it on its z axis to 10%, and expanded it on its x and y  axis to 1000%, exported it as an obj, and then imported it into UV Mapper, to map it so that it would accept an entire photo without doing strange things to it.  I like to leave a little depth to my background prop so that bump maps and displacement maps have so flesh to play around with.
The black blobs weren't so much on the baclground (although there was some there too, as on the body and shorts of the Bob Marley, 'Agustus' Dork guy. 
I also have another problem with raytracing, it balloons the clothes, even when smooth polygoans in unchecked.  This makes for a very difficult situation.  Any advice will be welcome.
Yours truly,
David P. Hoadley