This was inspired by a sci-fi novel for which I've always had a soft spot, The Mote In God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, about a first contact between spacefaring humans and an intelligent race of alien beings. The book falls a tad short in the characterization department - just a tad mind you, I've certainly come across a lot worse in scf-fi literature - but really shines in the conception and depiction of the aliens and their society. One of the best ever in that regard. Ships and planet modelled and rendered in Bryce, with backdrop postworking and compositing in Photoshop.