CompuServe Messages

As for other books, Nancy Fulton's will be on the shelves before ours (if it isn't already). You should at least page through it to see if there's anything for you to glean. How the Renderer "works" – yes, but only in terms of cause and effect – no code or algorithms. If you want that you'll need to brush up on your C. Fractal for learning art techniques – probably not a good idea. It's a great program, and I enjoy mine quite a bit, but it was written for those that already know media and are trying to reproduce the effects on the PC. You shouldn't be looking for media techniques as much as compostion, lighting, color mixing (light and pigment), and traditional perspective/photography. Spending time and money on 35mm SLR will pay off more. You don't need to know how to draw or paint to compose. Following other programs – no doubt you were able to pick up on them fairly quickly. There really are only a few types: ploygon based (3DS/Topas), NURB based (Alias/Wavefront), and the new Metaball tech. Once you understand the basics, they all are variations on a theme – just some have MUCH better interfaces than others, and all have varying capabilities. Good luck in your discoveries, – Phil