CompuServe Messages

Andrew, I checked out prftab.jpg. That's a really nice piece of work. I'm sure that I'm not the only one that would like your settings for the glass; it's some of the best I've seen. Most of the stuff I do doesn't call for glass like that, so I haven't messed with it, but you seem to have it down. It looks like you are using the default wood setting. Wood is not that easy to create convincingly. Every now and then I sit down and spend 5-6 hours just rendering different wood textures – I use a sphere, a plank, a round column and a square column to see how the grain renders on different shapes. Right now I'm about half finished with a very detailed Grandfather clock. There are a couple of ideas that I would try adding to the scene if it were mine. The first would be to use an app like CorelDRAW! to create a doily for the vase of flowers, then export out, and use the graphic with the cookie cutter. Then, still using Corel, I would create a circular floral pattern to go on the blue rim of the plates. Using MATERIAL, I'd create a marble pattern to replace the blue, one that was different shades of pastel blues, with some speckling. Then I'd imagemap the the circular design on top of it. If you were really feeling adventurous, you could use Corel to design a pattern that would be carved into the wood on the backs of the chairs, then use it as a bump map. You could also create a pattern to bump map the the glass vase, or one to imagemap on as an etching. One other thing might be to use your glass material to create a pattern of crystals for the light to shine through down onto the table. Again, it looks great. Add some more detail, put some pictures on the wall, move the camera back a little, and you'd have a graphic that could make Graphic of the Month. Michael S. Flynn