My stupid question about Bryce

[Jon]

Could someone please explain how the render buttons affect how Bryce renderes, and also how does one tell if a button in this area is on or off. The big render button in Bryce5 is either gray, pulsating gray, or red. The little buttons off to the left are either gray or blue. I need some information as what these colors all mean. I've been using Bryce5 for only about 2 weeks now so I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions in the future. One last thing, is there anyone I can send my rendering to so I can get a little advice? For instance, I seem to have a bright spot on my house and it seems to be there whether or not the sun is off or on, and adjusting various lights, materials, etc seems to have no effect either. Any help would be appreciated. By the way, this website is one of the best I have ran into. The layout is completely professional and the information on various subjects is outstanding. I've told many people who work in the CAD and rendering fileds to check this site out. Thanks.

[CADTutor]

Jon, as you have discovered, the Bryce interface is "interesting" but with use, you'll soon get to grips with it. I found it quite difficult when I first started with Bryce but now I'm a real fan (as everyone round here already knows!).

Anyway, those render buttons - they're not really on/off buttons. When not in use, they are gray. They pulsate if you hover your cursor over them but this is just to let you know that this part of the interface is interactive rather than simply decorative. Click the main (large) render button to start rendering in the main window - it goes red while the render is in progress. You can stop the render at any time by clicking it when red. The other smaller buttons - two on the left when the option is turned on and gray when option is turned off - two on right are red when clicked to render as per the large render button. Each button function is stated in the status area (bottom-left) when you hover over them.

If you are a Bryce beginner, I recommend you have a look at http://www.cadtutor.net/dd/bryce/resource/resource.html for other learning resources. I thoroughly recommend the book, Real World Bryce.