the simplest way to get reflections is to turn on raytracing (you need to do that because unlike real light CG light doesn't bounce). It's not always the best solution though due to the extra time it takes to render etc etc.

Now as far as an example goes: if you had a fully CG scene then maybe turning on raytracing might be a good solution for you. However if you are trying to put a CG element into a real environment then you need to make a reflection environment. The simplest way to do this is to grab a picture of a scene (indoor or outdoor depening on what you are doing) and then simply put it on an environment sphere (in the hypershade). i know this may sound crap and the reflections wont be true but you only have to give the impression that it's reflecting it's environment (unless it's really up close to the screen and you really need it to reflect something in particular). You will be surprised at how much this really "adds" to your render, metals will actually look shiny and glass will not look so flat and CG ish.

here's a simple example for you to look at, it's nothing special but it shows you how to do it. The only problem with this technique is that the sphere and the torus wont reflect each other (you can turn on raytracing to fix this).

check the docs for more on reflections.


Alan

Alan