Originally posted by GecT Are you using an ambient light? I'm looking at the dock area and it seems an ambient like is at work there hence the flattening, personally I'd rather a couple dim, non shadow casting area lights but then again area lights just kinda kick ass :p. Also the volumetric effect (is that even plausible given the setting?) from the spots seem to be coming from tiny light sources and don't seem to match the actual light fixtures, you can mess around with decay regions a bit. Yeah the dock isn't modeled or textured yet...I just didn't have time considering my final is due tues and I needed to start rendering the scenes out =) The main light source is a directional light dome...it really does tend to make everything look flat and nasty, but it really is easy to do. What's the best technique for using the area lights? Yes, I need to fix the light fixtures. The dock is as basic as it gets =)