hi everyone.

i've been working with maya for around 2 weeks now, and have just finished the first four chapters of the maya 4.5 fundamentals book (since i have no prior 3d experience). to sort of practice my skills, i decided to create a town scene of sorts. but first thing's first, i'm starting with a single building. i've posted the image here.

please feel free to give me your comments and suggestions. i'm particularly looking for suggestions on how to make things look more real, as i can't pinpoint exactly what i need. oh, and see the lens flare? i don't know what caused that, now it's appearing in ALL my renders, even after deleting all the lights in the outliner. HELP with that too, please.

thanks everyone!