This is an image I’m working on as a cover image for a book I’m working on. It’s nearly complete. I just need to figure out the refraction for the glass spheres. If anyone’s got any tips, I’d welsome the help.
Here’s the pic:
http://www.missouri.edu/~gtbcm8/Striker_One.jpg
Nice idea…
for comments:
1 - AntiAlias! AntiAlias! push that OSA button in the rendering tools, set the number beneath to 8 or higher, rerender.
2 - The crome 5 arm ‘svastica’ is too low poly, you can see plenty of edges here and there, which make the fake EnvMap looks ugly. SubSurf! SubSurf! (Beware, this will spoil points, you probably will need to remodel points.
3 - There is a refraction plugin somewhere. Look in the Q&A forum, look for my list of tut, look for valarking site, look for Al_capone site, look for IngeeBee site… look look…
Anyway blender is not that good for glass.
If your model is shiny metal and glass consider esporting it to a raytracer.
Blend on!
Stefano
It’s actually not a svastica (though it has been mentioned to me before, but then I’ve also been told it looks like some sort of ninja duck, so…) but more of a throwing star-type object.
I’ve noticed that about Blender and glass. Maybe it’s something that they could add for Blender 3.0 (Not necessarity ray-tracing, but at least something to help “fake it”.
How’s this (still no raytracing):
http://www.missouri.edu/~gtbcm8/Striker_One.jpg
Ok…
the anti alias is far better now 
The chrome thing can still be better.
First try to recalculate normals.
Edit Mode -> CTRL+N
Then really try to subsurf it, I can see stright edges where the arms bend, and I’m pretty sure you meant smooth curves there…
Stefano
I’'m sort of new to the forum and am not up on all the terminology, or maybe I just haven’t been using Blender for as long as you guys, but what does subsurf mean? Do you mean ‘Subdivide Smooth’ or ‘Subdivide’ and then ‘Smooth’ or something else entirely?
Also, here’s a slightly updated version, with chrome using the original reflection map combined with an environment map:
that looks much better. but the clear sphears kinda don’t look right there. They just don’t fit in
Well, the spheres are there to stay, sorry. It’s a symbolic thing. Like I said, it’s for a book cover, so I guess it all has meaning.
Okay, I’ve updated it a little more. Got the SubSurfing the way I want it and got rid of the stars reflected in the chrome:
http://www.mizzou.edu/~gtbcm8/GTBlackwell/Gallery/Striker_One.jpg
Next I need to add (or at least, fake) a refraction layer on the glass.