Looking good

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@havoc: Yes, indeed, it does rely on human input, but as only a limited number of people (mods and admins) will have access to posting news and we won't have news every single day - and even less news with custom bg - it should be fine. I was thinking to do this only as an optional possibility, because SvaRoX mentioned custom backgrounds, which isn't really necessary for most news.

For other cases, the following behavior should be doing the job: if a picture is attached, it will be used as a thumb. If more than one picture is attached, it looks for a picture with the description "thumb" or "news" and if neither is found, it will just pick the first attached picture as thumb.

Furthermore: YES! I would love it, if you could fix the dswp logo up a bit and do it as a vector. I attached the logo I use in my designs as a PNG with alpha channel. Just make it so it looks as close as possible like this, 100% copy isn't necessary. And take your time, we don't need it done by tomorrow. Within the next few weeks would be nice - until then we can still use the PNG

Rayne: Yes, I did. Basically it's nothing more than a cube with round edges/corners with a water texture, volumetric light inside, the logo as a plane infront of the cube and a floor with a 15% reflection. Additional light in the distance to light the scene a little. Ambient Occlusion and Global Illumination (except for the logo) to make it look a little bit more realistic. That's all to it. I'm not a 3D artist, so I know only a couple of things, mostly enough to enhance my crappy designs

wursti: Looks good! It really fits your desktop, especially the icons aligned around the cube

Deviante: Thanks Glad you like it.

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If you're using 3ds max, you can try VRay plugin for better reflections. I think vray is most commonly used for glass and water renders. Also I'd set the logo inside the cube rather then in front of it. It will give it more depth and the distortion from the water should apply on it as well (though the same effect can be done in photoshop too).
Otherwise it looks very nice.

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Bring the Rayne.

Yeah, I tried putting the logo inside, but it resulted in the logo not being very readable, so I decided to put it infront. The contrast is much better thanks to that, although I would've liked a consistent water effect Well, if anyone wants to photoshop it, he may feel free to do so

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I can do it, it's not a problem but i need the cube background and the logo itself separated, so if you can render the cube without it; it wold be helpful.

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Bring the Rayne.

So, no reflection on the floor either?

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If you can give me that cube in PNG, without the special lighting inside of it, it would be perfect.
I can add the reflection on the floor, lighting i can even bump map the thing in PS.

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Bring the Rayne.

OK, I made 2 alpha versions, one with the volumetric light inside, one without (as this one looks rather crappy, I uploaded both). The background is a simple fading with the floor reflection. If you need anything else, let me know. And keep in mind, the logo will be vectorized and changed slightly (just nuances, to even out the small flaws in the letters S and W), so we may have to exchange that later on. Maybe you want to wait until then and I will create new renderings once we got the vectorized logo?

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Sure I'll wait for Havoc to finish the logo. You could have added few light sources to illuminate the cube. The light doesn't has to be inside it to show reflections and transparency.

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Bring the Rayne.

no worries, working on it

edit: last letter left, the damn "s"

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"It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority."
-- Benjamin Franklin