Going Climbing?

[gesmith]

Saw a tutorial on how to model rope in sketchp and I had to have try it out (if anyone wants have a look, its a skp model from google warehouse with the tutorial inbedded http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehou...63&prevstart=0)
I want to redo the rope sometime, as it is not lying naturally on the desk.

Anyone got any advice on achieving softer lighting conditions with a bit more gradient in the shadows? Crits & comments welcome.