Zac, I agree the design isn't as three dimensional as it could be. But at this point, I'm just moving forward with it so I can continue with some other projects.
Basically, the tools I've been using the most for this are the hPolish and DamStandard brushes. After I've built up the basic forms (1), I go back and forth with hPolish until I get a definite edge (2). It's a little hard to see, but next I pop out the edge some with the DamStandard set to Zadd (3). After that, I can…
First off, it's easier (and better) to make alphas like this positive rather than negative. That makes the zadd and zsub buttons behave as expected. To fix this one, rotate your object 180 degrees in the x or y axis, then go to the tool>display properties option and click "flip". That'll give you an positive spike instead…
I would like to know the difference too, in the article Zac linked too I think the linear Polarizer was referring to the film the author placed over the flash?
By no means is it destroying it... but as Zac said its probably more for the kids, I actually think its really interesting, and it was done very well too... which is a bonus.