Making a gas / energy effect sprite look good?

Blastedlabs

Product

So, the object is 6 intersecting planes in a starburst, and 1 perpidcular plane. I applied a shader to one of them so you could get an idea in my pic.  So some of the problems I'm having are:

1) The object is getting shadows cast on itself when rendered (Both in iray and 3dDelight).  Which is confusing, since it doesn't preview like that.

2) In general, the sprite-shape of the object becomes obvious when rendered.  

Any tips on making the objects look like actual energy or gas, as opposed to a sprite? 

fred9803

"In general, the sprite-shape of the object becomes obvious when rendered."

Yes it does and that is why I generally steer clear of these products.These effects are better left to 2D postwork that gives greater control over placement and overall effect than in-scene rendeing. They're basically gimics IMHO.