Iterate a Cloud of Cubes

It has been several months since I have been inside a QC project. As usual, feeling like a novice. I'm using OS 10.6.2.

Attached is a composition and screenshots. Requires vade's v002 blur and the font is corona, but shouldn't matter.

For the purposes of my project (rendering out using Quartz Crystal for compositing in After Effects), there is a lot I can use in this composition using the accumulator. I can make it work claiming "artistic license".

However (--- help ---)

I have backed myself into a corner -- this is not truly 3D space.

I decided in the middle of all this that I would like a cloud of cubes / images and composite some video in z-space in the midst of the cloud in Quartz Composer, then render out. Since I want a different image on each cube, I cannot use particle effects. (The pic shows numbers, but I desire to also use a folder of images).

In the current version, the size of the cubes in the viewer is determined solely by z-axis input. So the cubes are not truly in 3D space because the accum simply piles them all on top of each other irregardless of their location along the z-axis. The dof effect created with vade's v002 blur demonstrates this as well -- the larger (closer) cube/number with blur is behind smaller (farther) cube/numbers.

I cannot get it going with the Iterator yet. If anyone has any guidance or can direct me to any examples, I would hugely appreciate it.

For example, for assigning different images to iterated sprites / cubes, I am looking at a composition called "Carousel" (I think by Daniel Ciabba? embarrassingly, I'm not sure without searching...). In this comp he used a structure of images to assign different folder images to iterated sprites for a 3D rotated display effect.