@Xlance and Dorin - panels are great suggestion (please, please)

Agree! No panels was one of the main reasons I started creating custom staircases. I never liked the thin balusters of the staircases, because I often create staircases for large, public buildings that rarely have such balusters. You will have to find a way to allow selecting the number of panels above each other and its (individual?) height. Maybe from one full panel to max 3 or 4 panels. I bet the panels will be more popular than the cylinder balusters.