Before I start....I am a NOVICE at this at best. IF you want realism, and don't want to burn the time getting generated in view, then take a picture of a lemon with a digital. Do it at a high resolution, and then pu,ll it in to Vue as a material. You'll get realism wiht ease there. I personally feel that making a material is an artform in itself. I think that the artist's perspective can REALLY be seen in "homemade" materials that are found in an image. Yes, it can be time consuming as hell...but the material is unique to your own "mind's eye" and a part of you (essentially). If you are on a timetable (like the image is for work), then you are definitely right to want to have time efficiency. Have you tried exporting your Animation:Master or DarkTree stuff as a BMP or JPG?? YOu could then pull them into Vue with no problem...thereby killing the time issue. Just some thoughts from a novice. Thanks!! Akenaton