Don't know if this works when rendering in lightwave, but for Max I use the OBJ Grouper Tool which easily groups OBJ files based on the texture "coordinates". It makes it simple to apply textures, etc. in Max. I believe the tools is available here in freestuff. Do a search for "grouper". Hope this helps... its the easiest way for me to work with exported OBJ's. Ciao! Evo