I, too, am a LightWaver. I have just ordered VP and will certainly conduct a lot of experiments, especially in the areas you highlight, since they are of critical importance to me. I'll post my findings. There is, of course, also the option of using RLA/RPF compositing, but I'd rather avoid that. The process usually takes longer and the cost of a good compositing program is rather hefty..for my wallet, anyway :( Unless LightWave can act as compositor? Hmmm... Btw, in the product description it says: "Complex geometries [trees] are automatically unwrapped with minimum distortion and exported complete with all UV mapping and texturing information in a format that can be read by other 3D applications. You can adjust the level of detail in the exported geometries and texture maps." (Note to self - buy a BIG harddrive) Brgds