Thanks Ajax. That's exactly what I mean. And you're right about the cylinder not being necessary, I just find it more convenient than say. . . two spheres; one behind the subject and one in front. I just orient the cylinder lengthwise along the camera's line of sight, and then parent it to the camera. If I want to dim the bright/near parts I move it closer to the camera. If I want to brighten the dark/far parts of my subject, I move it away. And if I want to do both I move the cylinder closer to the camera and then scale it to extend past my subject. compiler, or anybody reading for that matter, if you need more explanation let me know and I'll post some more illustrations. P.S. I feel for you; my cable was out for three days this week. I'm still playing catch-up.