I have used the Zmorphics fresnel shader. The results are subtle but definately have an impact. (Visually) I used the gradient shader a lot til C3 included it. I have not used blurry reflections so I can't help you there. All these these increase rendering speed somewhat: there's no free lunch! If you wish examples my gallery image "Lamp and Rake" uses Anything Grooves. "Riverside" and "Blackberry" use Anything grows. "Postcards" (drinking glass) and "Chandlery" use Zmorphics fresnel. I use a 1GHz Intel processor. HTH Ed