I tried your method, Doc, and it didn't change anything. I still can't render ground shadows. I even have the "cast shadows" box checked. Another tutorial that someone suggested via PM says that the ground shadows are simply guides and WILL NOT render, and that separate shadow files have to be made on transparencies (???) and inserted into the file. I am using a background image in my poser file, so I can't replace the background, I am just trying to get shadows to display on the ground plane. If you want, I'll do a screencap for you of my material room after I got the thing set up, just to make sure I did it right. thanks, ricardo