those are two great leads. There IS a non-visible texture associate with the hair, an "outer transmapped sphere of hair around the scalp" that I had to dial WAY down to get this simple hairstyle. The FIRST THING i am going to do is take a safety copy of the file, toss out the hair and render, leaving everything else exactly the same. If that does not work, I will start making the adjustments you both suggested. Thanks greatly. ::::: Opera :::::