mason, My experience = post14 or randy77 above. can you post your hardware and also an image of a scene that you would approach with trepidation becuase you fear you won't be able to cancel render? why do I ask? because most people do not have your problem on a regular basis, and without your specifics, how can others comment or judge if your issue is 1) you are expecting too much given your scene complexity & hardware; or 2) your hardware is okay and scenes are reasonable, but something is not set up right in your world, hence you are plagued by render bail-out grief. ::::: Opera :::::