Good Grief! This thread has resurfaced!

(Maybe, just maybe it'll go on to page 3...)

OK - to keep things going, another favourite tip of mine is:.....

Make much use of the "Solo Selection" button.
(That's the one at the bottom-right of the screen, in the middle of the "Video-style" controls...)

In the normal view, select what you want to concentrate on (one or more objects).
Hit the "Solo Selection" button.
Everything else gets hidden, allowing you to concentrate on just the selected objects. You can render from there too, to check results..
The "Solo Mode" works in exactly the same way as the "full" mode, except you are only working with the selected objects (you can tab through the selected stuff to get to a specific part, or ungroup if you want. But you'll have to regroup if it's necessary..)

Hit the same button again to return to "full" mode....

Well, that's what I do (when I remember), and it seems to help me a lot:-))

Cheers,
Diolma