Thanks, both of you, that sets my mind at ease:-)
(doesn't help me, but stops me spending a l-o-o-o-n-g time trying to find a quicker way to do things..)

Oh, and @thefixer: Yup! you got it right, that's exactly what I was on about (which also relieves me since now I know that I didn't make a pig's ear out of what I was trying to explain..).

I'm an amateur, sitting at home doing all my stuff on my lonesome. So I can't wander around the "CG Offices" asking about the best way to do things (and get paid for it). I have to try to work it all out for myself. Hence the questions here and elsewhere..

A major "problem point" for me is when I can leave off modeling and start using textures for the effect I want. This is particularly true for surface detail (until I can afford V6I and its displacenment mapping). The decision point between when to stop adding detail and start using bump-maps means I have to be able to imagine what Vue would make of the object in the scene (and how far away it is from the viewer), etc.

If I model too far I clog up Vue with poly-intesive models.
If I model too little I lose "edge detail" and realism...

Oh, well. I 'spose it's all a matter of experience..

Cheers,
Diolma