Thanks for the info....Chipp

I tried the second sun trick once.....(duped sun, turned off shadows)...but couldnt find the level control......so switched to an planar light........(which are really great lights in Mental Ray)....will give sun another try......

That fill light is the biggest problem with Vue lighting.....I think I will definitely always need a fill light in my scenes...(I tend to light for magic hour)

......in Mental Ray you have the ability to create a true lighting simulation.....which means you can shoot photons that calculated real bounced light......(color bounce and key bounce).....

Vue bounce light is a little weak.....it doesnt have a real GI or photons.....

(But then again I havent tested severe hi-end settings of the render to get better bounce fill)

(but then again Vue's version of GI is a  fake Global Illumination, along with its Ambient Occlusion)

Also....THANKS FOR EVRYONE'S INPUT! (great discussion)

Quote - Paul,

The second sun is the same as Rutra's directional light. You can control the power of it by changing it's color to dark blue- as he suggests.

The Ranch renderfarm has all of the necessary Cornucopia files, so you don't need to worry about them not being available.

best,

Chipp