jj, sorry for any chaos in this thread - it's not usually this bad.  it's true that IDL can render slower than non-IDL, but IDL renders can be sped up when totally enclosed, e.g. using bill's envsphere.  if any questions about IDL or IBL, don't hesitate to ask.  one may wish to avoid AO on lights or materials, unless using a pre-IDL version of poser.  for this reason, AO on materials was disabled by default some years ago, but check lights for AO, just in case.