It'll save the scene fine, just not the material individually. One of those things I've learned to live with.... That's for the complex ground cover. But the volume smoke/dust stuff can actually be saved, I remembered. What I meant was, I made some clouds I was happy with, and when I tried to save them as .VOB's, with the material applied, that's when I get the crash. I have saved the clouds without the material, just fine, too. Weird. :/