Concerning the multiple objects :

Actually it's not multiple "objects" but a texture map at the wrong scale (x9).

When you change the size of an alpha plane the color image and the transparency map are scaled as well.
That's the meaning of the "adjust plane proportions" button in the alpha plane options.

What happens is that sometimes, i.e. when you change the size of the alpha plane, VUE must adjust again the scale of the material. If the preview window is refreshing itself during this process you will get this "multiple copy" effect.

to avoid this, disable "adjust plane proportions" and set the scale of the material manually.

Eric