my experience has been that bryce will render even when it's minimized while you're running other programs, but the more computer resources you use up while doing other things, the slower bryce renders. LIke trying to work long division in your head while writing down the lyrics to your favorite song. It can be done [I suppose, not by me :o)], but it's gonna take longer. I run a 500 P3, with 128 MB ram, and I can render just fine while checking e-mail, word processing, etc. but if I start trying to do something intensive, like in photoshop, then everything slows down. alright, r'osity vets, am I close?