Problem 1: When I load a character their complexion doesn't look very smooth. It's like I can see the different wave patters that make up the skin - sort of like clay. How do I fix that? Problem 2: When I render at 720x480 (dv standard) the AVI box is so large that it's bigger than my 17 inch moniter screen size. I've only gotten to page 80 in the manual.

What setting do you have your interface set at? If you've got it set to one of the shaded settings, you will see facets on the character. Change it to full texturing. You need to resize your AVI box so it fits on your screen or crank up your monitor resolution. Paul