For AO renders, another option is to go to render layers, then create a new render layer. click on the layer and click attributes go to layer presets click it and select ambient occlusion, then you can add objects to this layer and they will rendered in AO - this is new to maya 2009 I know its not always possible on long threads but on a short one please make sure you read previous posts before replying. I mentioned this earlier as its a Maya2008 option, nice to know they kept it for 2009 though, life is still easy! Jay