no probs :)

...do you have access to shake or nuke at your uni? adding an occlusion is really easy.

its looks good so far, i hope your track is solid!

no i do not is it expensive, I would really like to learn how to do that
Brady

I am downloading shake right now...hope you can show me the way obi

Blender's compositor can do it as well if you're on a budget.

approximate your stock footage geo with maya geo.
Then assign "use background" to anything you want shadows and reflections to appear on. It can be found in the hypershade create bar. It's the best way for me...
Something to remember about raytracing to help your realism... Strong point lights are best represented with a radius of less than five. Otherwise more diffuse lighting (like typically found in a kitchen flourescent lightbox) would benefit from a higher radius. Examine your footage to see what works and do some IPR renders with a small portion of your shadow framed til you get the right edges.

[EDIT]
lol... I thought I read the whole thread... Sorry Hammer!
Also check out Wax for free comp software. It's a poor man's version of After Effects[/EDIT]

do I need shake? or can i just composite in after effects....and do I just run a standard ambient occlusion pass and then turn the layer to multiply or screen or wut ever.
thanks

No, you don't need shake. Shake is just another compositor, just like After Effects.