ok thanks
I'm just trying to render the single patch of grass (using a smaller sample density that you did) & test renders at low quality 200 ish * 450 ish pixels are taking 2 minutes +.
I have 12 (well 11) gigs of ram & an i7 processor so I was expecting quicker results from 2014. It's enough to make me check out Vray! (without even a clue as to whether or not its faster)

Well, thanks for the tuts, you do the kinds of things (stained glass, real interiors etc) that I have been looking for for years.
Now for some underwater scenes!? eh?

T