hmm ok..

thanks for the help.

i think rendering in passes is a good idea in most cases of anything for best quality and control etc...but i'm trying to be lazy while i test lighting/textures etc... in my scene.
this is for a compositing project so at the end of the day i'll definitely do as you suggest.

roach: sounds interesting but also like a bit of a distraction what what i need to worry about (got enough to learn as is)...thanks for the suggestion though and i'll keep it in mind.

got the background image thing sorted too.