CompuServe Messages

Dear Brian, Thanks for getting back to me about the R4 IK tutorial problem. I eagerly await the solution so that I can learn and make use of this feature. By the way, Gary mentioned that I should direct questions to you, Jonas and Nik. Is there a general Compuserve user ID# to use as a central conduit for 3DS questions? One which then gets the message to whoever has that particular expertise? Perhaps you can help me with another problem I have had with 3DS of late. I was having the problem with R3 originally and thought it might have cropped up due to one of those IPAS patches to the .EXE or some such, but I get the same problem with R4 out of the box. Which is: Rendering in either the Keyframer or Editor with a BACKGROUND BITMAP FILE causes my system to hang! I know I USED to use backgrounds with no problem. It happens when the background map .GIF or .TGA or whatever is in the paths set properly in 3DS.SET Has anyone else experienced this? It is such a basic function- gradients and solid color backgrounds work just fine, but ANY image I try to use as a background causes the system to hang. Oh, I have the work-around of doing it through Video Post which works fine, but Id like to have backgrounds images for the Editor and Keyframer. Your help is much appreciated! Sincerely, Peter Nowell