sorry that i have not posted much today. i spent the day trying to get my rigged characters to work properly. experimenting with bone layouts and always seeming to take one step forward and two steps back. when i finally had a scene that (from one angle) looked decent enough to render i tried it out in blender and it had no 'life' and took too long. so i did some more research and stumbled across a nice lighting tutorial for Daz 3D. it showed me the purpose behind some settings for lighting that had confounded me. this illustration is the result of that information.

Daz has a great weight painting system but the initail rig creation feels cumbersome.... I will just have to get over it because i am becoming so frustrated with my limitations in blender that i need a break from it.