   D3DXFX_DONOTSAVESTATE
  hey all.just realized the preformance boost when using D3DXFX_DONOTSAVESTATE as an argument to an effect->Begin(), but don't compleletly understand what's going on here. The DX9 documentation didn't help me much on this one. pEffect->Begin( &nNumPasses, D3DXFX_DONOTSAVESTATE );Anyway, when i use a technique in the FX file to do normal mapping, i can't figure out how to get my render states back the way they were before the call, even though i'm setting them back in the C program.The normal mapping technique does use a different declaration, but i can't see why that would matter. I can use D3DXFX_DONOTSAVESTATE successfully in other techniques.thanks-programmer_tom   
  Only the state modified by the effect is saved/restored."state" can mean: render states, texture stage states, sampler states, current pixel shader, current vertex shader, shader constant register contents, currently set textures, active fixed function lights/materials, etc.Go through the techniques in your effect and make a note of each place it changes any of the above "states" - you'll need to set every state your effect modifies back to whatever you expect those states to be for the rest of your scene. BTW: you can also ask the effect system to not record the sampler and shader states - with this, you could let D3DX save and restore normal render states and texture stage states but do the other state yourself if you don't have your own state management.   ;  Thanks man. Fixed the problem...wasn't resetting the pixel shader to NULL after normal map technique...ended up accidentally using that shader elsewhere after the call. Appreciate the help :)-programmer_tom   