There where some API changes made in Maya 2009 so some plugins may have needed to be re compiled when Maya 2009 sp1 was released. Check what version you are running and than try one of two Maya...

there was some changes made in how mr looks at alpha in Maya. To get the old style transparency back just go to windows > settings/preferences > preferences. from the rendering category turn on the...

No likely. Most plugins would need to be re-compiled under the newer API. Your best bet is to just download Bounustools for 2011.

http://area.autodesk.com/downloads

What type of video card are you running?
What image format are you using and what resolution is your texture?

Try using another image format like tif and see if you get the same results.

Note sure if the Service pack is going to help you but it will not hurt to give it a try.

Maya 2008 Sp1 is available to all customers from the Autodesk site.
...

yes, select the "x" and hit delete. for better cleaning of the nodes maybe using the hypergraph maybe better.

try parenting the constraints to a joint in the head. that should do it.

have you tried selecting the actual rigid body in the viewport and hit delete on the keypad? or in the hypergraph select the object and show all its connection in the hypergraph. you should be able...

you can use the maya toon feature.

It is located under the rendering menu set.

This basically use a ramp shader on a surface and applies a pfx outline on the surfaces.

Not sure about any...

Good work. In regards to your sky. It sounds like it is a Fluid container. This may be overkill. You can save a lot of render time by getting a nice hi-res texture.

Keep up the great work!