diff --git a/src/java/com/threerings/cast/ActionCache.java b/src/java/com/threerings/cast/ActionCache.java
index 4250f45cf..231338284 100644
--- a/src/java/com/threerings/cast/ActionCache.java
+++ b/src/java/com/threerings/cast/ActionCache.java
@@ -1,10 +1,8 @@
 //
-// $Id: ActionCache.java,v 1.1 2002/02/07 03:20:29 mdb Exp $
+// $Id: ActionCache.java,v 1.2 2002/05/04 19:38:13 mdb Exp $
 
 package com.threerings.cast;
 
-import com.threerings.media.sprite.MultiFrameImage;
-
 /**
  * A mechanism for caching composited character action animations on disk.
  */
@@ -14,7 +12,7 @@ public interface ActionCache
      * Fetches from the cache a composited set of images for a particular
      * character for a particular action.
      */
-    public MultiFrameImage[] getActionFrames (
+    public ActionFrames getActionFrames (
         CharacterDescriptor descrip, String action);
 
     /**
@@ -22,5 +20,5 @@ public interface ActionCache
      * character be cached.
      */
     public void cacheActionFrames (
-        CharacterDescriptor descrip, String action, MultiFrameImage[] frames);
+        CharacterDescriptor descrip, String action, ActionFrames frames);
 }
diff --git a/src/java/com/threerings/cast/ActionFrames.java b/src/java/com/threerings/cast/ActionFrames.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f9ca42c38
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/java/com/threerings/cast/ActionFrames.java
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+//
+// $Id: ActionFrames.java,v 1.1 2002/05/04 19:38:13 mdb Exp $
+
+package com.threerings.cast;
+
+import java.awt.Graphics;
+import java.awt.Image;
+
+import com.threerings.media.sprite.MultiFrameImage;
+import com.threerings.util.DirectionCodes;
+
+/**
+ * Encapsulates a set of frames in each of {@link
+ * DirectionCodes#DIRECTION_COUNT} orientations that are used to render a
+ * character sprite.
+ */
+public interface ActionFrames extends MultiFrameImage
+{
+    /**
+     * Updates the orientation that is currently being returned by the
+     * {@link MultiFrameImage} implementation.
+     */
+    public void setOrientation (int orient);
+
+    /**
+     * Renders the specified frame at the specified offset applying the
+     * supplied colorizations in the process. Note, the colorizations
+     * should not be applied to the source image, only the rendered copy.
+     */
+    public void paintColoredFrame (
+        Graphics g, int index, int x, int y, Colorization[] zations);
+}
diff --git a/src/java/com/threerings/cast/CharacterComponent.java b/src/java/com/threerings/cast/CharacterComponent.java
index b69136fe0..7fef886c0 100644
--- a/src/java/com/threerings/cast/CharacterComponent.java
+++ b/src/java/com/threerings/cast/CharacterComponent.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 //
-// $Id: CharacterComponent.java,v 1.5 2002/02/19 22:09:50 mdb Exp $
+// $Id: CharacterComponent.java,v 1.6 2002/05/04 19:38:13 mdb Exp $
 
 package com.threerings.cast;
 
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ import java.io.Serializable;
 
 import com.samskivert.util.StringUtil;
 
-import com.threerings.media.sprite.MultiFrameImage;
 import com.threerings.media.sprite.Sprite;
 
 /**
@@ -46,7 +45,7 @@ public class CharacterComponent implements Serializable
      * if no animation for the specified action is available for this
      * component.
      */
-    public MultiFrameImage[] getFrames (String action)
+    public ActionFrames getFrames (String action)
     {
         return _frameProvider.getFrames(this, action);
     }
diff --git a/src/java/com/threerings/cast/CharacterManager.java b/src/java/com/threerings/cast/CharacterManager.java
index 3f9041866..02bc8edbb 100644
--- a/src/java/com/threerings/cast/CharacterManager.java
+++ b/src/java/com/threerings/cast/CharacterManager.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 //
-// $Id: CharacterManager.java,v 1.18 2002/05/04 06:57:24 mdb Exp $
+// $Id: CharacterManager.java,v 1.19 2002/05/04 19:38:13 mdb Exp $
 
 package com.threerings.cast;
 
@@ -7,11 +7,10 @@ import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Iterator;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 
+import com.samskivert.util.StringUtil;
 import com.samskivert.util.Tuple;
 import org.apache.commons.collections.LRUMap;
 
-import com.threerings.media.sprite.MultiFrameImage;
-
 import com.threerings.util.DirectionCodes;
 
 import com.threerings.cast.Log;
@@ -152,13 +151,13 @@ public class CharacterManager
      * @exception IllegalArgumentException thrown if any of the components
      * referenced in the descriptor do not support the specified action.
      */
-    protected MultiFrameImage[] getActionFrames (
+    protected ActionFrames getActionFrames (
         CharacterDescriptor descrip, String action)
         throws NoSuchComponentException
     {
         // first check the in-memory cache; which is keyed on both values
         Tuple key = new Tuple(descrip, action);
-        MultiFrameImage[] frames = (MultiFrameImage[])_frames.get(key);
+        ActionFrames frames = (ActionFrames)_frames.get(key);
 
         // next check the disk cache
         if (frames == null && _acache != null) {
@@ -169,8 +168,6 @@ public class CharacterManager
 
         // if that failed, we'll just have to generate the danged things
         if (frames == null) {
-            Log.info("Creating frames [descrip=" + descrip +
-                     ", action=" + action + "].");
             // do the compositing
             frames = createCompositeFrames(descrip, action);
             // cache the result on disk if we've got such a cache
@@ -193,7 +190,7 @@ public class CharacterManager
      * @exception IllegalArgumentException thrown if any of the components
      * referenced in the descriptor do not support the specified action.
      */
-    protected MultiFrameImage[] createCompositeFrames (
+    protected ActionFrames createCompositeFrames (
         CharacterDescriptor descrip, String action)
         throws NoSuchComponentException
     {
@@ -215,23 +212,19 @@ public class CharacterManager
         // sort them into the proper rendering order
         Arrays.sort(components);
 
-        // create the multiframe image and colorization arrays that we'll
-        // supply to the lazy compositing result multiframe image
-        CompositedFrameImage[] frames =
-            new CompositedFrameImage[DIRECTION_COUNT];
+        // create an array with the action frames for each component
+        ActionFrames[] sources = new ActionFrames[ccount];
         zations = new Colorization[ccount][];
-        for (int orient = 0; orient < DIRECTION_COUNT; orient++) {
-            MultiFrameImage[] sources = new MultiFrameImage[ccount];
-            for (int cc = 0; cc < ccount; cc++) {
-                ColorizedComponent ccomp = components[cc];
-                sources[cc] = ccomp.component.getFrames(action)[orient];
-                zations[cc] = ccomp.zations;
+        for (int ii = 0; ii < ccount; ii++) {
+            sources[ii] = components[ii].component.getFrames(action);
+            if (zations != null) {
+                zations[ii] = components[ii].zations;
             }
-            frames[orient] = new CompositedFrameImage(
-                action + orient, sources, zations);
         }
 
-        return frames;
+        // use those to create an entity that will lazily composite things
+        // together as they are needed
+        return new CompositedActionFrames(action, sources, zations);
     }
 
     /** Used when compositing component frame images. */
diff --git a/src/java/com/threerings/cast/CharacterSprite.java b/src/java/com/threerings/cast/CharacterSprite.java
index 4adcf833b..a1ac22bf7 100644
--- a/src/java/com/threerings/cast/CharacterSprite.java
+++ b/src/java/com/threerings/cast/CharacterSprite.java
@@ -1,9 +1,8 @@
 //
-// $Id: CharacterSprite.java,v 1.27 2002/04/17 15:53:49 mdb Exp $
+// $Id: CharacterSprite.java,v 1.28 2002/05/04 19:38:13 mdb Exp $
 
 package com.threerings.cast;
 
-import com.threerings.media.sprite.MultiFrameImage;
 import com.threerings.media.sprite.Path;
 import com.threerings.media.sprite.ImageSprite;
 
@@ -111,12 +110,13 @@ public class CharacterSprite extends ImageSprite
 
         try {
             // obtain our animation frames for this action sequence
-            _frames = _charmgr.getActionFrames(_descrip, action);
+            _aframes = _charmgr.getActionFrames(_descrip, action);
+            _aframes.setOrientation(_orient);
 
             // update the sprite render attributes
             setOrigin(actseq.origin.x, actseq.origin.y);
             setFrameRate(actseq.framesPerSecond);
-            setFrames(_frames[_orient]);
+            setFrames(_aframes);
 
         } catch (NoSuchComponentException nsce) {
             Log.warning("Character sprite references non-existent " +
@@ -129,17 +129,10 @@ public class CharacterSprite extends ImageSprite
     {
         super.setOrientation(orient);
 
-        // sanity check
-        if (orient < 0 || orient >= _frames.length) {
-            String errmsg = "Invalid orientation requested " +
-                "[orient=" + orient +
-                ", fcount=" + ((_frames == null) ? -1 : _frames.length) + "]";
-            throw new IllegalArgumentException(errmsg);
-        }
-
         // update the sprite frames to reflect the direction
-        if (_frames != null) {
-            setFrames(_frames[orient]);
+        if (_aframes != null) {
+            _aframes.setOrientation(orient);
+            setFrames(_aframes);
         }
     }
 
@@ -162,7 +155,7 @@ public class CharacterSprite extends ImageSprite
     {
         super.updateRenderOffset();
 
-        if (_frame != null) {
+        if (_frames != null) {
             // our location is based on the character origin coordinates
             _rxoff = -_xorigin;
             _ryoff = -_yorigin;
@@ -223,7 +216,7 @@ public class CharacterSprite extends ImageSprite
 
     /** The animation frames for the active action sequence in each
      * orientation. */
-    protected MultiFrameImage[] _frames;
+    protected ActionFrames _aframes;
 
     /** The origin of the sprite. */
     protected int _xorigin, _yorigin;
diff --git a/src/java/com/threerings/cast/CompositedActionFrames.java b/src/java/com/threerings/cast/CompositedActionFrames.java
index 0602d39f2..2a61f92c4 100644
--- a/src/java/com/threerings/cast/CompositedActionFrames.java
+++ b/src/java/com/threerings/cast/CompositedActionFrames.java
@@ -1,26 +1,29 @@
 //
-// $Id: CompositedActionFrames.java,v 1.1 2002/05/04 06:57:24 mdb Exp $
+// $Id: CompositedActionFrames.java,v 1.2 2002/05/04 19:38:13 mdb Exp $
 
 package com.threerings.cast;
 
+import java.awt.Graphics;
 import java.awt.Image;
-import com.threerings.media.sprite.MultiFrameImage;
+
+import com.threerings.util.DirectionCodes;
+import com.threerings.media.util.ImageUtil;
 import com.threerings.cast.util.TileUtil;
 
 /**
  * An implementation of the {@link MultiFrameImage} interface that is used
  * to lazily create composited character frames when they are requested.
  */
-public class CompositedFrameImage implements MultiFrameImage
+public class CompositedActionFrames
+    implements ActionFrames, DirectionCodes
 {
     /**
-     * Constructs a composited frame image with the supplied source
-     * component images and colorization configuration. The actual
-     * component frame images will not be composited until they are
-     * requested.
+     * Constructs a set of composited action frames with the supplied
+     * source frames and colorization configuration. The actual component
+     * frame images will not be composited until they are requested.
      */
-    public CompositedFrameImage (
-        String action, MultiFrameImage[] sources, Colorization[][] zations)
+    public CompositedActionFrames (
+        String action, ActionFrames[] sources, Colorization[][] zations)
     {
         _action = action;
         _sources = sources;
@@ -28,37 +31,94 @@ public class CompositedFrameImage implements MultiFrameImage
 
         // the sources must all have the same frame count, so we just use
         // the count from the first one
-        int frameCount = _sources[0].getFrameCount();
-        _images = new Image[frameCount];
+        _frameCount = _sources[0].getFrameCount();
+        _images = new Image[DIRECTION_COUNT][_frameCount];
     }
 
     // documentation inherited
     public int getFrameCount ()
     {
-        return _images.length;
+        return _frameCount;
+    }
+
+    // documentation inherited from interface
+    public int getWidth (int index)
+    {
+        return getExampleSource().getWidth(index);
+    }
+
+    // documentation inherited from interface
+    public int getHeight (int index)
+    {
+        return getExampleSource().getHeight(index);
+    }
+
+    // documentation inherited from interface
+    public void paintFrame (Graphics g, int index, int x, int y)
+    {
+        g.drawImage(getFrame(index), x, y, null);
+    }
+
+    // documentation inherited from interface
+    public boolean hitTest (int index, int x, int y)
+    {
+        return ImageUtil.hitTest(getFrame(index), x, y);
+    }
+
+    // documentation inherited from interface
+    public void setOrientation (int orient)
+    {
+        _orient = orient;
+    }
+
+    // documentation inherited from interface
+    public void paintColoredFrame (
+        Graphics g, int index, int x, int y, Colorization[] zations)
+    {
+        throw new RuntimeException("What you talkin' about Willis?");
     }
 
     // documentation inherited
-    public Image getFrame (int index)
+    protected Image getFrame (int index)
     {
         // create the frame if we don't already have it
-        if (_images[index] == null) {
-            Log.info("Compositing [action=" + _action +
-                     ", index=" + index + "].");
-            _images[index] =
-                TileUtil.compositeFrames(index, _sources, _zations);
-        }                
-        return _images[index];
+        if (_images[_orient] == null) {
+            _images[_orient] = new Image[_frameCount];
+        }
+        if (_images[_orient][index] == null) {
+//             Log.info("Compositing [action=" + _action +
+//                      ", orient=" + _orient + ", index=" + index + "].");
+            _images[_orient][index] =
+                TileUtil.compositeFrames(_orient, index, _sources, _zations);
+        }
+        return _images[_orient][index];
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * When fetching width and height, we can simply use the first
+     * component's image set since they must all be the same.
+     */
+    protected ActionFrames getExampleSource ()
+    {
+        ActionFrames source = _sources[0];
+        source.setOrientation(_orient);
+        return source;
     }
 
     protected String _action;
 
-    /** Our source frame images. */
-    protected MultiFrameImage[] _sources;
+    /** The orientation we're currently using. */
+    protected int _orient;
+
+    /** The number of frames in each orientation. */
+    protected int _frameCount;
+
+    /** Our source action frames. */
+    protected ActionFrames[] _sources;
 
     /** The colorizations for our source components. */
     protected Colorization[][] _zations;
 
     /** The frame images. */
-    protected Image[] _images;
+    protected Image[][] _images;
 }
diff --git a/src/java/com/threerings/cast/FrameProvider.java b/src/java/com/threerings/cast/FrameProvider.java
index 9ee56c895..e8ebbbab1 100644
--- a/src/java/com/threerings/cast/FrameProvider.java
+++ b/src/java/com/threerings/cast/FrameProvider.java
@@ -1,10 +1,8 @@
 //
-// $Id: FrameProvider.java,v 1.1 2001/11/27 08:09:35 mdb Exp $
+// $Id: FrameProvider.java,v 1.2 2002/05/04 19:38:13 mdb Exp $
 
 package com.threerings.cast;
 
-import com.threerings.media.sprite.MultiFrameImage;
-
 /**
  * Provides a mechanism where by a character component can obtain access
  * to its image frames for a particular action in an on demand manner.
@@ -16,6 +14,6 @@ public interface FrameProvider
      * the specified action of the specified component. May return null if
      * the specified action does not exist for the specified component.
      */
-    public MultiFrameImage[] getFrames (
+    public ActionFrames getFrames (
         CharacterComponent component, String action);
 }
diff --git a/src/java/com/threerings/cast/bundle/BundledComponentRepository.java b/src/java/com/threerings/cast/bundle/BundledComponentRepository.java
index ba959134b..4957a8496 100644
--- a/src/java/com/threerings/cast/bundle/BundledComponentRepository.java
+++ b/src/java/com/threerings/cast/bundle/BundledComponentRepository.java
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 //
-// $Id: BundledComponentRepository.java,v 1.9 2002/03/16 03:15:04 shaper Exp $
+// $Id: BundledComponentRepository.java,v 1.10 2002/05/04 19:38:14 mdb Exp $
 
 package com.threerings.cast.bundle;
 
+import java.awt.Graphics;
 import java.awt.Image;
+import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
 
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
@@ -25,8 +27,7 @@ import com.threerings.resource.ResourceBundle;
 import com.threerings.resource.ResourceManager;
 
 import com.threerings.media.ImageManager;
-
-import com.threerings.media.sprite.MultiFrameImage;
+import com.threerings.media.util.ImageUtil;
 
 import com.threerings.media.tile.ImageProvider;
 import com.threerings.media.tile.TileSet;
@@ -34,7 +35,9 @@ import com.threerings.media.tile.NoSuchTileException;
 
 import com.threerings.util.DirectionCodes;
 
+import com.threerings.cast.ActionFrames;
 import com.threerings.cast.CharacterComponent;
+import com.threerings.cast.Colorization;
 import com.threerings.cast.ComponentClass;
 import com.threerings.cast.ComponentRepository;
 import com.threerings.cast.FrameProvider;
@@ -249,7 +252,7 @@ public class BundledComponentRepository
         }
 
         // documentation inherited
-        public MultiFrameImage[] getFrames (
+        public ActionFrames getFrames (
             CharacterComponent component, String action)
         {
             // get the tileset for this action
@@ -270,14 +273,7 @@ public class BundledComponentRepository
             try {
                 TileSet fset = aset.clone(path);
                 fset.setImageProvider(this);
-
-                // and create the necessary multiframe image instances
-                MultiFrameImage[] frames = new MultiFrameImage[DIRECTION_COUNT];
-                for (int i = 0; i < frames.length; i++) {
-                    frames[i] = new TileSetFrameImage(fset, i);
-                }
-
-                return frames;
+                return new TileSetFrameImage(fset);
 
             } catch (CloneNotSupportedException cnse) {
                 Log.warning("Unable to clone tileset [action=" + action +
@@ -295,16 +291,15 @@ public class BundledComponentRepository
      * Used to provide multiframe images using data obtained from a
      * tileset.
      */
-    protected static class TileSetFrameImage implements MultiFrameImage
+    protected static class TileSetFrameImage implements ActionFrames
     {
         /**
          * Constructs a tileset frame image with the specified tileset and
          * for the specified orientation.
          */
-        public TileSetFrameImage (TileSet set, int orientation)
+        public TileSetFrameImage (TileSet set)
         {
             _set = set;
-            _orient = orientation;
         }
 
         // documentation inherited
@@ -313,8 +308,71 @@ public class BundledComponentRepository
             return _set.getTileCount() / DIRECTION_COUNT;
         }
 
-        // documentation inherited
-        public Image getFrame (int index)
+        // documentation inherited from interface
+        public int getWidth (int index)
+        {
+            Image img = getImage(index);
+            return (img == null) ? 0 : img.getWidth(null);
+        }
+
+        // documentation inherited from interface
+        public int getHeight (int index)
+        {
+            Image img = getImage(index);
+            return (img == null) ? 0 : img.getHeight(null);
+        }
+
+        // documentation inherited from interface
+        public void paintFrame (Graphics g, int index, int x, int y)
+        {
+            Image img = getImage(index);
+            if (img != null) {
+                g.drawImage(img, x, y, null);
+            }
+        }
+
+        // documentation inherited from interface
+        public boolean hitTest (int index, int x, int y)
+        {
+            Image img = getImage(index);
+            return (img != null) ? ImageUtil.hitTest(img, x, y) : false;
+        }
+
+        // documentation inherited from interface
+        public void setOrientation (int orient)
+        {
+            _orient = orient;
+        }
+
+        // documentation inherited from interface
+        public void paintColoredFrame (
+            Graphics g, int index, int x, int y, Colorization[] zations)
+        {
+            BufferedImage img = (BufferedImage)getImage(index);
+            if (img == null) {
+                return;
+            }
+
+            // create a recolored image with which to render
+            if (zations != null) {
+                int zcount = zations.length;
+                Colorization cz;
+                for (int zz = 0; zz < zcount; zz++) {
+                    if ((cz = zations[zz]) == null) {
+                        continue;
+                    }
+                    img = ImageUtil.recolorImage(
+                        img, cz.rootColor, cz.range, cz.offsets);
+                }
+            }
+
+            g.drawImage(img, x, y, null);
+        }
+
+        /**
+         * Fetches the requested tile image.
+         */
+        protected Image getImage (int index)
         {
             int tileIndex = _orient * getFrameCount() + index;
             try {
diff --git a/src/java/com/threerings/cast/util/TileUtil.java b/src/java/com/threerings/cast/util/TileUtil.java
index eab56a77f..e4816a197 100644
--- a/src/java/com/threerings/cast/util/TileUtil.java
+++ b/src/java/com/threerings/cast/util/TileUtil.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 //
-// $Id: TileUtil.java,v 1.13 2002/05/04 06:57:24 mdb Exp $
+// $Id: TileUtil.java,v 1.14 2002/05/04 19:38:14 mdb Exp $
 
 package com.threerings.cast.util;
 
@@ -7,76 +7,17 @@ import java.awt.Graphics;
 import java.awt.Image;
 import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
 
-import com.threerings.media.sprite.MultiFrameImage;
 import com.threerings.media.util.ImageUtil;
 
-import com.threerings.util.DirectionCodes;
-
 import com.threerings.cast.Log;
+import com.threerings.cast.ActionFrames;
 import com.threerings.cast.Colorization;
 
 /**
  * Miscellaneous tile-related utility functions.
  */ 
 public class TileUtil
-    implements DirectionCodes
 {
-//     /**
-//      * Renders each of the given <code>src</code> component frames into
-//      * the corresponding frames of <code>dest</code>, allocating blank
-//      * image frames for <code>dest</code> if none yet exist. If
-//      * <code>zations</code> is not null, the provided list of
-//      * colorizations will be applied as well.
-//      *
-//      * @throws IllegalArgumentException if the frame count of the source
-//      * and destination images don't match.
-//      */
-//     public static void compositeFrames (
-//         MultiFrameImage[] dest, MultiFrameImage[] src,
-//         Colorization[] zations)
-//     {
-//         for (int orient = 0; orient < DIRECTION_COUNT; orient++) {
-//             MultiFrameImage sframes = src[orient];
-//             MultiFrameImage dframes = dest[orient];
-
-//             // create blank destination frames if needed
-//             if (dframes == null) {
-//                 dframes = (dest[orient] = new BlankFrameImage(sframes));
-//             }
-
-//             // sanity check
-//             int dsize = dframes.getFrameCount();
-//             int ssize = sframes.getFrameCount();
-//             if (dsize != ssize) {
-//                 String errmsg = "Can't composite images with inequal " +
-//                     "frame counts [dest=" + dsize + ", src=" + ssize + "].";
-//                 throw new IllegalArgumentException(errmsg);
-//             }
-
-//             // slap the images together
-//             for (int ii = 0; ii < dsize; ii++) {
-//                 Image dimg = dframes.getFrame(ii);
-//                 BufferedImage simg = (BufferedImage)sframes.getFrame(ii);
-
-//                 // recolor the source image
-//                 if (zations != null) {
-//                     for (int i = 0; i < zations.length; i++) {
-//                         Colorization cz = zations[i];
-//                         if (zations[i] != null) {
-//                             simg = ImageUtil.recolorImage(
-//                                 simg, cz.rootColor, cz.range, cz.offsets);
-//                         }
-//                     }
-//                 }
-
-//                 // now splat the recolored image onto the target
-//                 Graphics g = dimg.getGraphics();
-//                 g.drawImage(simg, 0, 0, null);
-//                 g.dispose();
-//             }
-//         }
-//     }
-
     /**
      * Renders and returns the <code>index</code>th image from each of the
      * supplied source multi-frame images to a newly created buffered
@@ -85,36 +26,29 @@ public class TileUtil
      * already sorted into the proper rendering order.
      */
     public static Image compositeFrames (
-        int index, MultiFrameImage[] sources, Colorization[][] zations)
+        int orient, int index, ActionFrames[] sources,
+        Colorization[][] zations)
     {
         Image dest = null;
         Graphics g = null;
+//         long start = System.currentTimeMillis();
 
-        long start = System.currentTimeMillis();
         for (int ii = 0; ii < sources.length; ii++) {
-            BufferedImage simg = (BufferedImage)sources[ii].getFrame(index);
-
             // create the image now that we know how big it should be
             if (dest == null) {
-                dest = ImageUtil.createImage(
-                    simg.getWidth(null), simg.getHeight(null));
+                dest = ImageUtil.createImage(sources[ii].getWidth(index),
+                                             sources[ii].getHeight(index));
                 g = dest.getGraphics();
             }
 
-            // recolor the source image
-            if (zations != null) {
-                int zcount = zations[ii].length;
-                for (int zz = 0; zz < zcount; zz++) {
-                    Colorization cz = zations[ii][zz];
-                    if (cz != null) {
-                        simg = ImageUtil.recolorImage(
-                            simg, cz.rootColor, cz.range, cz.offsets);
-                    }
-                }
-            }
+            // make sure the action frames are configured with the right
+            // orientation before we render
+            sources[ii].setOrientation(orient);
 
-            // now splat the recolored image onto the target
-            g.drawImage(simg, 0, 0, null);
+            // render the particular action from this component into the
+            // target image
+            Colorization[] cz = (zations != null) ? zations[ii] : null;
+            sources[ii].paintColoredFrame(g, index, 0, 0, cz);
         }
 
         // clean up after ourselves
@@ -122,13 +56,10 @@ public class TileUtil
             g.dispose();
         }
 
-        long now = System.currentTimeMillis();
-        Log.info("Composited " + sources.length + " frames in " +
-                 (now-start) + " millis.");
+//         long now = System.currentTimeMillis();
+//         Log.info("Composited " + sources.length + " frames in " +
+//                  (now-start) + " millis.");
 
         return dest;
     }
-
-    /** The image file name suffix appended to component image file names. */
-    protected static final String IMAGE_SUFFIX = ".png";
 }