diff --git a/src/java/com/threerings/media/MediaPanel.java b/src/java/com/threerings/media/MediaPanel.java
index 44c4d8db0..5236f01af 100644
--- a/src/java/com/threerings/media/MediaPanel.java
+++ b/src/java/com/threerings/media/MediaPanel.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 //
-// $Id: MediaPanel.java,v 1.14 2002/06/18 22:25:33 mdb Exp $
+// $Id: MediaPanel.java,v 1.15 2002/06/19 07:41:37 mdb Exp $
 
 package com.threerings.media;
 
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import java.awt.Shape;
 
 import javax.swing.JComponent;
 import javax.swing.RepaintManager;
+import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
 import javax.swing.event.AncestorEvent;
 
 import com.samskivert.swing.event.AncestorAdapter;
@@ -263,10 +264,16 @@ public class MediaPanel extends JComponent
 
         for (int ii = 0; ii < dcount; ii++) {
             Rectangle clip = dirty[ii];
+
+            // constrain this dirty region to the bounds of the component
+            constrainToBounds(clip);
+
             // ignore rectangles that were reduced to nothingness
             if (clip.width == 0 || clip.height == 0) {
                 continue;
             }
+
+            // clip to this dirty region
             clipToDirtyRegion(gfx, clip);
 
             // paint the behind the scenes stuff
@@ -286,6 +293,19 @@ public class MediaPanel extends JComponent
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Called by the main rendering code to constrain this dirty rectangle
+     * to the bounds of the media panel. If a derived class is using dirty
+     * rectangles that live in some sort of virtual coordinate system,
+     * they'll want to override this method and constraint the rectangles
+     * properly.
+     */
+    protected void constrainToBounds (Rectangle dirty)
+    {
+        SwingUtilities.computeIntersection(
+            0, 0, getWidth(), getHeight(), dirty);
+    }
+
     /**
      * This is called to clip the rendering output to the supplied dirty
      * region. This should use {@link Graphics#setClip} because the
diff --git a/src/java/com/threerings/media/VirtualMediaPanel.java b/src/java/com/threerings/media/VirtualMediaPanel.java
index e3cf1042b..615ac7653 100644
--- a/src/java/com/threerings/media/VirtualMediaPanel.java
+++ b/src/java/com/threerings/media/VirtualMediaPanel.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 //
-// $Id: VirtualMediaPanel.java,v 1.3 2002/06/19 02:34:39 mdb Exp $
+// $Id: VirtualMediaPanel.java,v 1.4 2002/06/19 07:41:37 mdb Exp $
 
 package com.threerings.media;
 
@@ -168,11 +168,9 @@ public class VirtualMediaPanel extends MediaPanel
     // documentation inherited
     protected void paint (Graphics2D gfx, Rectangle[] dirty)
     {
-        int width = getWidth(), height = getHeight();
-        int dcount = dirty.length;
-
         // if we're scrolling, go ahead and do the business
         if (_dx != 0 || _dy != 0) {
+            int width = getWidth(), height = getHeight();
             int cx = (_dx > 0) ? _dx : 0;
             int cy = (_dy > 0) ? _dy : 0;
 
@@ -190,14 +188,6 @@ public class VirtualMediaPanel extends MediaPanel
             _dx = 0; _dy = 0;
         }
 
-        // clip the dirty regions to the viewport
-        for (int ii = 0; ii < dcount; ii++) {
-            SwingUtilities.computeIntersection(
-                _tx, _ty, width, height, dirty[ii]);
-//             Log.info("Intersected [rect=" + StringUtil.toString(dirty[ii]) +
-//                      ", tx=" + _tx + ", ty=" + _ty + "].");
-        }
-
         // translate into happy space
         gfx.translate(-_tx, -_ty);
 
@@ -208,6 +198,13 @@ public class VirtualMediaPanel extends MediaPanel
         gfx.translate(_tx, _ty);
     }
 
+    // documentation inherited
+    protected void constrainToBounds (Rectangle dirty)
+    {
+        SwingUtilities.computeIntersection(
+            _tx, _tx, getWidth(), getHeight(), dirty);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Used to compute our viewport offsets.
      */