I''ve been reading a lot about using per vertex normals, but I don''t get it. a vertex is a point, and points don''t have normals, so they are clearly not what the name suggests. anyone care to fill me in?

Here I go.
First I recommend you to go on flipcode and read the Geometry primer artciles.

A plan has two normals in opposite direction.
API only use one normal per surface, because one face is facing ''in'' the object and the other out, and only the ''out'' facing face of the surface (funny) need to be liten.

So basically you have one normal per surface but, the API don''t know surfaces for lighting but only vertices (per vertex lighting), so it computes only vertices colors.

So you need to tell the API for each vertex what its normal is.
Additionnaly, you can use average normals for each vertex being used by more than one surface to create a smooth effect.

Try both solutions to see what that changes.

-* So many things to do, so little time to spend. *-

aha, ok. thanks.