1.... FF default to see how things look. FF Production for final.. 2. 800x600...but I've been rendering much larger lately...1200 +..it brings out the detail much more....and then you can downsize the image...looks crisper to me...more pixels to play with 3....lighting...too much ???? you use as many as you need to light the image as you want...it may be 50 lights...or 3 4.... I use P5 Production for rendering...and leave everything as it is set...except I turn off polygon smoothing...lots of stuff blows up when you use it...also, if you're not using something, such as displacement mapping, I turn it off as well. You check and uncheck as you need to... Try experimenting...render defasult, then turn on or off an item...render...do this for all the settings...find out what happens when you use different things.

Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it.
Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together.
All things connect......Chief Seattle, 1854