"is it just lucky that on the surface it appears that the thigh and calf are squeezed against each other and flattening each other out like in real life?" The flattening is due to how the mesh is modeled and rigged. The bending at the knee/thigh/calf is due in part to the model's toplogy, weight mapping/skinning, and overall rig. It's because of weight mapping and some of the more advanced rigging techniques being employed that such deformations are possible without postwork. Softbody dynamics, as we know them, can also help for certain things like secondary motion of "soft" objects in animation, but running a softbody simulation isn't required for most bending deformations on a properly rigged figure, and is, in fact, not practical. There are plugins for some applications, for instance, that employ advanced rigging systems which can help simulate muscle movement UNDER the skin... meaning, the skin deforms, but the muscles beneath it also move... this is called "sub-skin deformation": Absolute Character Tools Hercules I've had the opportunity to view and utilize some of these tools myself (not the plugins above, but the actual applications and their rigging/animation tools), as well as having worked with Poser for some time now, and the difference is quite obvious. Part of your original question was if we thought Poser could benefit from such technologies (would it make a difference), and the answer should be clear. I don't think it's a matter of if it will happen, but when. Eventually, I think Poser will impliment weight mapping, etc. Maybe in Poser 20, if it's still around by then. :-)

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Tools :  3dsmax 2015, Daz Studio 4.6, PoserPro 2012, Blender v2.74

System: Pentium QuadCore i7, under Win 8, GeForce GTX 780 / 2GB GPU.