The render engines are identical I believe. The biggest advantage to using poser pro over poser 7, would be using it on a 64 bit os, and using it's faster 64 bit background render engine, so you can set the settings higher, and still render is a reasonable timeframe.

And no, you can't compare it's render engine to a $4000 Max suite.

It's animation system is already quite easy to use, and with poser pro, you can export poser animation to be used in quite a number of higher end applications.

There are also tons and tons of animation tips and tricks again tin the forums. The search function IS your freind.

There are many, MANY threads here already comparing Poser 7 to poser pro.. search them out for very length discussions of the pros and cons. Poser pro's biggest enhancements are the 64 bit rendering engine, and easier integration into higher end applications.

Way too many people take way too many things way too seriously.