IDL is a huge improvement and, once you've abandoned your P7 ideas about lighting and figured out how it works, it's actually a lot simpler because, with Inverse Square falloff (for spots and point lights), it's more physically accurate.

P8 has Tone Mapping - sort of a poor man's Gamma Correction - which also helps the realism (though you'll need to spend time learning this). In PP2010, which has proper Gamma Correction, you'll really start to get 'realsitic' results.

I'd strongly recommend getting hold of bagginsbill's EnvSphere and VSS shader system - they're free and immensely useful.

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Windows 10 x64 Pro - Intel Xeon E5450 @ 3.00GHz (x2)

PoserPro 11 - Units: Metres

Adobe CC 2017