I searched the forum topics about better rendering methods than firefly.

I seem to have understood that all external programs to poser has problems with the materials.

There is something built into poser but who do make more realistic rendering than firefly ?

Thanks.

I don't think any render engine has a magic "I'd like this to look realistic" button. Granted, other applications have other options and algorithms, but one still needs to learn how to use them.

RNDA have some utilities that may help you get the best out of what you already have. Proof of the pudding is to look over the images on their site.

http://www.runtimedna.com/

DAZ|Studio has a nice realistic renderer.  Vue does a good job for outdoor rendering.

From a personal point of view, some people are placing too much importance to the software and not enough on developing some artistic talents like composition and lighting.

It wouldn't matter if I had a Stradvarius Violin, the tune I could play would sound horrible because I never even learned the basics of music.

I don't rank myself as a great artist, but I have taken time to learn the basic skills and in some cases I have made some very good renderings in Poser that would challenge that of a person who has purchased Maya in hopes that would make his art good.

 Poser scenes can be rendered with Vue, Carrara, PovRay, 3Delight (via DAZ Studio) and lot of other renderers. There are some people in the galleries which use Vray or Cinema 4D for rendering, you aren't limited to Firefly.

Every renderer has it's strengths and weaknesses, especially the materials and light options are very different. No matter which renderer you plan to use, an Phil already told you, you will have to learn how to use it to get good results from it.

What kind of images do you want to create? Which problems do you have with Firefly?

The thing is when you convert a Poser scene into any other render app, only the very most basic aspects of a material can be converted without differences.  If your materials are all completely basic, that's fine - if you're using any kind of advanced materials settings, e.g. like pretty much any modern character skin shader, they will be made into garbage.  There is no way to accurately convert materials from one render app to another (not just Poser, any app).  They can be crudely approximated but that's all.  Everything will need some manual attention.

Lighting and composition are certainly important, but having good-looking materials should not be overlooked.

CyberDream.  Your comment reminds me of the photography myth that the better the camera is the better your pictures will be. Many people make this mistake and fail to focus on composition and lighting. And if I had to look to see which software program renders better images then I would definitely want to look at how it handles materials and lighting.  Unfortuantely composition is one of those human elements and there is nothing out there that can work the composition of the scene for us.

With that said I wouldn't mind knowing enough about Maya and Vue to actually be any good at it.  I'm still at the intermediate stages of Poser and I'm pretty much satisfied with what I'm able to create at that skill level.  Maybe one day I'll be "super advanced"

Thanks to everybody

If you want Speed and Quality, I'd suggest looking into Lightwave with PoserFusion.  It translates many textures well, but if your textures are node heavy you will lose a lot of the nodes.  However, it's base raytracer has much higher quality output than Firefly, and is much faster.  You will be looking at some serious cash to acquire it though, and Poser Fusion is only available in Poser Pro or Poser Pro 2010.

The biggest drawback to hosting files in Lightwave is that it does not import camera or light data. Easy fix is when setting up the poser scene focus more on figure placement and posing, then add your lights and camera position after hosting it in Lightwave.