1 & 2, see figure.

gamma 2.2 and the sRGB i/o translation show noticeable differences when brightness drops below 2%. The GC output values are far higher, therefor sRGB makes a slower transition from dark to bright indeed. Since - in 8-bit mode - there are only a limited number of brightness levels available due to quantisation (RGB require whole numbers 0..255) one either has to export in 16bit HDR/EXE or has to export with GC first, and put things back to sRGB in post later. From personal experience, the latter is recommended.

The slower transition from dark to bright as offered by sRGB is preferrable indeed as for compensation of: real lights not being point lights and hence make softer shadow edges, and real life atmosfere scattering light around, hence making softer / brighter shadows too. And more of the other things that make Poser a non-photoreal tool, and make firefly difer from other renderers.

On everything else: we couldn't agree more, except for the point that Poserpro GC has no final netto effect on textures (and straightforward use of swatches), thanks to its sandwiching approach. Do the test: flat object (=no shader/curvature effects), flat light (= no shadows) and the render output will be the same whatever the gamma settings, as long as image gamma=render gamma. Try again with a ball (shader/curvature effects) or with light with an angle (shadow) and notice that only those effects are affected. Vue does the same for textures, not for swatches. Hence PoserPro GC in total really differs from applying Exposure (in Poser) or sRGB / gamma correction in post, as these affect the colors too. In Poser, PoserPro and Vue (any version) textures will be corrected after rendering as much as they were before, as input, as long as input gamma = output gamma.

On the other hand, PoserPro (and Vue) really do apply the render gamma to the entire result, color included. So when - in post - the GC is taken out and sRGB (or Exposure, or else) is put in its place all is fine. Except that, especially in the darks, the swatch-colors and texture colors in the final result will differ from the original input. Whether that's desirable or not, is up to you.

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Usually I'm wrong. But to be effective and efficient, I don't need to be correct or accurate.

visit www.aRtBeeWeb.nl (works) or Missing Manuals (tutorials & reviews) - both need an update though