Smith Micro Poser SDK is included with Vue 2014. : )

Quote - The render is faster because they find new ways to cleverly hide more grain.  That is why aa settings need to be increased so dramatically.

Well cleverness is certainly part of the process, but there is also a good deal of new technology involved in the increased performance. Compare Maxwell to Blender internal and you should see a pronounced difference. Optimizing the algorithms for math performance is incredibly important to efficiency of cpu cycles. Older versions of Vue weren't even mildly competitive.

"highly optimized flat Area Lights" is a feature of Vue 2014. Not only the rendering engine but the computation of light will impact to a large degree the quality and amount of time spent on any given render.

The new physically accurate lighting is really pretty. I'm having trouble saying no to a renewed subscription. : )