Thank you so much "Anthanasius" and "bagginsbill". Really appreciate your help.

Could you please also tell me how to put an environment/background in my poser scene? Like the ground and sky in "Anthanasius's" Teapot image. I'm sorry if this sounds like a silly question but my knowledge of Poser is very limited.

Thank you so much once again.

Quote - The problem with reflection maps or scenes, they don't always match the background stage.  If you are only interested in creating an image as above, then a map would be enough.  But look closely, the reflections do not match what the character is wearing.  However, if your image will be placed in a populated scene, you would like to have your chrome actually reflect what is present.  Outdoor scenes will require a skydome, indoor scenes should have a completely enclosed set.

Could you please briefly describe to me how to do each of the three methods i.e

1. How to apply a reflection map to an object

2. How to apply a skydome to an object

3. How to create a completely enclosed set.

I'd really appreate it. Thank you

How does one go about creating a "self-lit cylinder" as mentioned by "bagginsbill"??

Thank you "bagginsbill" for your superb explanation. Now I have a much better understanding of the Chrome behaviour. Could you please post a screenshot of the Material Room for the first (or second) image. That way, I can understand better how to change my settings. Also what do "self-lit cylinders" mean and how can I create them? Thank you so much.

Thank you "RedPhantom" for the link. It is an interesting tutorila but not quite what I'm looking for. The tutorial is mainly about object reflecting other objects within the workspace. I'm looking for Material Room settings which will give a Chrome effect even when there aren't any other objects in the workspace.

"pakled": I never use the "smooth polygons" option so it is always unchecked.

"markschum": What you are talking about is CAST shadows. What I'm talking about is the the shadowy part of the object itself. Like if you have a sphere and there's only one light source from the left hand side, then the right part of the sphere will be in darkness. Now in the middle of the sphere, where the transition from light to shade happens, the light and dark areas will be merged in a blur. I want a crisp line seperating the two areas.

Thank you both for your suggestions, but I'm starting to get the feeling that the effect that I am looking for cannot be achieved with Poser's rendering engine. So can anyone suggest a really good Rendering software which is compatible with Poser? i.e. I should be able to export Poser objects and import them into the Rendering Software.