I am hoping to get a kinda technical answer in language a non-technical person like me can understand. Why do Poser renders look the way they do and Max renders look the way they do?

I am jealous of that lucid quality Max renders seem to have. Poser renders seem flatter and more "translucent" than "clear and deep" if that makes any sense. Is there a way in post-work to make Poser renders look more like something done in Max?

For that matter, is it possible to simulate different render qualities such as Ambient Occlusion using post-work? I have been compositing a straight P6 render with a touch of an IBL/AO render and going over the edges of things in the scene with a blur tool set to darken.