Okay, so I just finished my first pic, got everything just the way I wanted, including a dark mood lighting, but when I went to render it, it was too dark. I tried again with shadows off, and it became too bright. Is this normal for P6, or do I have something set wrong?

Be helpful if you posted a screen grab of your Poser screen and your render settings!

Injustice will be avenged.
Cofiwch Dryweryn.

If you have more than 6 lights in a scene, Poser 6 won't give an accurate preview of them. (Hmmm... maybe it's 5 lights actually - I'm not certain.)

It's rather an annoying "feature" which means you have to keep re-rendering to get an accurate preview.

If you have less than 6 lights, then there is probably a prop which is casting shadows somewhere unexpected. Check the positioning of your lights. Looking through the shadow cameras can sometimes reveal problems - for example, you might have a light hiden behind a wall where it can't illuminate the figure.

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"you are terrifying
and strange and beautiful
something not everyone knows how to love." - Warsan Shire

Quote - If you have more than 6 lights in a scene, Poser 6 won't give an accurate preview of them. (Hmmm... maybe it's 5 lights actually - I'm not certain.)

It's rather an annoying "feature" which means you have to keep re-rendering to get an accurate preview.

If you have less than 6 lights, then there is probably a prop which is casting shadows somewhere unexpected. Check the positioning of your lights. Looking through the shadow cameras can sometimes reveal problems - for example, you might have a light hiden behind a wall where it can't illuminate the figure.

But what is great about Poser 6 is you don't have to render the entire scene.
Just do an area render of the part you are having trouble with and when you
get it the way you like it, then render the whole scene.