Since Carrara is currently rendering something, and I rarely have the time anymore to experiment myself, I figure I'll just ask you guys.
Photon Mapping- What is it, and when should I use it (as far as realism goes)?
Transluscency- How do you get this to work? I tried for about an hour to make a teapot transluscent, and just could not make it work. And if I have SSS, am I going to need transluscency enabled, too (like for the ears)?
Finally, what settings do you use for realistic, wet, lively looking eyes? Is SSS involved here, too? And am I going to need to make my own if I want them to be believable (You know, an eye that's not just a sphere with a texture, but an actual structure like the ones Shonner made)?
Okay, one more thing, BRDF and BSSRDF- I'm pretty sure these have something to do with how light hits a surface, but other than that I'm clueless. What do they stand for, and is it anything that can be manipulated inside Carrara 5?