I've been using Poser (now version 9) on and off for a few years now and find that it lacks in certain areas like rendering glowing objects that appear to glow and give off light. I'm considering trying out Blender but only if there would be a significant improvement in producing glowing objects like flames or glowing spheres or whatever I want to glow and appear to be self luminous.

So I have a few questions:

1. Is setting up lighting easier in Blender or Poser? (Lighting is always a challenge for me)

2. Can I get more realistic glowing objects (flames, balls, etc) in Blender than in Poser?

3. Is there a good workflow between Poser and Blender?

4. Oh, and is it relatively easy to paint on the 3d object in Blender?

In general, could I see significant improvement in lighting and renders with Blender as opposed to Poser?

Thanks in advance.