I can tell the Poser figures take a LOT of resources.  Rendering just the Guild Hall without the figures, I can put in the full indirect lighting and use a much better quality of render settings.  I have had C5 for a while, about 6 months I think.  And I have been using Carrara and before that Ray Dream Studio since RDS version 3. I am normally pretty good with the lighting.  It's just that when you import the poser figures, it seems to severely limit what you can do with it.  I am attaching an Image file.   This is the image of Marelle as she renders in Poser 6.  Compare that to how she looks in the C5 render.

 

 

Thanks for the advice

 

Rich

Quote - There is alot to c5 lighting and it can really vary. So it takes a bit to master. I assume you just got c5. I haven't been using c5 long myself. The bump should come in, but doesn't always look great depending on the texture. Here is a render w/ no global illumination at all. Not saying you have to have no ambient, but start w/ none. Just a simple set w/ 3pt. Haven't worked on the hair. The skin uses SSS. Rendered w/ good antialias, but that is it. Learning what to light, how the shadows will work  etc all matter. There are tons in the lights. The sss adds to render time and some textures don't benefit that you would think might. So unless it really adds it is not worth the render time.  There is no bump w/ this the texture is very realistic and looks better w/o it, which is a bonus. Got 10% ambient. Haven't really worked on hair tho...it can be tricky.