Sharp edges used to be a big problem for me. It no longer is.

For close-ups, where the edges will be noticeable, I use models with the aboveformentioned edge loops. But it's not always possible. Bump maps, displacement maps, specular maps, plus a little experimenting with the blend nodes seems to fix things for me. I always render with IDL and gamma correction turned on, and I rarely bother with smooth polygons. And that's something to watch out for with your non-color maps: a higher than 1.0 gamma setting on them can cause all sorts of artifacts if you render with GC on. But if you experiment a bit in the mat room, you can usually get a decent enough compromise.

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PoserPro 2014, PS CS5.5 Ext, Nikon D300. Win 8, i7-4770 @ 3.4 GHz, AMD Radeon 8570, 12 GB RAM.