Mike, what is "better" is in the eye of the beholder, and depends on your
audience too. For "quick and dirty" what you are doing (making clean-looking
screenshots) is tough to beat. Otherwise you can get good at using Pro's
Photorender tools. The primary benefit is more realism (shadow and
environment mapping, textures/decals, views in perspective, no "jaggies",
more lighting options, etc.). But it can be a more time-consuming process.
And Photorender doesn't like to render to a white background. One workaround
is to remove/replace the background in Photoshop. Another is to create a
room envrionment with white walls. If you have the patience and desire, you
can get very good results even with Photorender.
The next rung on the rendering ladder would be using ARX/Photolux. After
that, it's professional standalone raytracers and animation suites...
-Doug
(Did I mention the need for patience?)
www.jgdesign.com <http: www.jgdesign.com="/>
