1) Polygons > Smooth will smooth polygonal geomtry. There's also SubDs. 2) Most people use the GI_Joe MEL script to fake Global Illumination. 3) It's just a preview. 4) Edit Polygons > Subdivide 5) Not necessarily, but they don't work right all the time. 6) We've got a few tutorials going over this here and I have a brief freebie at my personal site. 7) A warning is just an FYI. It doesn't mean anything is wrong. An Error, on the other hand, is bad.