You face a real challenge attempting all of these modeling and imaging issues at once. PhotoRendering is one of the more extreme, since few Archicad users have been prepared for the artistic issues or have the sensitivity to evaluate images and lighting applied in illustration. And of course the documentation assumes that you know all of the terminology. So start experimenting, it is an uphill battle.
One problem Archicad elements have is that they are improperly mapped. For example, if a panel door that should be modeled with rails and stiles is modeled with a slab, the cross-pieces map across the direction of the grain. Converting to a Morph [Archicad 16] allows surface re-mapping but ruins the schedule.
Mapping anomaly also shows up as direction bias. If you make two slabs, one wider and one longer, the application maps them differently. [attached]
Another problem is that Archicad/Lightworks materials aren’t very good. They often lack resolution and correct color.
It is probably best if you stick to OpenGL rendering for now. The cartoonish effect describes materials and casts shadows well while avoiding the difficulties more sophisticated approaches demand.
My books “LightWorks in Archicad” and “The Artlantis Attitude” address many of the issues users face with Archicad’s main rendering tools.
Dwight Atkinson