Hi Mad Hatter, yes it's true that many renderers can be pretty complex.

The one that comes to mind with probably the heaviest focus on being easy to use is KeyShot: http://www.keyshot.com/ , but it's pretty expensive.

For one that's not too expensive and still pretty easy to use you might want to check out SimLab Composer: http://www.simlab-soft.com/3d-products/simlab-composer-main.aspx , there is a trial version over there for testing out.

There's also a list of some free renderers on this recent thread: http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=6041.1

- Michael