BSP is out, dynamic lighting is in, how the heck do we design scenes nowadays? If you want good performance and efficient production, it's not quite as simple as just making an arbitrary mesh in 3ds max. This article describes the findings Rich and I have come up with over the last year of developing and using the engine. Although this is written mostly for Leadwerks Engine developers, the concepts are relevant to any modern renderer:
http://www.leadwerks.com/ccount/click.php?id=61
http://www.leadwerks.com/ccount/click.php?id=61