after rendering....handling images

[Bananas293]

I am hoping for some advice(or tutorials/guides) on the what,hows and wheres of handling images after rendering.

There are so many tutorials on every other aspect of modelling except this.

for example; Once I have rendered a model(single frame) what file type should I save as, what is the purpose of red/blue/green channels? how do I handle alpha channels (exporting to cs2)? how do I use these in conjunction with masks etc..? what other purposes do these functions/features have?

With multiple frame rendering(I have yet to experience) I am sure their are just as many questions which seem to be forgotten.

I am a (self-taught)fairly confident user of basic modelling techniques in max and maya, and I have a few years of proffessional experience using image applications but I am still unsure how to get the most out of using the two tools together.

Bananas