@tommy point said:

Materials: Some faces of the model show materials while others do not.

You have to paint front side of a face. You can distinguish front from back-side in monochrome display mode in SU. There is FronFace plugin written by me, which can help you reverse those faces.

@tommy point said:

Transparency: The glass in the windows is reading pretty much as opaque.

This is very basic thing. You have to edit the material. It can be done in two ways, by editing it in Thea Matlab or by applying SKM material from recently released SU library of Thea materials.

@tommy point said:

Background: I haven't even begun to play around with background/context options yet, but I'd like to add some landscaping/trees, horizon, etc. Where is the best place to start for a basic backdrop and some entourage?

I am sure, you can find very nice backdrop images in Component, Materials & Styles section.

@tommy point said:

Tutorials: Does anyone know of any other good "getting started" type videos for the Thea plug-in?

There are not that many user made video tutorials out there. I invite you to register in Thea Forum and check our tutorials section. The Thea users community is extremely helpful, similar to what you can experience here.