Now I’m back on another project that’s full GI (with a moving sun like CW2011) 3600 frames long and 3600px wide. So I’m looking to optimize my pre-pass time as much as possible. Apparently I can adjust my frame step options too, so no only will my prepass be 1/2 the resolution, but also only ever other frame will be rendered. TIme for some tests…

Thanks again Alfud

Do this, then set your render output to half what it’s going to be and cache the GI – it will take a lot less time than caching a full-rez solution. Set your frame range to manual and render off a second or two so you can confirm that the half resolution GI pass is suiting the full resolution final. If it is – and it very often does – then it’s all go. Needless to say, the better your GI settings the better the result but anyway, after that unlock the GI cache and render from where you left off – if you haven’t saved the file under a different name Cinema will add to the cache that’s already there – although having said that this is what’s supposed to happen. I’ve found that this can be funny sometimes and Cinema actually re-does the frames that are already there. It’s supposed to detect if anything in the scene has changed since the last caching but I think it’s a bit hit and miss.

One more thing ….. ain’t nothin’ to forgive buddy – we were all n00bs at one stage or another

Quick question, and forgive my “noob-ness”… I have a scene where just the camera moves, BUT I animated the sun to rise throughout as the camera flies through- do I understand correctly that locking the cache can’t be done, since my light source is changing throughout? It makes sense to me that that is the case, but wanted to confirm- Thanks for the tip!