I usualy start at 800x600 then do the final render only at a larger size, ready for post work. I get the impression from the answers that some folk would say the final render is the start of the project (those that are talented in post work :) ), while for others the render is pretty near the end.

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Toolset: Blender, GIMP, Indigo Render, LuxRender, TopMod, Knotplot, Ivy Gen, Plant Studio.