"do you guys know about zooming in on the shadowcams, which then enables you to set the map size lower and get the same resolution, thereby reducing render time? If I didn't have that trick, the rendertime in my clip above would be about 20% longer." No. Is this a P6 thing or is it adaptable to earlier versions? This is the first I've heard of it so I'm completely clueless about what it is or how it works.

Before they made me they broke the mold!
http://home.roadrunner.com/~kflach/