Quote - well at some point in the animation i'm working on,  there is a ball that is supposed to change in ambient color to look brighter from that point onwards...but it didnt work...

You can change that in the material room, too. There is a tab that allows you to animate the nodes attached to the object. But that can get complicated and is a lot of work. Rendering two different sequences sounds like an easier answer.

If I had a nickle for ever time a woman told me to get lost, I could buy Manhattan.