Quote - I would recommend doing multiple passes.  Render the background buildings/static characters first.  Then keeping exactly the same groundplane and camera movements, do the foreground characters.  The more you break it up, the faster it renders.  Then composite everything together. 

 

Right now, I'm working on a kind of funny parody video.  Here's what's rendering now:

This is the way I've normally done it as well, but I'm getting more picky on how light falls with shadowing and such, and I've noticed that layering--even when done well--doesn't look 'true' as the characters (if they were in the shot) would block light for others around it but weren't in the scene for that pass, or eyeball reflections would be incorrect, things like that.

Picky, I know, but that's me! (The wife says I have closet OCD--Me, I say ehh, in some things; my desk is a real mess and I like it that way!) I may have to give genesis a go, or actually plan a Doc-style mega scene on paper first. grrg

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