Photon mapping + and - ?

[mzmeskal]

Hello,
I never got to use or even try the photon mapping yet so I wonder....is it better than irradiance mapping technique..?

I know Goncalo is using it quite a lot and he has his tutorial, but I just wanted to know where photon mapping stands compared to irradiance mapping? Is it faster? smoother? what are the advantages??? Does it have more range (light energy?)

Thank you

Best regards
Martin

[GoncaloP]

You can try it here http://www.vrayrender.com/stuff/PMapTutorial/

[mzmeskal]

Thanks Goncalo, actually I got that one...
...I just wandered whether it can produce nicer result than IR map