Hi,
Here’s a 3ds file for you to import and try to render. I’m having real difficulties to render this artifact free and fast.
http://users.pandora.be/stor1/vray/01.3DS
If anyone would like to try it, i’d appreciate that! If you do so, please post a pic with rendertimes and major GI settings and system specs so i can compare it.
Here’s one I made, it took 10 minutes for that resolution, I thought that it can go faster with the same GI detail.
Thanks for any help!
flipside
i dont even need to try it, i remember it from when i 1st got fR. try soemthing like 0.3, 0.3, 0.3 for the clr, nrm and dist settings, try 50, 50 for sample and interp. and use something like -4, -2 for max min on irradiance map, turn up your secondary multiplier to about 0.8 and turn your bounces up to something nice like 4 or 5. play with your dark multiplier too. Hehe, those are more or less my settings for everything i do hehehe
I don’t have much time currently but I think this scene would be perfect for skylight portal and/ or global photon map.
--Jon
Thats my try with photon mapping
I will post the settings…
Gonçalo
WOW! Excellent 
Good job Goncalo. I also want to mention something about your corner scene. I think that the white where the corner meets is caused by a combination of a fillet and glossy reflections not GI.
I was just sitting here thinking about it while taking a quick brake. Does this sound like it may be true?
--Jon
Hi Jon,
I think you right, guess all the world materials are glossi 
Gonçalo
In this case we can decrase the render time unchecking the store direct light option on the photon map settings
Gonçalo
Hey thanks! I’m trying it right now. Did you change the decay of the light maybe? With your settings my image is pure white
regards,
flipside
No, I didnt change the light settings only the material, use a VrayMaterial, photon map doesnt work with stardart materials.
Gonçalo
Yes I used vraymat. But my light only needed diffuse multi of 1000 instead of 100.000 in your settings. Also a lot of light leaks through the walls if I use your settings (check sample visibility ON doesn’t help here)
I tried various settings but I always have that problem.
Any ideas what it could be?
I think this is a issue with units settigs, this scene is not easy to setup with photon mapping because of the kind of light used and I know that max and viz doesnt read the units in same way… I really dont know why 
Some time ago I ve sent a scene to a friend of mine that use Max 5 and he cant reproduce the same image with the same settings, thought he works with inches I work with meters…
Gonçalo
Start to play with photon map for first and diffuse bouces in order to achive the best number for the “Search dist” and “Max density”, this last one should be 1/4 or 1/5 of the Search dist. When you find the good balance with them, change to irradiance map for first diffuse bounces.
Fail and try process… up and down… never now where it will end :?:
Hope this helps,
Gonçalo
Did you try to render the image with the same size as mine?
Gonçalo
Instead of reducing the light multiplier, reduce the photon map multiplier instead to 1.0
The artifact on your right side guess its caused by a high number of search dist, try this:
search dist 5.0
Max density 1.0
Hope this helps
Gonçalo
hehe… I must be drunk, I m talking to myself 
, I was working with this scene yesterday, how do you get a spot light to emit photons? What have I missed? I could only make it work with direct light
It works with photons, but you need a VERY high multiplier 
Gonçalo
ahh, ok , thanks 8)
Hehe hi goncalo!
Euhm my spotlights appear in the local object parameters same as any other light so I can set photon paramters for it.
Isn’t it the same, these global multiplier and local multiplier for photons? If the total amount of multiplying is the same, the result should be the same no?
Maybe I’ll try your suggestions with other search radius, in a few days, because I rendered this same image a bit too much lately
Thanks for your efforts, funny to see you talking to yourself!
greetz
flipside