"Normal" Ray Trace

[EconBlueprints]

Today's question is about the Ray Trace feature.  
It works great, but right now it is at "Pass 891" and it has not gotten any better looking for the last few hundred passes.
Is there a setting so you can get a good but not incredibly perfect Ray Trace, and thereby cut down the time it takes to process?
Speaking of processing time, is there a normal time it should take to Ray Trace a rendered view?

Thank you in advance,

 

Lane

[Chrisb222]

I set mine for 10 passes and get nice results in about 3-5 minutes.

 

You reach a point of diminishing returns after so many passes, 10 works for me.

[DavidJPotter]

I usually set up a Ray Trace for lunch, break or dinner time. I turn off the "Time Tracker" and let it run as long as it needs to to get an acceptable result. BUT before I do that I run several Ray Traces so I can adjust lights and materials and other settings, only when it is so modified do I start the final ray trace period. If I have the time, I let it run until visually acceptable. Commonly the set up time can run as high as 10-15 minutes and the final Ray Trace usually runs, like Chrisb222 at around 10 passes. 891 passes on a view that has not been tweaked as to materials and lighting is a gross waste of time. You get it just right and only then take the time to create a final product.

 

I recently did some rather large format images for a Home Show Poster for a display booth, so the Ray Traces needed to be very high resolution and very large (48"x24") for the banner. Those required a run time of four hours each but came out great. A Spanish user once did some Ray Traces for a Billboard display and her run time was 36 hours each but most screen sized images only take a few minutes to create a good professional product. Set up is actually more important than the final run in my opinion.

 

DJP