Raytrace

[Max]

Turnersdesign,
While I agree with you as far as exterior renders go, the originator of this thread is a basement finish designer that happens to reside in the same locale I do. That said, 99% of the local basement designs use a very large number of recessed cans. These cans play havoc when trying to render due to the type of light and the fact that most of these cans are employed in areas of the ceilings that have been dropped (beams, HVAC trunk lines, etc.). Many times the light coming from a can will bleed through the dropped ceiling causing even more issues to deal with.

Due to the nature of basement designs, no routine will always work and generally will have to be adapted on a view by view basis. I did finally come up with a vague setup that worked as a starting point but I always had to tweek and adjust, not only from plan to plan but from view to view.

Just a heads up,
Max