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The following simple renders illustre how "Shading Samples" control the various lighting elements all at once. The scene is mostly matte (diffuse) with a GGX material applied to the tall cube.
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| Shading Samples | 16 | 64 | 256 | 256 |
| AA Samples | 2x2 | 2x2 | 2x2 | 4x4 |
| Number of Rays | 12.7 millions | 48.7 millions | 191 millions | 194 millions |
| Time | 6.5 seconds | 26.5 seconds | 100 seconds | 108 seconds |
| Comments | Draft render | Notice how diffuse, specular and shadows improve together. | High quality render with linear improvement in all lighting elements. | Increasing pixel samples do not affect |
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