I have tried to redo the HDRI-Demo render with GI. Here is the result. The lightning is GI with realsitic sky, the sunlight is set to zero!, so only the GI gives the light. I have increased the global exporse and the haze, and add a plant (beech). The refelctions are controlled with Shoestrings Fresnel, the mouthpiece really looks like silver.

Johannes

This really looks nice, the reflections are awesome. I just wonder how the run times compare between the HDRI render and the GI render?

the rendertimes are equal, the GI a only a little bit slower. Johannes