Looking at comments in the critique forum, apparently it's the one big thing that everyone needs to fix. But short of upgrading to new software and new hardware to support the software, what's a person to do?

I also have to ask, how important is it really? Can most of us actually spot when it's used, or when it's used properly? Is it important at all for NPR's? Do I really need to GC renders that will be processed into toons or illustrations? Does lighting have to be perfectly realistic? Why does it matter if the shadows are little too deep here and there, if we're not trying to pretend that a render is a photo?

I mean, I read the rare critique that chides a person for not matching the lighting with a flat (not rendered) background, such that the shadows are cast in 2 different directions. And I always laugh when the artist replies back that they they weren't trying for realism, so shut up because who cares? But to me it does matter because you'd expect consistency in shadows in a painting or even a comic book. So of course, you'd want it in CG's , too.

But I can see, usually, when the lighting and shadows are totally out of whack. GC, on the other hand, seems a bit too subtle for me to notice. And if I can't see it, is it really that important? Or am I just blind, like the person who can't see that their shadows fall in several directions?