> what is the real benefit: what is the value add of rendering in pov instead
> of A:M, especially if you have to go through all that export headache?

In this case there is really none.  I could probably add snow for this scene
much more easily with POV because there is less overhead.  A better example is
the animation I did of a clownfish swimming underwater with photons...something
that would be near impossible with AM.

POV does many things better than AM.  The latter has nothing like heightfields
or referenced copies of meshes.  No while loops or conditionals.  Refraction is
limited to 2 levels.  AM's radiosity sucks big time, and the 'global
illumination' is grainy and highly innacurate.  In short, you can do some
things faster in POV, though most of them are inherently slow.

Besides, the export process really isn't that difficult provided you have the
disk space.  Most models take about  5 seconds per frame or less.  There is one
flaw in my system at this point, and that is the lack of motion blur.  I could
just increase the frame rate and render more frame, then average the result.  I
have some ideas for a better solution but it would be a lot of work...not sure
if it would be worth the trouble.

-Mike

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