The Raw rendering phase
Previously, we have seen how to render an image in Cycles. It is quite different for an animation. It's best to first do a raw render of the shots with the following settings:
We will start by adjusting the device. If you have a good graphics card, remember to check the GPU device option.
Let's now adjust the samples in the Render panel (Properties | Render | Sampling). The skin needs enough samples to reduce a noisy effect. 100 or 150 samples are enough to have an idea, but consider setting a higher value for the final render.
Still in the Sampling tab, we will put 1.00 to Clamp Direct and 1.00 to Clamp Indirect. It allows us to reduce the noise, but you may lose a little bit of the bright colors.
We should remember to check the Cache BVH and the Static BVH options in the Performance tab. It allows us to optimize the render time.
You can make a test by just rendering a frame (F12). Pay attention to the time it takes to complete the rendering process for only one frame...
