Tips on speeding up particle render speeds?

[superliminal]

Hi,

I'm rendering out a large animation that focuses on particles. I'm using software rendering and I'm wondering if there are any general tips anyone might have for improving render speeds for particles?

Thanks in advance!

[joojaa]

I'm wondering if there are any general tips anyone might have for improving render speeds for particles?

1. Dont trace them
2. rely more on shading isntead of many more items.
3. rely on shader to do the motion blur.
4. Swap over to prman or mentalray, and use rasterizer and lower shading quality