[far33d]

This is something that is often overlooked in any analysis of global vs. local illumination. Local illumination gives you perfect control, and allows you to "paint with light", which is the cornerstone of the pixar lighting process.

We used GI at pixar when it was appropriate, even at the expense of long render times - that is to say, only when it made the final product look better. How you get to the result doesn't matter, only what it looks like on screen.