I feel you on the hit-or-miss thing with lighting proxies. It’s all about balance. If you simplify too much, you get artifacts; if you don’t simplify enough, the render times barely drop.
My tip? Start with the biggest objects in your scene and work your way down. Use proxies for stuff that’s far from the camera or not the focus. And yeah, tweaking is part of the process—don’t skip it!
My tip? Start with the biggest objects in your scene and work your way down. Use proxies for stuff that’s far from the camera or not the focus. And yeah, tweaking is part of the process—don’t skip it!