Add an “AOSurface” input in the world node in the graph editor so that an AO environment map can be used for coloring the AO samples in the world AO. This was necessary to meet our visual goals while not increasing render times significantly.

NOTES:
Please find attached one of several patches for Blender and Cycles from Tangent Animation that were implemented for the production of Tangent’s latest film, Run Ozzy Run. It is our hope that these features will make it to the master branch of Blender as we have found that they are necessary for our production environment. You’ll find that these features either decrease render times or allow the director to more easily meet his vision on time and on budget. They are not intended to be accurate or physically correct.