Hi everyone,this is a really noobie question. I have gone through the process of making a model and now I am ready to render. 
Please don’t laugh too much -I have gone through all the getting started pdfs and the wiki about rendering and I am still confused on where to start. How do I know which ones to use or do I render all the passes? Why is this information not staying in my brain? Ha Ha
rendering isn’t where you’re not getting it. You’re missing the part for post production work. We render out passes so we have the greatest ability to change the final renders, post.
What passes you need really all depends on the end result. But typically you’ll want a key light, fill light, rim light, diffuse, spec, and reflection, shadow, AO, and normal pass. At least those are what we used most in the office here. I don’t work with the post stuff but I do need to render out these passes most of the time. a Zdepth pass is nice to have as well. Elements are asked for on occasion as well. Ambient and direct light passes aren’t bad to have either.
Thank you for the quick reply-this has helped clarify things for me. Brilliant