Here's what i learned this year.
1) radiosity can screw up the animation especially if u have objects moving and the camera is moving. From what i understand, radiosity recalculates the lighting solution every frame which causes inconsistency (i.e. flickers).
2) light tracer works well on outdoor scenes especially in conjunction with a skylight.
3) try experimenting with just regular omni lights, i suggest doing this tutorial:
http://www.michaelscholz.de/neuehome...l/tut02_e.html
4)lastly, i storngly recommend going to this site:
http://www.xenomorphic.co.uk/education.htm
Good Luck!