Helpful links

Here are some excellent sources that should get you prepared:

http://aimediaserver4.com/studiodaily/videoplayer/?src=ai4/Maxonflv/NewGlobalIllumination.swf&width=800&height=640
http://www.c4dcafe.com/reviews/r11/ar.html
http://mvpny.com/R11GITutorial/R11GITutorial_Part1.html

I'll assume you know these before we continue just so we share a common level of knowledge and will be able to concentrate on rendering. This won't be as much of explaining how certain settings work but rather show you how it effects the renderings practically.