Limitations on Quality Vs Time (Rendering)

Due to the complexity of the scene (50,000 polygons and counting) and the materials used (glass), the rendering time for the 1 minute long animation would be too long; this is because a single test frame rendered  out in 6 minutes. After looking out my current options I am adamant that I want the advanced effects of the VRay rendering engine in my project, however I will have to approach it in a different manner. Texture baking is a technique in which the calculated shading is 'burnt' into a standard material, and once rendered can be mapped on the corresponding mesh. The difference between rendering and calculating the lighting in each frame as apposed to Texture Baking is huge, and means that the shading only has the be calculated once in order for it to be shown throughout the animation. Of course, this technique can only be used for static objects in the scenery.