Workflow Question (Light Probes vs Lightmapping)

Hey guys, I have a rather odd (and interesting question) in regards to lighting objects in Unity... after watching the Unite 2015 section on Advanced Lightmapping, I am wondering which is more advantageous toward the designer. Here is my scenario:

I am working on a level for my game and I have decided that for the sake of time, I decided to light probe the entire level and skip lightmapping all together (this level is an interior level, a dojo) because the bakes were coming out less than desirable and taking too long. Also it was VERY painful setting up the Lightmap UVs in Modo and mixed mode doesn't work right.

I am also an experienced artist who used workflows that are similar to VFX workflows. So in closing, what are some of your opinions on this approach? Should i use light probes on an entirely static scene or mix and match with Lightmaps and probes (though with this method, the probed objects will look a little darker...)

I would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks.

 

I watched the overview of the blacksmith environment yesterday and there it was recommend to only lightmap the larger objects and use lightprobes for smaller objects to keep bake times down.

Lightprobes being darker might be a bug.

Also, I guess you already know that some people like to reduce the Texel size a lot while working to allow for fast preview of the feeling of a level and then increase it again for the final bake.

Once that new lightmapper is out, baking might become a lot quicker, as well.

 

I remember the tonal differences being a bug which is sadly still present . I am on U 5.3.2 right now... in my dojo level, I just have the huge floor, the walls, and ceiling set to static for lightmaps and other pieces like the screens and wooden beams set to be light probed. It also makes my character models look a HELL of a lot better...

EDIT: I also thought about just using probes because of the less that stellar baking quality... (I used to get INCREDIBLY CLEAN bakes with Beast... now I am fighting with this...)

 

This might be related:

Reflection probes can significantly change the way scene looks. Unity has reflections almosts on everything, and by default reflection uses skybox.
Here's recently deprecated lab demo from unity (bake gets stuck when GI is enabled in it).

Without reflection probes (reflection probe data not baked):


With reflection probes.


In both screenshots, there are no baked lightmaps.

 

Yep, the lightprobes being darker is DEFINITELY a bug

 

I've noticed this happening in my scene, I was going to just light probe everything to get a consistent look