the solution is so simple yet he's so blind to see it:
View attachment 4145104
seriously, if only he did that, he'd probably be able to cut down on render time by more than 50%. heck, might even be able to keep the yearly releases but with 25 or 50% more content per episode.
look at Digi.B (Artemis dev) guy changed from daz to blender and lowered his render times from 5-6 hrs to 20-40 mins depending on scene complexity, i know he also joining the "yearly updates club" but that's due to his personal life and health issues, unlike DPC.