Renders Unpredictable, Maya Vray5

[monsteradurm]

Hi,
I have a tonne of credits that we are using to urgently render a project.

ATM weve only submitted 4 scenes, 2 worked correctly and 2 don't. Im not yet able to ascertain but hoping i can be pointed in the right direction.

This is using Maya 2022, and Vray 5.

In one scene, the renderlayer renders black, or without lighting. The render elements look correct.
In another scene, the lighting values look unusual - as though it is lit with default lighting.

As far as I can plainly see, they are setup the same with referenced assets/textures etc.

Any help, pointers, things to check etc would be super helpful as i'm at a loss where to begin. If I take the VRScene and plug it into Vray 5 for nuke - it looks like its rendering correctly.

Cheers

[monsteradurm]

Here is a log.. im a little bit perplexed by the invalid bitmap color - sounds like it could be the issue? What does it mean? It isnt an issue when rendering within maya of vray for nuke

5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMPreparing renderer...
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMUsing Intel Embree ray server
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMPreparing scene for rendering...
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PM[RenderView] startCameraTime=1.000000, endCameraTime=281.000000
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PM[RenderView] numCameraTMs=560, numFrames=280, frameSamples=2
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMTiled texture cache set to 4096 MB
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMCreating bitmap manager
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMBitmap manager created.
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMLight tree is enabled with clamp coefficient 0.1 and even split coefficient 0.5.
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMInitializing built-in VFB.
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMResumable rendering is enabled - rendering can be stopped and resumed
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMOpenEXR compression type is 3
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMOpenEXR data window: render region
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMOpenEXR multipart output enabled
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMVFB writing to raw image file
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMNot creating VFB2 user interface because V-Ray is linked with wxWidgets
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PM?Failed to create VFB2 user interface.
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMNot creating VFB2 user interface because V-Ray is linked with wxWidgets
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PM?Failed to create VFB2 user interface.
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PM[RenderView] startCameraTime=1.000000, endCameraTime=281.000000
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PM[RenderView] numCameraTMs=560, numFrames=280, frameSamples=2
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMMax ray intensity is enabled: rendered result may have incorrect brightness.
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMConsistent lighting elements are enabled.
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMPreparing camera sampler.
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMPreparing scene for frame...
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMCompiling geometry...
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMPreparing ray server.
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMUsing Embree ray tracing.
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMBuilding dynamic geometry trees took 0 ms.
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMEmbree dynamic geometry tree contains 18 primitives.
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMEmbree dynamic geometry tree built in 0.59 ms.
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMEmbree dynamic geometry tree takes 0.00 MB.
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMFull rayserver build. Took 0.974 ms.
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMScene bounding box is [-144.228,-111.936,-862.088]-[-61.6761,-0.980919,-798.661]
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMPreparing direct light manager.
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMScanning scene for light plugins.
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PM0 lights found.
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMUsing probabilistic light evaluation with 2 lights.
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PM27 render channels in sequence data
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMPreparing global light manager.
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMIrradiance sample size is 84 bytes
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMCannot use fast GI because secondary engine is not brute force or none
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMPhoton size is 56 bytes.
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMLight cache sample size is 184 bytes.
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMLight cache built state is 0
5/14/2022, 5:54:49 PMRendering image.
5/14/2022, 5:54:55 PMBitmap "minnie__file5@bitmap" returned an invalid color (rgba 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000)
5/14/2022, 5:54:55 PMBitmap "minnie__file6@bitmap" returned an invalid color (rgba 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000)
5/14/2022, 5:54:55 PMBitmap "minnie__file7@bitmap" returned an invalid color (rgba 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000)
5/14/2022, 5:54:55 PMBitmap "minnie__file8@bitmap" returned an invalid color (rgba 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000)
5/14/2022, 5:54:55 PMBitmap "minnie__file9@bitmap" returned an invalid color (rgba 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000)
5/14/2022, 5:54:55 PMBitmap "minnie__file10@bitmap" returned an invalid color (rgba 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000)
5/14/2022, 5:54:56 PMBitmap "minnie__file14@bitmap" returned an invalid color (rgba 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000)
5/14/2022, 5:54:56 PMBitmap "minnie__file11@bitmap" returned an invalid color (rgba 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000)
5/14/2022, 5:54:56 PMBitmap "minnie__file12@bitmap" returned an invalid color (rgba 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000)
5/14/2022, 5:54:56 PMBitmap "minnie__file13@bitmap" returned an invalid color (rgba 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000)
5/14/2022, 5:54:56 PMBitmap "minnie__file16@bitmap" returned an invalid color (rgba 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000)
5/14/2022, 5:54:56 PMBitmap "minnie__file15@bitmap" returned an invalid color (rgba 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000)
5/14/2022, 5:54:56 PMBitmap "minnie__file17@bitmap" returned an invalid color (rgba 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000)
5/14/2022, 5:54:56 PMBitmap "minnie__file1@bitmap" returned an invalid color (rgba 0.391112 0.267811 0.040468 0.000000)
5/14/2022, 5:54:56 PMBitmap "minnie__file3@bitmap" returned an invalid color (rgba 0.391112 0.267811 0.040468 0.000000)
5/14/2022, 5:54:56 PMBitmap "minnie__file4@bitmap" returned an invalid color (rgba 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000)
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PMNumber of raycasts: 3580428303 (853.64 per pixel)
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM Camera rays: 6668382 (1.59 per pixel)
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM Shadow rays: 0 (0.00 per pixel)
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM GI rays: 0 (0.00 per pixel)
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM Reflection rays: 0 (0.00 per pixel)
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM Refraction rays: 0 (0.00 per pixel)
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM Unshaded rays: 3573759921 (852.05 per pixel)
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PMPeak memory for frame 280: 3.11 GiB collected for 22 categories
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM Peak memory for "Bitmap": 196.01 MiB
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM Peak memory for "Bucket image sampler": 1.20 GiB
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM Peak memory for "Dynamic displaced geometry": 0 B
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM Peak memory for "Dynamic geometry": 6.56 MiB
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM Peak memory for "Dynamic moving displaced geometry": 0 B
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM Peak memory for "Dynamic moving geometry": 0 B
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM Peak memory for "GI": < 1 MiB
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM Peak memory for "Lights": 0 B
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM Peak memory for "Misc.": 73.90 MiB
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM Peak memory for "Misc. displaced geometry": 0 B
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM Peak memory for "Misc. geometry": 0 B
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM Peak memory for "Misc. moving displaced geometry": 0 B
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM Peak memory for "Misc. moving geometry": 0 B
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM Peak memory for "Progressive image sampler": 0 B
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM Peak memory for "Static displaced geometry": 0 B
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM Peak memory for "Static geometry": 0 B
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM Peak memory for "Static hair": 0 B
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM Peak memory for "Static moving displaced geometry": 0 B
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM Peak memory for "Static moving geometry": 0 B
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM Peak memory for "Static moving hair": 0 B
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM Peak memory for "Tiled bitmap": 0 B
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM Peak memory for "VFB": 1.64 GiB
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PMClearing global light manager.
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PMClearing direct light manager.
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PMNumber of light evaluations: 0 (0.00 per pixel)
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PMClearing ray server.
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PMMaximum memory usage for resman: 11.16 MB
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PMClearing geometry.
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PMNumber of intersectable primitives: 18
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM SD triangles: 0
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM MB triangles: 0
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM Static primitives: 18
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM Moving primitives: 0
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM Infinite primitives: 0
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM Static hair segments: 0
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PM Moving hair segments: 0
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PMClearing camera image sampler.
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PMClearing camera sampler.
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PMClearing DMC sampler.
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PMClearing path sampler.
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PMClearing image sampler.
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PMClearing color mapper.
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PMCleaning up bitmap manager
5/14/2022, 5:55:39 PMMaximum memory usage for texman: 0.00 MB

[vladie]

Hi monsteradurm ,

Can you please share the original Maya scene with me? I'll ask my colleagues from the 3D Support team to help with that as they resolve such issues. And most probably they'll start with asking for the actual Maya scene. If it's more convenient for you, you can share it in a direct message to me here in the forums.

Thanks,
Vladie

[monsteradurm]

Not really able to provide the scene at this stage - could there be any insight into the texture issue mentioned above in the log?

[monsteradurm]

Ive managed to put together a package and PMd a link via box - hopefully it works fine. Everything is heavily referenced in our pipeline, so ive had to import alot of files via the reference editor.

[vladie]

Ok, thanks! I'll share the scene with the 3D Support team. But most probably they'll be able to answer on Monday. Sorry that we can't follow up earlier.

Vladie

[monsteradurm]

Just some additional info ive noticed. The "invalid color" warning happens also on scenes that do go through the chaos cloud renders without a problem- Therefore the issue must be entirely unrelated and elsewhere...

[monsteradurm]

Ive also just realised it is not exporting the lights as part of the vrscene, where as it is exporting the lights in the scene thats working. Even though they are the same in both

[monsteradurm]

OK. Ive figured out the issue. It appears (to me) that there is a bug in the export script/process.

If I tick on the box in the maya scene for exporting vrscene, and "separate files" and then check on all of the individual elements: lights, geometry, materials etc. and then untick separate files. Everything renders correctly on the cloud.

Therefore even if "separate files" is unticked and those individual checkboxes arent showing, it still does not export those elements with the vrscene.

[vladie]

Thanks for the follow-up, monsteradurm! Nevertheless we'll also investigate the issue from our side and will follow-up with you.

[nikolay.kusht]

I can confirm that Chaos Cloud is not rendering the scene correctly if "Separate files" option is selected and the other elemest are deselected. this was reported as a bug(VMAYA-11244)