Using GPU AND CPU on network render NEXT GPU

[Blakk76]

Good day everyone.
I have a small render network setup, where 3 pc are running as NEXT GPU render nodes, but when I start distributed render,GPU and CPU only on "Server" are used in full, and no CPU usage at all on slaves.
Is there a way to use CPU along with GPU on render slaves?

[savage309]

Yes. You have to enable th c++/cpu device on the slaves too.
You can do it by one of these three ways (whichever is easiest for you):
* The easiest maybe - Use the vray_gpu_device_select.exe (comes with the V-Ray installation) and select both the c++/CPU and the NVIDIA GPUs. Alternatively you can -
* Start 3ds Max on the slave and use the device select from Max (but this requires 3ds Max on slave, so not ideal). Or -
* Set env var VRAY_GPU_PLATFORMS=c++/cpu;nvidia (this env var is what using the other tools will do)

To be safe, whichever of these three you choose, restart the Slave after that.
Let me know if it worked.


Bets,
Blago,

[Morne]

Yes. You have to enable th c++/cpu device on the slaves too.
You can do it by one of these three ways (whichever is easiest for you):
* The easiest maybe - Use the vray_gpu_device_select.exe (comes with the V-Ray installation) and select both the c++/CPU and the NVIDIA GPUs. Alternatively you can -
* Start 3ds Max on the slave and use the device select from Max (but this requires 3ds Max on slave, so not ideal). Or -
* Set env var VRAY_GPU_PLATFORMS=c++/cpu;nvidia (this env var is what using the other tools will do)

To be safe, whichever of these three you choose, restart the Slave after that.
Let me know if it worked.


Bets,
Blago,

Will there be a more auomated way to do this in the future like simply a tick or radio buttons in DR in the lines of * All GPUs, * All CPU's, * All GPUs + All CPUs?

[savage309]

Will there be a more auomated way to do this in the future like simply a tick or radio buttons in DR in the lines of * All GPUs, * All CPU's, * All GPUs + All CPUs?

It is one time setup, has UI, and can be automated with env var.

The reason we don’t enable the cpu by default is that there are people that prefer rendering without it.
Not sure if adding extra options is the best thing to do, but a way to pick which devices on which slaves to be use is generally a thing that we should consider but so far we haven’t done, as it usually is one-time setup thing that most people don’t bother to change,

Best,
Blago.