Distributed Rendering with maps -- Ugh

[davision]

I'm sorry, I just don't understand DR. If I don't have maps, DR is just fine. However, when I bring in the maps, vray brings in the blank surfaces.

I have tried:

1. Placing the map in a folder (on the workstation) that is visible to both the workstation and the servers. The map is designated in the scene with it's associated UNC path name.

2. Placing the map in the same shared folder as #1, but stripping the path off of it in max. The shared folder is designated on all machines as a Bitmap Path via UNC (or also tested as a Mapped drive).

Neither of these work -- but they seem straightforward and correct.

What am I missing?

[Candelero]

Try to copy the maps locally on the slaves and ADD a path from the
MAX - Customise Paths.

Best regards,
nikki Candelero

[Infrared digital]

Map a network drive to each machine but DON'T use it for navigation especially when selecting texture maps.

When selecting texture maps, go via the Microsoft Windows Network just to make sure you have the UNC correct ie \\d:etc..

Use the Assest Tracker (if you are not already) to check all the maps are properly UNCed up.

The most failsafe way to make sure if all the maps are linked to all machines is to open the max file on each machine and check the UNC paths. The quandry here is that after 30 days, a Server install will not open Max.

[Clifton Santiago]

Just use UNC naming convention and all should work fine. In fact, Max 8 now can be set up to default to UNC, even if not using UNC when specifying the bitmap.