Distributed rendering servers don't render if a proxy is missing

[Alex_M]

I have a scene where a V-Ray proxy is missing for both the local host and the DR server. That's fine, I would like to render the image anyway as these proxies are not visible in the camera. So I start the render, but the distributed rendering servers don't join. I get an error like the one below:

[13:35:31.394] Warning : Render host XYZ (xyz.xyz.xyz.x:20204) is not responding.

I don't remember this happening a few versions back. The DR servers would still render the image, even if incorrectly because of the missing files. Is this a bug? If not, how can I make the DR servers join the rendering regardless of missing proxies?

[vladimir_krastev]

Hi, thanks for posting. Is it possible that you have enabled the "check for missing files"

[Alex_M]

Good question. No, "check for missing files" is not enabled. By the way, if it's any help, I can see the DR server's CPU go up to 100% utilization for 2-3 sec. just when the rendering starts and then it goes down back to 1-2% (idling). Also, I get the following before the server drops out:

[14:35:08.374] Server xyz.xyz.xyz.x:20204: Scene loaded; starting render
[14:35:12.306] Server xyz.xyz.xyz.x:20204: Starting frame 0

So the DR server is reachable. It just drops out suddenly for some reason before the buckets appear.

[Alex_M]

Hello. Any ideas? I'm still having these problems with some of my scenes. Can you please help me with this? I'm losing my rendering resources. Now I get this error on a scene that doesn't appear to have missing proxies:



This happens with some scenes, but not others. Why?? I can render a different scene with that DR machine totally fine, but for some reason it "actively refuses" to render that particular one.

[vladimir_krastev]

Hi from what I can tell you are having random different issues with your distributed rendering setup.

I can see the DR server's CPU go up to 100% utilization for 2-3 sec. just when the rendering starts and then it goes down back to 1-2% (idling)

This sounds like a crash on your render node. Could be insufficient memory.

If a simple scene renders every time and the slaves engage every time then the distributed rendering works.
Various issues come when you render heavy scenes. A slave machine may stall on a previous job, the network may be showing weaknesses with heavy load etc.
Please read this distributed rendering troubleshooting guide for more information - https://support.chaos.com/hc/en-us/a...shooting-Guide
Also I suppose you have already read the docs page about dist. rendering - https://docs.chaos.com/display/VMAX/...uted+Rendering