Distributed Rendering and HDRI does not work

[DJ-Studd]

Hi Guys,
for some reason when trying to perform a DR of any scene with an HDRI in the VRay environment slot, the render nodes return black.

(Edit: The HDRI image is in a common location - G:\VIZ 2005 FOLDER\RESOURCES - which is a mapped network drive)

Here is an example:


I'm completely lost

Ta.
-- DJ

[Morbid Angel]

most likely G:\ is not a good path even though its a mapped drive. Your path should always be \\folder\texture

[DJ-Studd]

Thanks morbid, I'll give that a shot and see if it helps.

-- DJ

[Morbid Angel]

i also suspect that its not only hdri, as the texture on the floor is also missing...so its defenently the path

[DJ-Studd]

You little ripper!

It's worth paying for VRay just to get access to the forums.

Thanks Mr Morbid, your help is muchly appreciated!


-- DJ

[Da_elf]

everyone has their own theory on mapping their drives and for different people different things work. personally i use local path all the time. as for the whole time out thing on mapped drives, i have no idea what anyone is talking about. ive never seen a mapped drive time out

[Morbid Angel]

well we have, infact in a larger facility some workstations might have the same network drive mapped under different letter, so this will cause bigtime problems when network rendering. That is why we always always use direct path \\path\folder\ this way you are always right, this always works....

[jonahhawk]

Yup. the UNC or direct path is the way to go. It is the literal address of a file location. Once you start using UNC paths everywhere, i.e. in all your shortcuts, project folder paths, etc. it's easy. I never really think about it anymore.

Tools like Direct Folders and Folderget from Grant Adom help you sort out your paths and keep propper shortcuts handy.

When we're working on projects shared between offices, we will likely have three locations for project files; a folder local to our office, a folder local to the other office and a separate folder on a server mainly for render output, not to mention asset/resource locations. I have easy access to all locations using UNC paths/shortcuts with Direct Folders.

[flino2004]

UNC always works!!...i don't remember where but i downloaded a script to convert paths to UNC (you do have to modify it with your information) , very useful!!

[Klonsemann]

Could you share that script ?

[Codi]

I'd say you can do it with the Asset Tracking: select texture maps / right click / "Resolve paths to UNC location".

[flino2004]

i have a mirror copy of my libraries and maps in my laptop then I use these scripts to convert the path to UNC or viceversa(I can't get the asset tracking works)

you do need to modify them!!

Fernando

[Klonsemann]

@codi, yes i know that, but i very often have XrefScenes maybe that script give a hint howto solve the path in the XRefs to UNC too.

@flino2004, thanks.

[raymarcher]

And what about project folders? Those always have to be absolute I guess?

And is make path relative to project folder a good alternative to UNC paths?

Also What is the best way to name your folders and files for projects, for example:
projects architecture/villa large/textures/bricks/brick wall 01.jpeg

projects_architecture/villa_large/textures/bricks/brick_wall_01.jpeg

ProjectsArchitecture/VillaLarge/Textures/Bricks/BrickWall01.jpeg

or?...