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  • The sun has fallen from the sky

    ...or been switched off, one of the two.

    OK, here's the basic details: Last week we finally went to SP2 and everything looked great. I sent some renders (pre-calculated IR and LC to the network via Backburner) over the weekend and when I got back on Monday each and every one had rendered as if the sun had been turned off. The weird thing is that the images rendered perfectly via DR at sample size (900x600) prior to submission (3600x2400). No errors reported, nothing.

    So, I've checked the render nodes and they all seem to be running the same as we would our workstations. I then tried rendering the IR and LC maps via DR, saving them, and then submitting a backburner render that way. No dice, still 'black'. After that I tried sending the jobs to one specific seemingly ultra-reliable server for the pre-calcs and then individual images to each node. Result? Nothing, darker than King Kong's crotch after a soot bath.

    The only way I have been able to achieve a successful render is to send the job without any pre-calculations to a single node yet only one (the super-duper rock-steady one) of four has succeeded in even doing that.

    Attached are some samples showing various settings in case they reveal something I'm doing wrongly. The two rendered images show what I've managed to achieve via DR on the samples and via the one node whilst the other shows the renderings from other experiments.
    Attached Files
    Last edited by TPBennett; 24-09-2008, 05:14 AM.

  • #2
    Lol, nice thread title.

    The screen showing the rendering backburner windows says that the irradiance map can't be loaded, most likely you are saving it in a place where the render nodes can't reach it.

    Regards.

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    • #3
      I'm not sure if the irr map paths can be mapped drives. I usually use UNC paths for these as I've had problems like yours.
      www.dpict3d.com - "That's a very nice rendering, Dave. I think you've improved a great deal." - HAL9000... At least I have one fan.

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      • #4
        Sorry, ignore the one displaying the backburner error, that was my bad. We've tried the full system path as well and that didn't help either.

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        • #5
          Yup, Just tried the UNC paths ticky-box option and no joy, ho hum.

          Where are you, Vlado? I need help immediately if not sooner!

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          • #6
            You could check the V-Ray log file for any errors related to the irradiance map/light cache.

            Best regards,
            Vlado
            I only act like I know everything, Rogers.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by TPBennett View Post
              Yup, Just tried the UNC paths ticky-box option and no joy, ho hum.
              What is the "UNC paths ticky-box option"? Do you mean you typed a unc path into the saved filename?
              www.dpict3d.com - "That's a very nice rendering, Dave. I think you've improved a great deal." - HAL9000... At least I have one fan.

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              • #8
                Customise>Preferences>Files "Convert file paths to UNC". We also tried replacing the drive letter prefix with the full system path manually typed in yesterday but with no joy.

                Actually, I've just looked at the IR map through the viewer. It's completely grey yet I watched it do the processing and it looked fine. Herein lies the problem quite obviously, so I wonder what it might be?
                Last edited by TPBennett; 24-09-2008, 08:58 AM.

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                • #9
                  Well, it worked correctly locally, no? So the irradiance map itself must be fine.

                  Best regards,
                  Vlado
                  I only act like I know everything, Rogers.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Ah, well, here's the interesting thing...take a look at the screengrabs below!

                    First image is the IR map as seen in the viewer with the properties revealed. Second is the location and the date created part is way out of line, as shown in the third image - The creation date should be nearly two hours later.

                    Anyway, yes, it did work fine when rendering locally with DR. The issue here seems to be with saving the IR and LC maps as my colleague and I sat watching the processing and it was perfect. Confused? You bet!
                    Attached Files

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                    • #11
                      I don't think the "convert to UNC paths" works for imap/LC files but I don't remember. Your saved files are obviously emtpy so that's why you're getting no GI in your renders. Have you tried rerunning the calc but using UNC in the autosave path name?
                      www.dpict3d.com - "That's a very nice rendering, Dave. I think you've improved a great deal." - HAL9000... At least I have one fan.

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                      • #12
                        Right, latest update: I rendered small IR and LC maps on my local machine and saved them to the 'usual' folder. As you can see in the screengrab, they actually exist in terms of a file size which is a vast improvement on yesterday. I have also sent a test image to a node which was failing previously. So far, so good which means I'm still confused but it might be pointing towards a writing permission to that folder maybe?
                        Attached Files

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                        • #13
                          Any ideas?

                          Still not working, today I tried a random project that should be solid in the hope it was project-specific. Doesn't look like that worked as the saved IR and LC maps were both 1kb each again.

                          Since that experiment I tried rendering as a generic administrator on my colleague's machine and then saved it out which works albeit the IR map appears to be much larger for the same size image that I did yesterday, in the region of 40-50%...

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                          • #14
                            Looks like a folder-permissions issue to me, seems like it's allowed to create a file, but not overwrite/append to it.
                            3DV - Ruud van Reenen
                            www.3dv.nl

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