DBR with 2.0 produces slightly different colored buckets

[Pixelperfectg]

Up front: I'm not using a color correct shader/plugin, or really anything outside of a vanilla install of 3ds Max Design 2011 (w/SP) & Vray 2.0.

When using DBR I'm getting buckets that are very slightly different in color/intensity. I've attached a render showing the issue for reference. The scene illumination comes from one VRay dome light, no indirect illumination enabled. I also don't see any errors/problems noted in the VRay log file.

Any thoughts on what I should look for to resolve something like this?

[vlado]

What kind of map is the environment map (e.g. a Bitmap texture, VRayHDRI or something else)?

Best regards,
Vlado

[Pixelperfectg]

There is a VRayHDRI map used in the VRay:Environment. There's a spherical .HDR file assigned to it.

[vlado]

Ok, what about the dome light? In any case, does switching to a regular Bitmap solve the issue?

Best regards,
Vlado

[Pixelperfectg]

Yes, the same VRayHDRI map that's used in the environment is instance copied to the dome light.

UPDATE: I just re-rendered the scene as it was from last night (with the errors) and there are no DBR bucket variations this morning! If I run into the problem again today I will try using a bitmap instead of the VRayHDRI map and also see if a fresh restart of the machines helps again too.

[simmsimaging]

Bucket oddness like that happens to me once in a while, and restarting the spawners on the nodes and the actual workstation usually does the trick.

[Pixelperfectg]

Roger that.

Note to self: Make it a practice to restart nodes/workstations before running a lengthy DBR session.

[vlado]

You can also use the "Restart slaves on render end" option in the DR settings. It will cause 3ds Max on the render slaves to be restarted after each DR render, just in case something remains from a previous scene.

Best regards,
Vlado