VRayDenoiser complete black unless I uncheck the hardware acceleration

[savage309]

I'm not sure of the driver version, but I know it is the latest. I can check in about an hour. I didn't see anywhere to disable the hardware acceleration.

It is in the VRayDenoiser render element settings, expand the "Advanced denoiser parameters". You can check the driver version if you start the Nvidia Control Panel.

[Raven]

Hi Blago

Yes the 1st, 3rd and 4th all worked. So when the nvidia was expressly set with the -oclquery=nvidia it worked.
Only the second one gave the black screen.
When you say you need the log. I copied what was in the command panel and attached as a text file. Does it record a log somewhere else.
I checked the vraylog.txt in temp, but I couldn't find anything relating to those tests in it.
I can clear it and run them again.


Just looked through that again quick

(#1) This worked
vdenoise -inputfile=denoise_test.vrimg -useGpu=0

Forcing CPU implementation.



(#2) This is the one that returns black
vdenoise -inputfile=denoise_test.vrimg -useGpu=1

Using devices:
1: Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600
OpenCL compiled successfuly



(#3) This worked ( I assume this is just using the cpu, correct)
vdenoise -inputfile=denoise_test.vrimg -useGpu=1 -oclquery=intel

Picking devices that match "intel"
Using devices:
0: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4910MQ CPU @ 2.90GHz
OpenCL compiled successfuly


(#4) And this worked
vdenoise -inputfile=denoise_test.vrimg -useGpu=1 -oclquery=nvidia

Picking devices that match "nvidia"
Using devices:
2: Quadro K2100M
OpenCL compiled successfuly

[savage309]

Hi Blago

Yes the 1st, 3rd and 4th all worked. So when the nvidia was expressly set with the -oclquery=nvidia it worked.
Only the second one gave the black screen.
When you say you need the log. I copied what was in the command panel and attached as a text file. Does it record a log somewhere else.
I checked the vraylog.txt in temp, but I couldn't find anything relating to those tests in it.
I can clear it and run them again.

No, we are good and this is actually very helpful! Thanks!
Can you set the env var "VRAY_OCL_DENOISER_DEVICES=nvidia", restart Max and try again to see if it will help ?

[Raven]

Where do I set that? Is that a registry entry? Maxscript?

[savage309]

Where do I set that? Is that a registry entry? Maxscript?

Here is how to do it for Windows 7 http://www.nextofwindows.com/how-to-...s-in-windows-7. You DON'T want to edit the PATH variable, but add a new one, so in the env variables windows, you have to click NEW instead of EDIT (there are 2 NEW buttons there, it doesn't matter which one you will use).
In the other Windows versions it should be more or less the same. For variable name you have to put "VRAY_OCL_DENOISER_DEVICES" and for variable value you have to put "nvidia". After you do this, you have to start a fresh copy of 3DS Max.

Best,
Blago.

[Raven]

Sorry, wasn't thinking system environment variables.
Done it and it works now in max with hardware acceleration on.

So I guess windows was putting the intel HD graphics before the Nvidia card?

Thanks Blago

You guys have the best support in the industry!

[savage309]

Sorry, wasn't thinking system environment variables. Done it and it works now in max with hardware acceleration on. So I guess windows was putting the intel HD graphics before the Nvidia card? Thanks Blago You guys have the best support in the industry!

Thanks for the kinds words for the support, but this was supposed to work in first place .

We've tested with some Intel GPUs, but apparently with should have tested with more. I will try to reproduce this tomorrow. It seems there is something not entirely correct in the Intel OPenCL for GPUs or in the our implementation.
It is not Windows that picks it, it is V-Ray. We will fix it one out or the other, many thanks for your help ! If you know your Intel GPU driver version, this could help as well, but to be honest even I don't know where to check that .

Doing these tests for us gave a lot of valuable information ! Thanks !

[Raven]

They look pretty old, 2013. Windows says they are up to date if I try check for new drivers.

I will go to intels site and see if there is anything newer.

It may be just that that is the problem.

[savage309]

<img src="http://forums.chaosgroup.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=30702"/> They look pretty old, 2013. Windows says they are up to date if I try check for new drivers. I will go to intels site and see if there is anything newer. It may be just that that is the problem.

It is either the driver being old or the occasional problem that some OpenCL implementations have when the monitor is not attached to the device itself. We will test and adjust V-Ray to choose devices a bit more carefully. I have to confirm that this is the cause in all of the reported cases.
You can just enjoy the denoiser now, it should be much faster. I will let you know when the fix is uploaded.
Best,
Blago.

[glorybound]

[QUOTE=savage309;695559]It is in the VRayDenoiser render element settings, expand the "Advanced denoiser parameters".

Okay, mine is working just fine, with or without hardware eccelerator on/off.

[Alan Iglesias]

Okay, so it seems to happens in nvidia GPUs only....

Yes, I have seen this as well (GTX 580x2), but only a couple of times and after switching back and forth the denoiser returns. I was suspecting that it was just the denoiser working...

I'll be watching for it in the future...

-Alan

[bvoldm]

Can you try downloading again from the website and re-installing ? The first version uploaded had this issue, but it should be fixed already ..
Sorry for that,
Best,
Blago.

Ok. Went ahead and redownload/re-installed. Still instant crash. Totally fine though with Hardware Acceleration unchecked.

[savage309]

Ok. Went ahead and redownload/re-installed. Still instant crash. Totally fine though with Hardware Acceleration unchecked.

Urgh, I'm sorry, my bad. The builds were not uploaded and I was not aware of this fact. I will send you a message as soon as they are up.

For Windows/Linux:
As for the completely black denoise result that happens on some of the user machines - we managed to reproduce it in the office.
Fix will be added in the tomorrow stable nightly build. The official builds will be updated as soon as possible as well. I will update you here when this happens.

Until then if you have that problem, as a workaround you can uncheck the "hardware acceleration" checkbox in the VRayDenoiser render element settings and denoise using CPUs only.
Alternatively, you can set the environment variable "VRAY_OCL_DENOISER_DEVICES=nvidia;amd gpu" and restart Max/Maya. Will work just fine and will use the hardware acceleration.

Sorry for that.

Best,
Blago.

[jstrob]

It also happen to me when I send my render on my render farm. Locally it works, but on the famr all the denoiser frames are black.

I unchecked hardware acceleration but it does not fix it. I will try the env var fix. I guess I have to add it to every machines on my farm?

[savage309]

It also happen to me when I send my render on my render farm. Locally it works, but on the famr all the denoiser frames are black.

I unchecked hardware acceleration but it does not fix it. I will try the env var fix. I guess I have to add it to every machines on my farm?

It should be fixed with hardware acceleration off. If you test with progressive rendering, you have to wait a while until the result shows.

You can just download a nightly build and it will work fine. We will release patch 3.40.02 very soon (today or tomorrow afaik).
If you try the env var, it should be on every machine that is used for denoising. If the machine is used just for rendering, there is no need to set env var.