"irradiance map load" option--vlado?

[super gnu]

ok, i know if you choose "from file" then hit render it will load your irradiance map, BUT it would be bloody useful if you could tell vray to load a specific map before rendering, say, "incremental add to current map"

the reason for this is simple. if i want to render a complex lighting solution say every 10 frames on a 1000 frame animation,

and my machine keeps damn crashing (get the impression this is a current problem?) after every 15 odd lighting frames,

if i net render it on one machine, every time it crashes, it starts the irradiance map again every time it restarts.

soo, after 20 hrs of rendering, i have the irradiance map calculated for the last 3 frames only (since it last crashed 3 frames before the end.)

of course i could just render it locally, so i wouldnt lose the irradiance map, but id still have to restart max manually, do a render to load the map, switch to incremental add, then continue rendering (every 10 frames or so..duh)

the alternative is to have a system whereby you can tick a "load and add" tickbox. this would mean vray would look for an existing map to add to before starting. if the map wasnt there it would create it, but if it was, it would load and continue from the last frame rendered (backburner would take care of that bit...)

this would mean a nice robust lighting system that was reasonably crash proof, and surely isnt too difficult to implement..?

vlado, is this possible? it would be damn useful right now, ive been trying to caclulate this irradiance map for days!

[jacksc02]

what version of vray are you using super gnu?
In 1.47 there is a save maps per frame option that saves the irmap after each frame of the lighting calculation is done. If the calculation crashes and restarts (if your using incremental add) it will load what has already been done and it will fly through the frames already completed and calculate the next frames.

[super gnu]

i have "save maps per frame" ticked, but does it actually tell vray to reload the partial irradiance solution before carrying on next time you open max and the file??
since i have multiframe incremental ticked in the file, i thought it starts from a blank map whenever it loads the max file, and if i tick "incremental add" it needs a map in memory in order to add to it.

i could manually reload the map and hit render, and if i started from frame 0, sure the calculations would whizz through until it got to the frame it was on before, but if im doing it manually i may as well just start from the next frame manually too. this is what im trying to avoid.

when net rendering, if max crashes, it restarts max and loads the max file, before starting on the frame where it crashed.
since the file has "multiframe incremental" ticked, it starts the irradiance calculation from scratch, but only from the frame where it crashed. this overwrites the vrmap that has been saved after the previous renders.

correct me if im wrong, it would be fantastic to find this isnt the case, but all the evidence here suggests it doesnt reload the map from where it last got to before proceeding.

if not im basically after another option:

1. multiframe incremental.

2. incremental add to current map.

3. load map and incremental add.

this would be super useful!

[Da_elf]

no offence. but rather than fighting with a problem with the loadin gof the irradiance map. whouldnt your time be better spent trying to figure out why the scene is always crashing?

[RErender]

3. load map and incremental add. would be a good addition IMO

Easy enough to script, but would be a good addition to the rollout.

[super gnu]

hehe! i know exactly why it is crashing. its a BLOODY HUGE MODEL!

there have been 8 people working for 3 months on this model and currently it stands at 70 million polys and over 3000 different textures.

its a shopping centre with approximately 50 fully modelled shops and landscaped grounds with 700 trees in it.

obviously we are optimising the scene by deleting absolutely everything that isnt visible, using proxy objects for most stuff and rendering in layers where applicable, but to be honest, its just too damn big. we gave up on glossies a week ago (damn)
most shots are ok, but the one im currently rendering is a fast pullback through the whole length of the interior, then through the roof and clouds, up to view the whole region.

(the exterior is being rendered seperately)

so, believe me, ive spent rather a long time trying to get it to render, and it still doesnt change the fact that the button would be useful...


can anyone tell me if the necessary controls to do this are accessible to maxscript? i guess it would have to be built into the max file somehow. we have a scripter here but hes on holiday