vray render via husk

[cgdom]

I have an animation that i can scrub while viewing it through the v-ray hydra delegate in solaris. When I save the scene as USD I can render a single frame via husk using C:\Program Files\Side Effects Software\Houdini 19.5.605\bin\husk.exe" -R V-Ray -f 1 -n 15 P:\myusdfile.usd. I can't seem to get it to render more than 1 frame, and also setting -f 1 or -f-20 does not seem to make a difference, it always produces frame 1 of the animation despite the USD file having more frames.

Anny ideas? Is there some sort of documentation of the workflow from start to end that is v-ray centric?

[bdancer]

> that is v-ray centric?

There is no need for such.

> When I save the scene as USD

Your USD file doesn't contain animation. You could export .usda file to double check this.
Basically, you need to make sure you've actually written animation into the .usd file.

[cgdom]

There is animation in the file. I have managed to to be able to render whichever frame I want by specifically calling it. The only issue is that it won't render a range of frames automatically. By v-ray centric I was mostly referring to the render setting node. Specifically which things get inherited from the USD defaults, vs what must be overwritten for v-ray to pick up the render. For example C:\Program Files\Side Effects Software\Houdini 19.5.605\bin\husk.exe" -R V-Ray -f 1 -n 15 P:\myusdfile.usd will render only frame 1, C:\Program Files\Side Effects Software\Houdini 19.5.605\bin\husk.exe" -f 1 -n 15 P:\myusdfile.usd (skipping v-ray as the delegate) does not seem to automatically pick up v-vray despite me having defined it in the renderproduct node. I know those are small questions but they make a difference in getting some frames rendered, is there at last an example file with a basic solaris setup that includes the bare bones v-ray settings in the relevant nodes to get frames?

[bdancer]

> By v-ray centric I was mostly referring to the render setting node.
> does not seem to automatically pick up v-vray despite me having defined it in the renderproduct node.

Hydra doesn't know anything about render delegate settings and husk uses Karma by default.
You have to manually specify the render delegate.
This is how husk works and has nothing to do with V-Ray.

Attaching an example.

Command line:

husk.exe -f 1 -n 15 --renderer HdVRayRendererPlugin --output render_<F4>.png vfh_solaris_husk_animation.usda​

Result:

[cgdom]

Thank you for the example, it's very similar to the one I have built but gives me a new set of problems. I get a "cannot find the file specified" error if I leave the submit code as is. husk.exe -f 1 -n 15 --renderer HdVRayRendererPlugin --output P:\mypath\render_$F4.png vfh_solaris_husk_animation.usda does work. I wonder what the difference is between our operating systems where the code works for you but not me until I modify it. Also, what is the correct workflow for exporting the various aov's ? I have a vraystandardrendervars above my render settings (also tried placing it below) with a few of the outputs checked but none of them get written to a file.

Edit: I have noticed that your render settings node contains a Toon, Post translate and a Resumable Rendering section in the Output tab. I do have the latest 19.5.605 version of v-ray installed and my render settings node does contain those fields. I did hovever manage to get rendering going on our render farm via husk and basides the AOV question above, all seems to be running well in the basic scene I'm testing.

[bdancer]

> I get a "cannot find the file specified" error
> I wonder what the difference is between our operating systems

I've no idea. V-Ray (or any other render delegate) doesn't write any files and don't know anything about output files - it's USD/Hydra task to write files.
You could read about husk variables formats here https://www.sidefx.com/docs/houdini/ref/utils/husk.html

> Also, what is the correct workflow for exporting the various aov's?

I'm not sure what correct is. Render vars -> Render products -> render settings. That's it.
Obviously PNG files can't have layers, so you have to write EXR out.

> I have noticed that your render settings node contains a Toon, Post translate and a Resumable Rendering section in the Output tab.

It's the way Solaris UI works. If we've added any new parameters to light, geometry or render settings - you have to recreate the node.

[cgdom]

> I'm not sure what correct is.

Something that produces the result one is after.

For example the above instructions don't produce any AOVs. I'm attaching an image that shows what to enable between those three nodes to make it actually work for anyone else who has ended up here trying to learn the same thing.

[bdancer]

> Something that produces the result one is after.
> For example the above instructions don't produce any AOVs.

Everything I wrote above produces AOV.
Uploading one more scene.

1. Using "USD Render ROP":

Check the setup and just press "Render to Disk".
I see AOV written to the output file in Nuke:


2. Using command line (those are my local paths of course):

husk -f 1 -n 5 ^
--renderer HdVRayRendererPlugin ^
--output "E:/scenes/houdini/solaris/features/vfh_solaris_husk_animation/render/from_command_line/render_<F4>.exr" ^
E:/scenes/houdini/solaris/features/vfh_solaris_husk_animation/vfh_solaris_husk_animation.usda​

I see AOV written to the output file in Nuke as well.

[Twist]

Hello. I'm getting this error when I render the test scene you provided. Single frame works fine, but I get this error when trying to render the whole sequence. Any idea why?

[bdancer]

> Any idea why?

What build are you using? This error looks like a crash. Is this some recent nightly?