DIfferences between version 3.52.03 and 3.60.01

[vanpixelguy]

Hello. We're seeing a difference in the rendered images generated by 3.52.03 and 3.60.01. I've included two example images in the attached ZIP file. Both images were rendered using the same Maya scene file. Note that for 3,60,01 the grey sphere us gone: maybe the camera parameters are being interpreted differently. The information necessary to reproduce the issue are found in the README file in the ZIP file.
Thank you.

[yolov]

There seems to be something wrong with the zip install. It's reproducible here and I'll let the devs know. Thanks for the report and sorry for the inconvenience.

[vanpixelguy]

Please clarify what you meant about the problem with the zip install? was the zip file corrupted?
All you really need is that one Maya scene file and try rendering it under the two different versions of V-Ray.
When you render, they gray sphere will only appear in the older version of V-Ray for some reason.
Thanks,

[yolov]

I meant that the vray.exe from the installation works fine, but the vray.exe from the zip install doesn't. At least that's the way I managed to replicate the issue on my end.

[vanpixelguy]

Cool. Please keep me posted when development discovers why the grey sphere is missing and when a fix might be available. Thanks.

[vanpixelguy]

Can we get a good copy of the vray.exe. We are trying to use 3.60.01 and can't run standalone.

[yolov]

We're looking into this now, I'll let you know if this can be worked around.

[Jimmi]

I just want to pitch in here in case it could be of any help.

We also experienced issues with the standalone vray ( from within the zip build ) of the official release.
It was "exploding" our geometry complaining about " Invalid geometric normal (-0 -0 -0)" in the logs on our vray-proxy nodes loading alembic caches, causing some very funky images to be created.

The maya plugin version(also from the zip) worked just fine without any issues and our images came out as expected. It was only when we sent the shot to the farm where it picks up the vray standalone binaries that wierd things started happening. Also when we used distributed rendering things started to get weird on the external buckets (since it was launching from the same build) but looking fine on the local ones.

The nightly builds both from before the official release and the ones from they days after worked just fine (so grabbing one of those might be a fix for you)
If Chaosgroup could tell us which build in the nightlies corresponds to the official one, then perhaps you can even get the binaries for the exact same version.

I did send a support ticket a day or two after the official release where I encountered the issues, but to my extreme embarrassment, I somehow missed the return email from Chaosgroup

Since we had already jumped to another nightlies version then the issue slipped my mind again over the days.
Seeing this ticket though, triggered my memory on the matter, and I did a quick search in my emails.
I figured the lack of feedback on my ticket was wierd, but I wanted to make sure before writing stuff here. And low and behold I found there was a reply back asking for more details(which had come quickly after my initial report).
I have now started communicating back to Chaosgroup on the matter (and will start to flesh out more info for Chaosgroup to base their investigations on) next week.

At the time I was buried with work and could not do extensive tests. But I can say that all our production scenes had problems, and they all make use of vrayproxy nodes and alembic caches.
I did not have time to try it on simple scenes with direct maya geometry, so I cant say what the behavior would have been there ( perhaps things like the ones you are experiencing ).
I just focused on getting a quick support ticket running in case Chaosgroup already knew about the issue(and I could then save time on further tests), and also because I figured it would be an urgent thing to point out in case they didnt.
Since I had a solution with the nightly builds it also lost priority within my personal stack of issues to handle

So, I feel bad about not having properly handled our initial find of issues better, but I also hope that my added info here will be of some help.

Thanks,
Jimmi

[yolov]

Hey Jimmi,
From what you're describing, it looks like the exact same problem. One of our developers is already looking into this and we hope to get a solution soon. Only the official 3.60 builds seem to be affected, like you mentioned. As soon as there's news on the matter, I'll make sure to update the thread here. Again - apologies for any inconvenience caused, this one slipped through somehow.

[vanpixelguy]

Hi Alex. Just wonder if development has made any progress with resolving the installer issue with the ZIP file yet? We can't really go with a nightly build in production, even if we replace just the corrupted parts, and 3.06.01 is the only release available for Maya 2018. Thanks.

[smbell]

What is the problem exactly with the zip builds? We've been using them on our farm for weeks with no problems. The initial release and the nightlies. Is there something particular we should look out for?

[yolov]

Hi Alex. Just wonder if development has made any progress with resolving the installer issue with the ZIP file yet? We can't really go with a nightly build in production, even if we replace just the corrupted parts, and 3.06.01 is the only release available for Maya 2018. Thanks.

I don't have any new yet. As soon as I do, I'll let you know.

[yolov]

What is the problem exactly with the zip builds? We've been using them on our farm for weeks with no problems. The initial release and the nightlies. Is there something particular we should look out for?

There's a problem with the vray.exe for standalone in the zip installs. This means that Maya will run and render properly, but you might run into problems when rendering to standalone using the vray.exe from the zip install. It's already assigned to the devs and we hope to have a fix soon.

[yolov]

Just a quick note - this should now be fixed. It will be included in a 3.60.02 release soon, but it's already in the stable nightly builds, if you have access to those you can use a build from there an it should work. I'd appreciate any feedback if you test the stable nightlies. Thanks.

[vanpixelguy]

Its not on the nightly area yet. Will check back tomorrow and download when available. Thank you so much for addressing this issue. Will update this post with our findings. Thanks!