Network based images used for texture maps render as black in VRAY-RT CPU

[electricAnt45]

Hi all,

Anyone know the possible cause for this? While rendering with V-Ray RT-CPU, if an image used for a texture map is located on a network share, then it renders as black in the rendered image. It is as if the image cannot be read so the default color black is used in the render. If the image is placed on the local hard drive, the image's colors are used in the render. If the renderer is software based VRAY, the network based image's colors are used in the final render.

Is there a log anywhere which v-ray would output errors or a way to increase the verbosity of output while rendering so it is easier to debug this issue? I currently see no errors in the script / console window while rendering in V-RAY RT CPU

OS: Windows 7 Pro
V-Ray For Maya Version: 2.40.02
Maya Version: 2014

Steps we have taken:
1) We disabled the firewall on the Windows machine. It was on originally so we turned it off and reboot the machine. This did not solve the issue.
2) The user can read and write data in to the directory where the image is located so it doesn't appear to be permissions related, though there are advanced ACLs in place.
3) I used a different image format and the issue is the same.

Thanks for any tips.

Adam
Pipeline TD / Software Engineer

[vlado]

When V-Ray RT runs, a separate console window with V-Ray standalone opens. Do you see any errors or warnings there?

Best regards,
Vlado

[electricAnt45]

When V-Ray RT runs, a separate console window with V-Ray standalone opens. Do you see any errors or warnings there?

Best regards,
Vlado

Zdrasti Vlado (my family and I visit BG every few years). The below output was in the Maya console window. I see no Windows console window (cmd.exe) appear when V-ray RT is run. Perhaps our machines are set to supress those from opening up within the OS or Maya? I'll have to ask our sys admins about that.

However, here is the output from the maya console window. Is this the information you were seeking? I do not see any errors which seem to explain why network based image maps are not being accessed properly.

V-Ray: Starting render


[2015/Aug/5|09:06:16] V-Ray debug: vrend command executed
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:16] V-Ray debug: vrend: -rerend
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:16] V-Ray debug: vrend: -camera
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:16] V-Ray debug: vrend: camera1
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:16] V-Ray debug: vrend: -layer
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:16] V-Ray debug: vrend: defaultRenderLayer
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: vrend command executed
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: vrend: -q
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: vrend command executed
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: vrend: -q
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: vrend command executed
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: vrend: -q
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: vrend command executed
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: vrend: -ipr
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: vrend: 0
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: Qt threads completed
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: Closing RTEngine (cancelled)
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: Max. Mpaths per second: 3.245074
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: Sampling level reached: 1176 samples per pixel
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: Waiting for DR to finish
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: Number of raycasts: 0
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: Camera rays: 0
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: Shadow rays: 0
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: GI rays: 0
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: Reflection rays: 0
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: Refraction rays: 0
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: Unshaded rays: 0
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: Clearing global light manager.
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: Clearing direct light manager.
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: Clearing ray server.
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: Clearing geometry.
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: Number of intersectable primitives: 0
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: SD triangles: 0
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: MB triangles: 0
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: Static primitives: 0
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: Moving primitives: 0
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: Infinite primitives: 0
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: Clearing camera image sampler.
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: Clearing camera sampler.
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: Clearing DMC sampler.
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: Clearing path sampler.
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: Clearing color mapper.
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: Closing DR
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: Cleaning up texture cache
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: Cleaning up bitmap manager
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: IPR render stopped.
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: Render interrupted
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: ========================
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: Clearing exporter memory...
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: Total time clearing exporter memory 0h 0m 0.0s (0.0 s)
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: vrend command executed
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: vrend: -q
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: vrend command executed
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: vrend: -q
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: vrend command executed
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: vrend: -q
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: vrend command executed
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: vrend: -width
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: vrend: 480
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: vrend: -height
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: vrend: 360
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: vrend: -camera
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: vrend: camera1
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: vrend: -layer
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: vrend: defaultRenderLayer
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: vrend: -ipr
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: vrend: 1


V-Ray: Starting render
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: Creating and initializing renderer.
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: Creating exporter.
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: Exporting scene to V-Ray.
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: Parsing light links time 0h 0m 0.0s (0.0 s)
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: Exporting render settings.
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: No V-Ray scene file name specified; using Maya scene name
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: No image file name specified; using scene name
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: Using image file prefix "_tmpvray_rt_debugging_v001"
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: Exporting scene lights.
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: NDAG: 28
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: Exporting scene geometry and materials.
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: Number of dependency nodes: 495
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: Translating scene geometry for V-Ray
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: Total time translating scene for V-Ray 0h 0m 0.0s (0.0 s)
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: Rendering with IPR (port 20207).
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: Setting up sequence data.
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: Setting render channels.
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: Updating frame at time 1.00
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: Total time updating frame 0h 0m 0.0s (0.0 s)
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: Render complete
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: ========================
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: Calling beginSequence().
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray warning: [SettingsPNG] No image writer specified.
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray warning: [SettingsJPEG] No image writer specified.
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray warning: [SettingsSGI] No image writer specified.
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray warning: [SettingsTIFF] No image writer specified.
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] debug: vrend command executed
V-Ray warning: [SettingsTGA] No image writer specified.
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: [2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray warning: vrend: -q
[SettingsEXR] No image writer specified.
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: vrend command executed
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: debug: Preparing renderer...
vrend: -p
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: vrend: 0
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: vrend command executed
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: vrend: -q
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: Preparing scene for rendering...
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: Preparing scene for rendering...
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] [2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-RayV-Ray debug: debug: vrend command executed
[RenderView] startCameraTime=1.000000, endCameraTime=2.000000
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: debug: [RenderView] numCameraTMs=2, numFrames=1, frameSamples=2
vrend: -q
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: Creating texture cache with size 0 MB
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: Creating bitmap manager
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: Creating render callback from built-in VFB.
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: [RenderView] startCameraTime=1.000000, endCameraTime=2.000000
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: debug: [RenderView] numCameraTMs=2, numFrames=1, frameSamples=2
vrend command executed
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: Starting DR 1
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] debug: vrend: -q
V-Ray: dr host: 127.0.0.1
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: Connected to render host 127.0.0.1:20207
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: Using 1 hosts for distributed rendering.
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: Preparing camera sampler.
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: Preparing scene for frame...
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: Preparing scene for frame...
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: Preparing ray server.
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray warning: Scene is empty.
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: Preparing direct light manager.
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: Initializing built-in VFB.
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: Preparing global light manager.
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray: Running RTEngine
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: Setting up 1 thread(s)
[2015/Aug/5|09:06:26] V-Ray debug: vrend command executed

[Svetlozar Draganov]

Everything seems normal in the log file.
Are you using UNC paths or mapped drives for the network images?
Furthermore is the issue only with V-Ray RT? What happens when rendering with V-Ray Adv?
What about V-Ray RT in GPU mode?
Is the issue scene dependent, does it occur on a fresh new scene with a few simple primitives?

Would it be possible also to test version 3.x? If you don't have a license for it try with the demo version.

Which cities/areas you have visited in Bulgaria

[electricAnt45]

Hello Svetlozar,

We are using mapped drives. I just tried UNC path and the image still doesn't seem to contribute its colors in the render.

The issue is only with V-Ray RT CPU. V-Ray GPU doesn't work on our systems due to incorrect cuda setup which I am waiting for systems admin to investigate because I lack Admin access. V-Ray Adv has no issue using the network based image map.

The issue happens on a fresh scene that I made myself too. I used simple primitives.

In a few weeks I can test out V-Ray 3.x after our project delivers.

I've visited Plovdiv (often), Sozopol, Varna, Devin, Rila Monastery area, Melnik area, Bansko, Veliko Tarnovo, Dyavolsko Garlo, Sophia (before I knew anything about V-ray i remember walking somewhere near the center of Sophia and I saw a sign that said "chaos group"..not near the current office location though)...Last year we drove from Plovdiv to the Greek island of Thasos and we stayed in a few towns along the route.

Everything seems normal in the log file.
Are you using UNC paths or mapped drives for the network images?
Furthermore is the issue only with V-Ray RT? What happens when rendering with V-Ray Adv?
What about V-Ray RT in GPU mode?
Is the issue scene dependent, does it occur on a fresh new scene with a few simple primitives?

Would it be possible also to test version 3.x? If you don't have a license for it try with the demo version.

Which cities/areas you have visited in Bulgaria