Using powernurbs plug-in in max + tile rendering issues

Deadline
1

Hello,



I am trying deadline to (maybe) save my life in rendering a billboard size image in max9 with mental ray 3.5. Backburner has got issues currently unsolved by autodesk, and using a single machine at this render size results in memory crash.

So, I have two question on deadline:


  1. All the npowernurbs geometry (import from cad software using powernurbs plug-in within max) dissapear when rendering with deadline.
  2. Cannot manage to split the renderering in tiles, accross several (2 in this case - just trying the demo version) rendernodes. (basically each region been concurrently rendered by a different machine).





    Tks for your support

    Olivier Cefai
2

Update:



Problem 1: non rendering of plug-in geometry: managed to have it rendered by manually updating the plugin.ini file of max 9 on the rendernode machine.



Problem 2: not able to render one image in tiles to save memory, although using exr or so.

Please reply



Problem 3: not able to have two rendernode work concurrently on a render (still one large image). Please reply



Problem 4: the exr file looses all of the log exposition set-up of the max/mr3.5 (render is complex, using FG + hdri) when opened in CS2. What should be the best way to revert the exr back to a tiff file with the correct exposure? (my monitor is all calibrated with pantone device)





Tks for your support (I guess with the timezone difference between europe and us you must still be sleeping :wink:

3

>Problem 2: not able to render
>one image in tiles to save
>memory, although using exr or
>so.
>Please reply

Rendering to tiles is not designed to save memory. The SAME scene will be loaded and rendered, just a smaller region of the final image will be processed and saved to disk.

The main reason to implement this was to be able to have hundreds of machines working on the same frame to save TIME and find problems with a frame in an animation sequence faster (we have hundreds of slaves, so it helps).

What exactly went wrong? Can you describe step by step what you did, what the outcome was and what you expected to see?

Thank you.



>
>Problem 3: not able to have
>two rendernode work
>concurrently on a render
>(still one large image).
>Please reply

If you are submitting using the SumbitMaxToDeadline 2.6 script (what else would you be using... ;o), in the Tiles tab there is an option to "Split Machine Limit between Tile Jobs". If you check this option and there is NO limit enabled in the Job tab, the info line in the Tiles tab will read "Total Number Of Jobs: N. Limit: One Machine Per Tile Job." (N is the number calculated using the X and Y tile counts).

This means that if you have 4x3 tiles and two machines, there will be 12 jobs and the two machines should pick a single tile each.
This is to ensure that no more than one machine will render a tile if you have, say, 100 frames of animation split into 12 tiles each.

Since it looks like you are submitting a single frame, this option should not be needed though as each tile job would have just one task.

If you are using SMTD 2.6 in Deadline 2.6, you should be submitting from your workstation (as opposed to submitting a master job to spawn tiles on Deadline - this option would require a second Max workstation license).

Once again, post a step-by-step description of what you are doing, which version you are using, what is happening and what you expected to happen so we can help you.



Today is Saturday and Frantic Films' office is of course closed. I am replying from my home computer and I don't have access to the network or Deadline 2.6 to test. Just trying to help...
4

ok, first thanks for the support on saturday :-). I guess that is why I did not get the trail licence yet?



Anyway here is a problem description with the step by step.

I am using max9, rendering with mental ray (3.5) using final gather, log exposure control with hdri environment and I need to produce 10 different renders of 10000x10000 pixels each. Basically, this is for a national advertisement campaign and everything when fine up to the final delivery week, where I suddendly discovered that the latest backburner version from autodesk is bugged to the point that noone can use it in production with split lines (renders in horizontal regions automatically stitched together at the end) as we used to do in max8. The problem is share by several other studios who posted the same issue on forum in the last weeks with no solution.



So, I was adviced (by Grant, rpmanager) that deadline could do the trick, since it is a production-solid replacement for backburner.



I have installed two slaves on rendernodes with 1 Gb of ram each, and the repository on my main workstation with the max9 licence on it. 32 bits, 4 gigs or ram, using /3Gb



Submitting the job, I only check enable distributed rendering with 4x4 tiles for example, and set a .exr render output it looks like the only supported format at this time. With that, only one machine renders the whole image, not splitting it, thus crashing with a very well known ‘unknown exception’ error related to memory reaching maximum limit.



I need two things: automatic split of the render in regions in order to produce only small images (say 10x10 tiles) and not produce memory crash, and B) render out TGA or TIFF in order to respect the log exposure control set-up (.exr is a completely different output when opened in photoshop afterwards).



What do you think? Is there something that I should do differently? I am ready to purchase 5 licences of the software if we find a solution to this problem !!



Olivier Cefai

Switzerland

5

Gruetzi! :o)





Submitting the job, I only
check enable distributed
rendering with 4x4 tiles for
example,

Do you see a drop-down list with two Tile Modes (Local Workstation, Master File On Deadline)? What version is listed in the title bar of the Submitter?


>and set a .exr render
>output it looks like the only
>supported format at this time.


This is not exactly the case.
You can render tiles to ANY single frame format supported by Max, incl. TGA and TIFF.
The supplied stitcher application currently only supports stitching of EXRs - this happens automatically as part of the Deadline job when all tiles are there.

So you can render all your tiles to TGA or TIFF, but would have to put them together manually in Photoshop or using any other application if that is not a big trouble for you (it is a single frame after all so it is better than nothing).

We hope to support more formats in the future, but since Frantic is using EXR exclusively for VFX production output (and we don't use Photoshop for post, mainly Digital Fusion which loves EXRs), we started with the usual suspect. ;o)


>With that, only one machine
>renders the whole image, not
>splitting it, thus crashing
>with a very well known
>'unknown exception' error
>related to memory reaching
>maximum limit.

Do you see the text [TILE 1 of 16] in the Job Name when you submit? You should see 16 jobs with the name you gave them and each with a [TILE X of Y] added automatically. If you don't see this and you get a single job, for some reason the Tile submission fails to do what it is supposed to do.

We have -36 degrees C today and I would prefer to stay at home, but if the only solution is to send you the latest build of the Deadline Submitter for Max, I might have to go out ;o)

I will check to see if anyone is in the office and try to get you an update just in case.



>
>I need two things: automatic
>split of the render in regions
>in order to produce only small
>images (say 10x10 tiles) and
>not produce memory crash, and
>B) render out TGA or TIFF in
>order to respect the log
>exposure control set-up (.exr
>is a completely different
>output when opened in
>photoshop afterwards).

It really depends on what is causing the memory problem. You cannot expect 1GB machines to render a file that needs 3GB. Even if you split it, Max has to load the whole scene and if there is not enough memory to do so, it would still crash, tiles or not.


Borislav "Bobo" Petrov
Technical Director 3D VFX
Frantic Films Winnipeg
6

Thanks, so, let’s find out… I am using deadline v2.6, freshly downloaded from your homepage.




Do you see a drop-down list with two Tile >Modes (Local Workstation, Master File On >Deadline)? What version is listed in the title >bar of the Submitter?





yes, and I use ‘submit all jobs from this workstation’.





This is not exactly the case.

You can render tiles to ANY single frame >format supported by Max, incl. TGA and TIFF.

The supplied stitcher application currently >only supports stitching of EXRs - this >happens automatically as part of the >Deadline job when all tiles are there.





That is GREAT ! no problem to build the final image manually in photoshop





Do you see the text [TILE 1 of 16] in the >Job Name when you submit? You should see 16 >jobs with the name you gave them and each >with a [TILE X of Y] added automatically. If >you don’t see this and you get a single job, >for some reason the Tile submission fails to >do what it is supposed to do.



Definitely not. only one task is submitted, whether I check or uncheck the "enable distributed tile rendering’ tick.





I will check to see if anyone is in the >office and try to get you an update just in >case.



Many thanks, btw, we’ve got -12 celcius degrees here at 7 pm… :frowning:





It really depends on what is causing the >memory problem. You cannot expect 1GB >machines to render a file that needs 3GB.





Got it, so far I always ended up working with very small lines splitted by backburner…

So, I have shuffled around some rams among my machines: I now have two rendernodes with 2 Gb each, plus the main workstation with 4 Gb.

Interestingly, I cannot launch the slave on the main workstation, (even if one of the two nodes is shut down) because it checks for a licence and fail to find the flexsomething server. That will problably go when I receive the trial licence.





Thanks again Boris: if you can have anything sent to me, direct email it to olivier@cefaidesign.ch

7

>Thanks again Boris: if you can
>have anything sent to me,
>direct email it to
>olivier@cefaidesign.ch


Check your email :o)

Cheers,

Borislav "Bobo" Petrov
Technical Director 3D VFX
Frantic Films Winnipeg
8

For anyone following this - it turned out that a fresh installation of SMTD 2.6 (for example when running from a newly installed Max build) does not have the INI setting for the Local/Network Tiles submission initialized correctly until you change the Tiles submission mode drop-down list at least once.



After this point, the value is saved to the INI as sticky setting and will be used as designed, enabling Tiles submission from the local workstation.





In short steps:



*Open SMTD

*Go to Tiles tab

*Change drop-down list to “Submit a Master Job to Deadline”.

*Change drop-down list back to “Submit from this Workstation”

*Check “Distributed Tiles Rendering”


I have fixed the bug and it will be part of a whole bunch of improvements to be published some time next week as part of a Deadline update.



Sorry for the inconvenience…



Cheers,



Borislav “Bobo” Petrov

Technical Director 3D VFX

Frantic Films Winnipeg

9

Update:



Problem 1: non rendering of plug-in geometry: managed to have it rendered by manually updating the plugin.ini file of max 9 on the rendernode machine.



Problem 2: not able to render one image in tiles to save memory, although using exr or so.

Please reply



Problem 3: not able to have two rendernode work concurrently on a render (still one large image). Please reply



Problem 4: the exr file looses all of the log exposition set-up of the max/mr3.5 (render is complex, using FG + hdri) when opened in CS2. What should be the best way to revert the exr back to a tiff file with the correct exposure? (my monitor is all calibrated with pantone device)





Tks for your support (I guess with the timezone difference between europe and us you must still be sleeping :wink: