Missing map mayhem

[moominjuice]

Hi guys,

 

I've been testing this in every conceivable way but I can't figure it out.

 

Basically using V-ray DR (all max9sp2 32bit all with v-ray 1.5r3) none of my slaves will pick up maps in the render.

Before I get the usual config path and UNC answers... I've tried all that, and edited the bitmap path config on each slave too. Weird thing is that if I render v-ray using Back-burner Network rendering (rendering in strips) they show up!? The other weird thing is that if I assign any of the default installed Max map files (whether it be stripped of path or UNC) they show up too. But to throw a spanner in the works - even if I copy each of my new maps into the standard Max maps directory on each slave they don't get picked up????

 

Just for info I've tried with a GI solution on and the GI is sharing and working fine across all slaves so it's not like there is a network issue preventing the render actually taking place... especially as there are no errors.

 

Anyone had this. It's driving me up the wall. I've even tried setting the render off from one of the slaves but I think it just meant that slave saw the map... none of the others did.

 

Could this be a permissions issue? I'm a bit suspect that it may be XP64 Win2k networking issue, although as I've previously said the buckets are rendering but only withouth the bitmap in the materials.

 

Many thanks in advance.

 

Steve

[sideshow tpc]

Um, this might be a silly question, but do you have the "include maps" ticked when you submit the job?

[Tommy L]

I found DR totally reliable until about 3 weeks ago, when I got the same problem you have. Its like a disease, it started of as file specific on just a couple of nodes, then slowly became unmanageable. Im waiting until Ive cleared my current work load and then Im re-installing windows across the board (its overdue anyway) and starting afresh. I just cant get to the bottom of it.

If you find a solution, please share it!

Tom.

 

Craig: this is DR, not going thru BB.

[sideshow tpc]

So that would be a yes to the silly question thing then...

[moominjuice]

Craig - 'check for missing maps' is checked in V-ray system misc. options... so yes it was a silly question, although I accept when tearing your hair out it is easy to overlook these things.

Even sillier is the fact it doesn't seem to actually do anything!! Checked or unchecked!

 

I did find that copying the maps to all slaves did in fact work (Sorry my mistake) -although it's still a hugely unsatisfactory solution.

It turned out that I'd changed the network name on the master while testing (seeing if it was something to do with net-bios only accepting shorter network names) and I'd not updated the material UNC path in the max file. Changing is back meant slaves with a copy of the map saved locally in default map paths then saw them.

 

Since then I've moved a step further, setting a new shared network path on another machine and it seems a couple of slaves are now seeing this when I have the UNC saved in the bitmap path config, but still not all...arghhhh!! I tried mapping the path as a network drive but that didn't seem to work either.

 

I've come to the conclusion it is a network permission/time-out issue (even though all machines network through windows networking). I just don't see how Back-burner overcomes it using master slave, while spawner on its own doesn't. Guess I'll have to render strips for the time being.

[sideshow tpc]

I only meant the one in BB...I've never used DR?? was gonna ask, is it better than BB? as in what would be the reasons for using a diff network thing?? as you may have guessed, I'm not to experienced in the whole Vray and network rendering side of things!! has been a steep learning curve...

[moominjuice]

Things just got even weirder... I rendered using DR on only one quad-core machine using the networked map folder and in some cores it renders the bitmap and some it don't!!

 

Now that's got to be a bug.

 

Tried switching off multi-threading and it just rendered even less textured buckets.

 

Switched off DR and it renders it fine!

 

So... anyone encountered this and know whether this is a back-burner issue or v-ray issue? Do you think latest v-ray service pack will sort this?

[Craig Ramsay]

I had the same problem but it was my own fault - I had upgraded V-ray on the workstations but still had the previous build of V-ray on the render farm machines, daft I know but worth checking.

[braddewald]

I think I figured it out: I was having the exact same issue and then tried a multitude of things. Thus, I do not know which one made it work because I am scared to undo anything by testing for which was the correct solution. What I did was copy the files to an identical location on the slave machines. (C:\Users is what I used because that is where all the maps came from on my main computer.) Then I went into Max on the slave machines and went to customize>configure user paths and told it C:\users and to include subfolders. Then I also told it to look in my network drive and its subfolders (because the maps were there before I copied them to the C:\users.) I hit render and BOOM it worked! Hope this helps anyone looking for a solution...it seems fairly common.

[gfriedman]

im getting the nmissing maps issue on my render slave where the maps and all files are on a server...anyone have any suggestions

[Matt McDonald]

Kind of an old thread but I've just started kicking the tire on V-Ray and had the same problem. In my case, it turned out that the V-Ray spawner service needed to be run as a user with sufficient privileges to access the network share.

 

I think that by default V-Ray spawner just runs as "system" or something like that. My file server doens't know who the hell "system" is and tells the machine to take a hike. Once I went into the services portion of computer management and changed the user to an account with sufficient privileges (in my case "matt") everything worked fine.

 

This is not disimilar to setting up the ray_sat service in MR but because the whole process with MR is a little clunkier I never forget to do it.

 

Anyways, I hope this helps out. It sure is a lot nicer than having to add all those paths to your ini file (which still might not work to a network share) or duplicate all your map files.

[zhopudey]

I think that by default V-Ray spawner just runs as "system" or something like that. My file server doens't know who the hell "system" is and tells the machine to take a hike. .

 

 

How do I find this out if this is the problem in my case ? I'm having similar issues with DR in our office, and the purchasing dept guy is breathing down my neck for an explanation for buying extra render machines which I'm not using

[Matt McDonald]

Start task manager on the slave machine, take a look at the processed tab and make sure that "Show processes from all users" is checked. Now, find the V-Ray Spawner service and look to see what user name its running as. If it is not running as a user that has access to your file server you'll need to change it to one that does.