squeezing it out 32bit style

[amer abidi]

I currently have a large scene (100+mil faces) rendering on 2 64 bit workstations crunching up about 14gig RAM of each machine to render,, about 7 minutes a frame, while my 32 bit render farm is just sitting there uselessly.

 

Is there ANYWAY i can squeeze down the file to render it on 32 bit 4GB ram machines? I mean i dont care how long it takes..as long as it renders!

 

The idea of them seeming redundant is really heart breaking.

 

I use max 2009 MR, and most of the structures in the file are xrefed.

 

any ideas? placeholders? bitmap management?

[Matt McDonald]

It might not work but have you tried sending it? Just because it is using 14Gb on your 64bit machines doesn't mean it won't render using less RAM, particularly if you adjust your max memory setting in MR. Also be sure you select "use placeholder objects", BSP2 and you have scanline turned off. All of those things help MR to better manage memory.

[rmccoy]

I think you may need to send your scene from the 32bit version of max. if you send it from 64bit max then backburner will default to wanting to use a 64bit machine.

[luckymutt]

I think you may need to send your scene from the 32bit version of max. if you send it from 64bit max then backburner will default to wanting to use a 64bit machine.

You can send to either just fine.

From the Network Job Assignment window-> advanced button-> you can choose to send it to either 64 or 32 bit machines.

However you can't send to both at the same time.

So for an animation in a 32/64 mixed farm you would need to send out x number of frames to one group and then seperately send x number of frames to the other.

 

That being said, there may be issues with procedural textures rendering differently. Something to do with the random number generators being implemented differently in 32 bit and 64 bit.

I have not seen this problem firsthand, however I have heard stories from several other people.

[rmccoy]

You can send to either just fine.

From the Network Job Assignment window-> advanced button-> you can choose to send it to either 64 or 32 bit machines.

However you can't send to both at the same time.

 

That is good to know!

[Tommy L]

I think you will have to adjust some settings to get +100 million faces to render on a 32bit machine. So I think the question is: do you want to compromise the quality to get the speed? You are really trying to reverse engineer the situation. The only solution would be to open the file up and start stripping detail and lower sampling etc.

[amer abidi]

It loads in bounding box, but crashes immediately if you do anything running out of memory.

Even on the 32 bit version of max i have installed on the 16GB 64bit workstation!

 

backburner returns an unexpected error when sent.

Crap.

 

I really dont know what to do with all these machines.. I paid an arm and a leg for them in the day, and now they're just sitting there..blinking LEDs as if begging for a job. Ive grown so attached to them over the years.. really breaks my heart.

[BrianKitts]

I would test a few things, like remove all your materials and send it just as a white model. See if the 32bit machines can even handle the amount of geometry that you are sending them. If not then you need to look into MR's proxies to get your geometry down to a 32bit workable range.

 

If the geometry works and it's more of your maps that are clogging the memory, then look into using the bitmap pager.

 

copied from autodesk site..... The Bitmap Pager can help with the rendering of scenes that have very large textures, a large number of textures, or when rendering a high-resolution image. These settings provide additional memory for the rendering process by utilizing hard disk space.

 

So if you can get the geometry to render with textures, then the last piece would be using the render strip function in backburner to keep your final image at a manageable size and still be able to render out your images at a high resolution.

 

 

Does your company have a site license for 64bit? If it were me I would just start upgrading the OS on the render nodes if you really wanted to keep them so bad.

[kippu]

wont that be easier. ... upgrading the 32bit renderfarm?

[amer abidi]

Does your company have a site license for 64bit? If it were me I would just start upgrading the OS on the render nodes if you really wanted to keep them so bad.

 

Its not of an OS issue as much as it is a hardware issue.

To the best of my knowledge, max 64 bit requires 64bit hardware, and wont be installed on the older systems... In my case, dual xeon 2.8 processors running on intel SE7501WV2 server boards.

 

am i misinformed? cause if its only a matter of OS, then i would upgrade gladly

 

and btw, thanks for your other advice, inteesting approach that i will try!

[amer abidi]

Just checked on the intel website, my old processors and motherboard do not have 64 bit technology.

 

Im not a tech junkie, but here's a comparison of my new workstations vs old render slaves' processors. if anyone can shed some light? where's AJLynn when you need him?

 

http://compare.intel.com/PCC/showchart.aspx?mmID=33927,853883&familyID=5

[Tommy L]

If the hardware is not 64 bit compatible then its days are numbered Im afraid....

Anyone who has gone 64 has certainly not gone back to 32.

 

I think there's a lesson in there though. I view hardware as disposable. Not the greenest thing to say, but its the nature of the beast. Kind of why I dont buy the kit from co.s like BOXX. Nice though it is, its an expensive doorstop/space heater after a while. Id rather get the shabby ebay custom whitebox and take my chances with the service.

Even the 'I can upgrade later' route seems redundant. The manufacturers pump out new tech thats incompatible with old mother boards to keep you buying (it seems to me).

 

Do yourself a favor, buy some cheap-ass 64 bit render nodes. I mean come on, they're never going to develop 128bit.....are they?

[amer abidi]

The manufacturers pump out new tech thats incompatible with old mother boards to keep you buying (it seems to me).

 

My sentiments exactly, its almost maliciously deliberate! like they'd almost stop launching if it was upgradeable! noooooo...lets design something COMPLETELY new! I mean for f's sake, i cant even use cases!!

 

I mean come on, they're never going to develop 128bit.....are they?

 

the scary thing is how soon! At the crazy exponential rate technology has been advancing lately, Its just so intimidatingly scary to lift a finger, yet along invest your hard earned savings!

 

I just ordered another dual quad xeon workstation... 8 cores at 2.5Ghz with 12mb cache, and guess what, its CHEAPER than the 8 core 1.6 8mb cache machine i got only 2 months ago! 2 MONTHS AGO!!