Render service issues

[Chris62]

First time using a render service....

 

I have a warning saying the IMap preset will produce a giant IMap and increase render times - 4 years using VRay and I couldnt find where to disablle. I went over all settings on Spot.

 

Second is - it would keep giving me errors, when I hit refresh it would zap a big part of the render points.

 

The USD to Euro is kicking my rear end.

 

Ive already spent $80 USD for a single frame render at 16x24 at 200 dpi. Its around 85% complete...it has paused and Im now at -31 points! It took around 50 points to get to 85%.

 

It said upon upload to increase LC to 3117!!

 

So whats with the Imap setting? And does this point amount sound right?

 

Ive emailed them a few times...starting about 12 hours ago and no reply yet. Not thrilled w/ the customer service.

 

Here's the log w/ the errors -- thanks

 

01:59:35] - Error while downloading files

[03:10:48] - Could not get progress infos correctly

[06:24:00] - Importing projects...

[06:24:17] - Project riser_final07.max_Lightcache imported

[06:24:17] - Project riser_final07.max_Irradiance_Map imported

[06:24:17] - Project riser_final07.max_Validating_GI imported

[06:24:17] - Project riser_final07.max_Final_Rendering imported

[06:24:18] - Project riser_final07.max_Validating_Output imported

[06:24:18] - Remote Project riser_final07.max imported

[06:24:18] - Local Project riser_final07.max imported

[06:24:19] - Done importing 1 project(s)

Edited March 7, 2012 by Chris62

[Tommy L]

If you're priority is customer service then go with a different company....

IMap will be Irradience Map in the GI settings. Tough to analyse without more details, is this animation or still?

If you've been using VRay for 4 years then you should know how to optimize your render settings. You should be able to trim that 16/20" render down, its only 3200/4000 pixels.

The LC increase request is odd.

[Chris62]

Yes I see that now..not thrilled w/ their level of service.

 

As for the settings, yes they are all optimised. I had IMap save un-checked so maybe it was just a standard warning message. And after talking with a member here and reading some of the hi rez render threads I settled on 200 dpi for the required size of 18x24.

 

Yep - they have absconded with my money and wont reply to emails.

Edited March 7, 2012 by Chris62

[Tommy L]

So you are just rendering stills? IMO its worth buying a couple of cheap nodes to do high res stills. They pay for themselves in about a week...

[Chris62]

I hear you mon - I will when i can but doesnt help me now.

 

Perhaps you can recommend what to buy? Thanks.

[Chris62]

So on the IMap setting...this is what I have:

 

Preset high - no changes, show calc

 

Least Sq/ Density based

 

Checked multipass, Randomize, Sample Viz

 

Mode single frame but Dont Delete and Auto Save are both unchecked.

 

But still got the warning about my iMap settings.

[Tommy L]

If you are pre-calculating IMap for a still, then doing a preset-high full res IMa is insane. It will indeed be very large. Change it to 'very low' (I know, sounds bogus but its fine) or 'low' and then precalc (on your machine) at 50% resolution. Change the mode to 'from file' and use the re-calced map. Upload again and your lighting will not be on the farm's dime.

The only thing in Vray thats going to crank your times with any justification is high quality AA sampling, DOF and caustics. Anything else is bad optimization.

Post a test render of your image. Its much easier to troubleshoot. If you are uploading to a commercial farm without a test render completed then you're going to have problems.

[Chris62]

will do Tom and thanks - Im good w/ Max and Vray, always just use basic and have great results but going into new areas w/ render service.

 

btw...AA is:

 

AdaptDMC, Catmull - 0.85, 15, 0.001 and 1 on the global sub

 

Lights at 16

 

No DOf...I using a Z pass, no caustics

 

What about the Dynamic mem? I have it set at 2000 (as per what I read here for optimising) - should I lower that?

Edited March 7, 2012 by Chris62

[Tommy L]

Dynamic mem doesnt matter too much. I usually set it jut under the machines capacity (my weakest node has 8g so Ill set it at 7k) but I dont really know what its doing under the hood.

 

Your AA is determined more by the min/max sample settings. The .001 is going to force the sampler to use the higher end of its range. Impossible to give you guidance without an image...