NetRender Questions

[robcat2075]

@fraizer writes...
 

Quote

Well, after several misadventures with NetRender, I did get it to work.  It did not seem to like working from a selected Cho.  After saving a Project and selecting it in NR, things progressed well enough for a while.  One consistent problem was that NR did not like the path to the save location; I had to manually navigate to the folder I wanted to use and then save -- true with both Cho and Prj attempts, and using Presets or not using Presets. 

The real problem turned out to be that Multi-pass and Motion Blur settings were ignored.  So I ended up with very fast renders of black frames.

Also, I was unable to find a corresponding .CMD file to edit to add another node (4 cores on this machine).  Opened several NR-related files, no joy.

Thoughts?  Would you like me to post this info anywhere specific?

Best.

-I recall the chor problem (fixed in a later version I recall) but it's exceedingly rare that I ever save work as a chor. I always work with a PRJ that has everything embedded.

-I'd have to see the path circumstances to guess at the path problem.

-If you are on an annual subscription your license should allow you to also install/run v19.0 which still has a Mac version. Try that and see if the .pre setting are more comprehensive.

 

We have Live Answer Time at Noon CDT tomorrow if you would like to look at this in real time.

[fraizer]

Not on an annual subscription.  I have always purchased the full package.  The .PRE is attached.  The relevant portion is here:

<RenderOptions>
<RenderQuality>
Value=Final
</RenderQuality>
<Multipass>
Value=TRUE
<NumPasses>
NumPasses=10X10Pass
</NumPasses>
<Soften>
Soften=FALSE
</Soften>
</Multipass>
<MotionBlur>
Value=TRUE
<Shutter>
Shutter=70
</Shutter>
</MotionBlur>

The usual <something>...</something> structure.  The call-outs are there, but do not seem to be executing.

2001-AW-Five-Frame0.pre

[robcat2075]

When i load that .pre into v17 netrender (PC) it seems to successfully read the multipass settings.

It may be a Mac bug... which is too late to fix. For now, make a note of settings that need to be manually entered in your NetRender.

 

If the .cmd file can not be edited it is also possible to start an additional render node by running the "AM RenderMessenger" program, once for each new node.
I think the standard license defaults to allow 4 nodes but you can try more and see what happens.

[robcat2075]

This dot notation in the file name has some meaning but there's probably a way to define something more literal and less relative.

<FileName>
FileName=../../AM_Render-Farm/2001-sim-artwork-one/untitled-.tga
</FileName>

 

[fraizer]

Some good clues here.  I shall have to think about it.  And see what I can do in AppleScript.

To be clear about the .CMD question:  there is no .CMD file per se.  Not surprising as that is a Windows convention.  I could not find an equivalent file to edit -- don't know what the Mac extension might be.  I have actually done more coding in the Windows environment than Mac, but that was many years ago...

The good news for now is that I should be able to use NR as long as I am not doing anything like Multi-pass and Motion Blur.  More testing required.

[robcat2075]

1 hour ago, fraizer said:

The good news for now is that I should be able to use NR as long as I am not doing anything like Multi-pass and Motion Blur.  More testing required.

You can't re set them manually in NR?

 

Your v17 license should let you run v16 and v15. You might try Netrender in those.

[fraizer]

Set Multi-pass and Motion Blur manually in NR?  Not that I have seen.  The "Options" menu does not seem to be available.

 

[robcat2075]

1 hour ago, fraizer said:

Set Multi-pass and Motion Blur manually in NR?  Not that I have seen.  The "Options" menu does not seem to be available.

4:42 in the quick start video shows those options visible, available to be set if one were not using a preset... or if the preset had not functioned correctly.

[fraizer]

It's all about the bread crumbs.  Success at last.  I decided to not use a Preset since I had to manually enter the save path anyway.  The Mac prompt window looks like this:

Pressing Continue takes you to a prompt window that shows the various render icons (Final, etc.) and has an Advanced check box that when checked gives the usual Options tab:

Some values seem to carry over from the Cho settings (Multi-Pass ON and # of passes, e.g.) and some values are incorrect and must be entered manually (Motion Blur % seems to default to 20%).  So checking settings is wise.

I think I completely overlooked the Advanced check box...

Thanks (again) for your help.

 

[robcat2075]

I've never seen the Mac version before!

I wonder if the difference in button labels is baked into the OS.

[fraizer]

Could be.  Do you know what the A:M user base on the Mac platform is these days?  I assume it is shrinking -- and never was all that large.

[robcat2075]

20 minutes ago, fraizer said:

Could be.  Do you know what the A:M user base on the Mac platform is these days?  I assume it is shrinking -- and never was all that large.

I presume it is exceedingly small since it requires using a past MacOS.

[fraizer]

Based on a sample of one run, NR seems to be more stable than rendering in A:M proper.  This AM my MacMini (using 2 cores) finished rendering 260 frames at 4 minutes plus per frame without a program crash.  Normally I would expect at least one crash during that period -- i.e., normal when doing longer, more complex renders.

Thoughts?

 

[robcat2075]

58 minutes ago, fraizer said:

Based on a sample of one run, NR seems to be more stable than rendering in A:M proper.  This AM my MacMini (using 2 cores) finished rendering 260 frames at 4 minutes plus per frame without a program crash.  Normally I would expect at least one crash during that period -- i.e., normal when doing longer, more complex renders.

Thoughts?

 

I presume both cases are image sequences.

My guess is that NetRender doesn't have to do much GUI. It is the most basic windowing functionality with no graphics to display.

I recall Martin saying long ago, "the [buggy] graphics card  drivers were killing us." I suspect a lot of the sudden-exit bugs are interactions with the graphics card.

I'm just guessing.

What does a Mac mini even have in it for a CPU and graphics?

[fraizer]

The Mini I am running v17 on is late 2012 vintage, CPU = 2.3 GHz Intel Core i7 (4 cores), GPU = Intel HD Graphics 4000 768MB.  Apple offers Minis in several configs; more $$$ = more CPU speed and more cores, better GPU, more memory.  They are essentially sealed boxes not intended for end-user reconfigs, though I am sure there are folks out there who do that sort of thing.  Laptops same scheme. 

Apple does make PC tower equivalent machines that can be config'ed however the user wishes.  I have moved away from that model as there are too many decisions to make and too many sources of potential incompatibility.  I would rather make stuff.  Or read a book.

 

[robcat2075]

It is possible the .cmd file we are seeking is a hidden file in MacOS

Try this to see if any become visible.

https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-access-your-macs-hidden-files