Messages

16

[Max] I need help! / Re: Corrupt Max file layers not appearing

« on: 2019-02-05, 13:34:06 »

I saw someone with this issue on the beta forum.  They were able to fix it running the attached script.  They had to run the script, save the file, then re-open the file.  After saving the file again and re-opening, the layers were gone again, but running the script one more time and re-saving / re-opening fixed it.

If you haven't done so already, file a bug report so the Max team can get visibility to the issue.  http://download.autodesk.com/us/support/report_a_bug.html?SelProduct=3dsMax

17

[Max] Feature Requests / Re: Atmosphere based on Z-Depth as post effect in VFB

« on: 2019-01-10, 13:29:55 »

+1

18

[Max] Bug Reporting / Re: CoronaSun + Daylight system = messed up

« on: 2018-08-22, 17:37:37 »

Sounds like it's related to this:

https://forum.corona-renderer.com/index.php?topic=20780.msg128954#msg128954

19

[Max] I need help! / Re: Flickering with animated water

« on: 2018-06-27, 14:26:54 »

Well, the final animation rendered out mostly fine.  There was one frame where there was a little flicker, but over 40 seconds or so of perfect water.  I don't know if it was deploying v2 final or some minor change to the geometry.  I'm glad it went away, but I'd almost rather find out what the problem was so I can avoid it in the future.  Oh well.

20

[Max] I need help! / Re: Flickering with animated water

« on: 2018-06-26, 15:15:48 »

I had to extend the length of the animation and modified some parameters in the Houdini Ocean modifier, and now it isn't glitching at the same frame that it was earlier.  I'm running another animation now and will report back if it still glitches.  I also just deployed the Corona 2 final release to the farm, so we'll see if that changed anything, though I was running RC4 yesterday so I can't imagine that would make a difference.

21

[Max] I need help! / Flickering with animated water

« on: 2018-06-26, 12:56:39 »

I'm trying to render a water tank filling with water and am having some problems with flickering.  For the water object, I've used a box with an animated boolean to show the tank filling up.  On top of the boolean in the modifier stack, the box has a subdivide and then a Houdini Ocean modifier to give the top surface some waves.  The animation works great, except for flickering in many places.  It almost looks like the front face of the water gets all garbled up and the refraction gets all messed up.  However, I'm not sure it's a geometry issue because if I switch the viewport from camera to perspective and move the camera just a tiny little bit, the frame renders fine.  I would think that if it was bad geometry at that frame, the refraction would be garbled even if the camera angle was slightly different.

The water material is modified from the water that comes with the Corona Material Library.  I made it green and gave it some volumetric scattering to make it look more like rainwater instead of a pristine pool.

It was rendered with Max 2019 with Corona 2 RC4.

Any ideas?

22

[Max] Resolved Bugs / Changing sun in Daylight System to Corona Sun creates a targeted sun object

« on: 2018-06-21, 14:20:14 »

When I create a Daylight System, then change the sun in that Daylight System from a mr sun (default) to a Corona Sun, the Corona Sun is created as a targeted object with the target locked to the origin.  If the Daylight System is not created at the origin, the apparent rendered time of day does not reflect the actual time selected in the Time/Date/Location setup in the Daylight System.  This is because the Corona Sun is looking at its target, which is at a different angle than the center of the Daylight System.  I now have to make sure the Daylight System is created (or moved to) the origin.  I previously did not need to do this.  The new behavior appears to be that the Corona Sun now has a target, which I don't think it did before.  I did not install RC1, but have noticed this in RC2 and RC3.

On a side note, is there a way to have the Daylight System automatically use a Corona Sun?

23

General CG Discussion / Re: Can you share one material across multiple files?

« on: 2018-03-07, 19:41:30 »

XRef Materials might do what you need.  I don't have any experience with them, though.

Another option is to convert all of your materials in one file to Corona materials (sounds like you've done this already).  Then, save those out to a new material library.  In Slate Material Editor, look under the Material/Map Browser, choose New Material Library..., then select your materials, right click on your new material library name and choose Get Selected Materials/Maps.  Right click the library name again, go down to the material library file name and choose Save.  Now open a scene that you want to update the materials to Corona materials.  Your material library should still be in Slate Material Editor.  Right click the material library name and choose Update Scene Materials from Library.  That will update the scene's materials with ones from your library that have the same name.

I do this all the time with Civil View vehicles.

24

[Max] Bug Reporting / Re: Rendering stops by itself - got this problem?

« on: 2018-01-24, 15:02:35 »

I've had this issue in the past with animations submitted via Backburner.  No time or pass limit, just noise.  Most frames complete at the specified noise limit, but some quit early without error.  The only indication is that the time it took to render is quite a bit less than other frames.  I never did find a consistent way to reproduce the error, but it was causing enough problems that I now do some test frames to figure out how many passes are required for my desired noise level, then just set it to render at that pass limit.  I haven't had time to try to troubleshoot.

25

Hardware / Re: Memory per core?

« on: 2017-11-20, 14:04:25 »

Thanks Ondra.  That settles it, then.  New render nodes have been ordered.  Can't wait to run the benchmark! 

26

Hardware / Memory per core?

« on: 2017-11-13, 20:04:43 »

We're putting together our shopping list for our updated render nodes, and choked a little when we saw RAM prices these days.  Our lease cycle is three years and RAM prices were much more palatable back in 2014.

Anyways, we're looking at a dual Xeon Gold 6140 which is an 18 core chip.  That'd give us 36 cores / 72 threads.  Is 64GB of RAM going to be enough?  The scenes we're doing have been pushing 30GB or so during renders, so we've got plenty of overhead there.  But I've read here and there something about having 2GB per core.  What happens when you have less than 2GB per core?  Jumping up to 128GB of RAM is outside our budget.  I'd like to get as many cores as I can because I'll have this for 3 years, but don't want to shoot myself in the foot by not getting the right components.

Thanks!

27

Jobs / WRA is looking for a full time 3D visualization artist

« on: 2017-11-10, 21:24:55 »

Large Baltimore-based (Fells Point) architectural, engineering, and planning firm seeks a Graphic Artist/3D Visualization (5+ years’ experience) with an engineer’s attention to detail and an artist’s eye for composition, color, and storytelling to join the 3D visualization team in the Baltimore office.

Individual will be responsible for communicating design concepts through the visual development of 3D renderings and animations of architectural, engineering, and transportation projects for a wide variety of clients.

Primary responsibilities include:
•   Importing and optimizing design data from Revit, SketchUp, AutoCAD, Civil 3D, Microstation, InRoads, and VISSIM.
•   Modeling, texturing, lighting, animating, and rendering in 3ds Max.
•   Post-production using Photoshop, After Effects, Syntheyes, and Premiere.

Skills and Qualifications:
•   Knowledge of 3ds Max (Corona rendering engine preferred), Photoshop, and SketchUp, After Effects, and Premiere required.
•   Ability to read and understand CAD drawings.
•   Photography experience desired.
•   Excellent time and file management.
•   Outstanding troubleshooting skills.
•   Ability to work independently and in a team environment.
•   VR development experience (Unreal Engine / Stingray) a plus.
•   FAA Part 107 certification not required, but a plus.

Only responses with a portfolio (PDF or web-based) will be considered.
U.S. Citizenship and Bachelor's degree required.

Equal Opportunity Employer

To apply, please visit:  https://www.wrallp.com/careers/apply-now and look under Marketing.

28

[Max] I need help! / Re: Activating Corona Renderer on rendernodes

« on: 2017-11-08, 13:20:14 »

I am not quite sure the license  has been activated. how can I check it?

If the node renders when you send it a job, it's activated.  :)  The devs probably have a better answer, but I don't think Corona is technically activated until it tries to render and looks for a license.  The batch file you run just tells it where to look for the license when it asks for it.  So it won't be active until you render with it once.

furthermore when I have to create the .bat file exactley where do I have to save it? there is no location specified..

I just keep the .bat file on our network next to the installer file.  I don't have an automatic deployment set up yet, so to install Corona I remote in to the render node, run the installer, then run the batch file.

and one more thing, do i have to run the bat file everytime or just once and then I can remove the file?

You just run the batch file once.  The activation instructions remain even if you upgrade Corona to a new version.

29

[Max] General Discussion / Re: RENDER LEGION AND CORONA JOIN CHAOS GROUP FAMILY

« on: 2017-08-25, 20:00:48 »

We are so far away from April 1st, yet I still had to check my calendar.

30

[Max] Feature Requests / Re: Which 3D soft to integrate into next?

« on: 2017-06-02, 15:16:16 »

Revit integration would speed up my workflow quite a bit.  There are a lot of times where the architects want a "better than Revit" render, but don't have time for the full blown 3ds Max treatment.  Being able to leverage Corona in Revit would eliminate the import/cleanup/conversion steps.