Rendernode with long "Computing secondary GI"

[CASA_MT]

Hey there,

I just started using Corona and so far I am very impressed.
Everything is much more streamlined than in Vray and even the rendering of large scenes starts in the fraction of the time that Vray used to start.
But here is also my problem.
I am currently rendering a A3-file with several render-elements via backburner on one of our rendernodes.
On the rendernode I excluded 3dsmax from FTH and I also increased the Virtual RAM to 40GB.
With these modifications I managed to avoid the "system is running low on RAM"-error and the scene seems to precompute much faster.
When the scene starts to compute the secondary GI it takes a reeeeeeally long time. Currently 32 minutes have elapsed and I do not even see any progress on the progress-bar.
On my local machine the secondary GI takes around 5 minutes and the scene will start to render.

Is there anything I can do to speed up the rendering on the rendernode? I searched the forum but could not find any matching solutions.

Specs of rendernode:

OS: Win 7 Ultimate
Processor: Intel Xeon x5680 @ 3,33 Ghz (24CPUs)
RAM: 12GB

Specs local workstation:

OS: Win 7 Prof
Processor: Intel Xeon E5-1650 v2 @ 3,50Ghz (12 CPUs)
RAM: 16 GB

[maru]

Here we go. :)

-so this does not happen when rendering locally without Backburner, is that correct?
-are you using BB only, or Corona's DR+BB, or some other configuration?
-can you show us the Backburner log? http://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/3ds-max/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/How-to-find-and-analyze-your-backburner-error-logs.html
-are you getting any error messages in Corona?
-you said that you excluded 3dsmax.exe from FTH - but where? On both PCs? Have you checked if there aren't any other 3dsmax-related processes in the FTH logs? Like WsComm?

-if everything else fails, you could create a minidump during the very long calculations. Here is how to do it (2. Reporting error messages or freezes):
https://coronarenderer.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/5000524006

[CASA_MT]

Wow, thanks for the quick response! Here are my answers:

Here we go. :)
-so this does not happen when rendering locally without Backburner, is that correct?

Right, my local machine starts rendering after  5 minutes of total pre-computing (including the secondary GI).

-are you using BB only, or Corona's DR+BB, or some other configuration?

Currently I am just using the 3ds max backburner on the slave. DR is not started

-can you show us the Backburner log?

Log is attached.

-are you getting any error messages in Corona?

The only errors I am getting is because of some missing texture-maps but nothing else (and also only when rendering on my local machine).

-you said that you excluded 3dsmax.exe from FTH - but where? On both PCs? Have you checked if there aren't any other 3dsmax-related processes in the FTH logs? Like WsComm?

In fact I only excluded 3ds max on the slave because on my local machine everything worked just fine, so there was need to exclude. WsComm is not mentioned in the FTH logs, to be sure I also excluded it, but the secondary GI is still really slow.

-if everything else fails, you could create a minidump during the very long calculations. Here is how to do it (2. Reporting error messages or freezes):
https://coronarenderer.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/5000524006

I do not get any error-windows and 3ds max also does not crash, it is just reeeeally slow ;)

[Nekrobul]

Try also disabaling low thread pyority/ It helps sometiomes when scene is consuming too much ram.

[maru]

"***WARNING*** Missing dll: colorcorrect.dlm - ColorCorrect" - maybe this is causing some troubles on the node?

Could you try globally disabling FTH on both machines?
https://coronarenderer.freshdesk.com/solution/articles/5000678431

Also, which version of 3ds Max, BB and Corona are you using? I only saw this:

I am currently rendering a A3-file

And I do not understand it. "A3-file"?

[CASA_MT]

Sorry, in fact I did not mention my software.

I am using 3ds max 2016, Corona 1.3 , BB is also Version 2016.
With "A3" I meant "DIN A 3" which is 4960 x 3507 px.

I removed the missing dll and tried to render again, but this did not have any effect.
I will disable the FTH on both machines, but will have to wait until tomorrow to test it.

I just tried another thing: I disabled the render-elements and voilà: The slave starts rendering the scene almost instantly.

So the main-problem seems to be connected to the render-elements, but I cannot avoid rendering some of them, as we use them in Post-production.
Of course I know that render-elements do bloat the needed amount of memory quite extensively but there has to be a way to render them in one go or am I mistaken?


Also:

Try also disabaling low thread pyority/ It helps sometiomes when scene is consuming too much ram.

Low thread priority was already disabled, so it also cannot be this :-/

[maru]

I just tried another thing: I disabled the render-elements and voilà: The slave starts rendering the scene almost instantly.

This would mean you are simply running out of RAM. What kinds of render elements do you have there?

What is your "internal resolution" setting in render setup > system > frame buffer?

[CASA_MT]

The internal resolution is set to 1.
I added:

CESSENTIAL_Direct
CESSENTIAL_Reflect
CESSENTIAL_Refract
CESSENTIAL_Translucency
CShading_Alpha
CMasking_ID
CTexmap

In Vray I usually use even more, e.g. Light Selects, as they have proven to come in handy during post-production (I will propably fake this effect by using the CESSENTIAL_Direct)
I thought I could compensate the lack of RAM by increasing the virtual RAM, is this not correct?

[maru]

What map are you using in the CTexmap? Is it AO?

[Nekrobul]

I do not kow how this might help. But

OS: Win 7 Ultimate
Processor: Intel Xeon x5680 @ 3,33 Ghz (24CPUs)
RAM: 12GB

Specs local workstation:

OS: Win 7 Prof
Processor: Intel Xeon E5-1650 v2 @ 3,50Ghz (12 CPUs)
RAM: 16 GB

But might it be caused not only by lack of ram but also because of different versions of windows. I remember i read sowhere juet a while ago that not only 3dsmaxes versions suposed to be identical but also windows versions. But i might be wrong about it.

[PROH]

Regarding Virtual RAM, then I believe it's only used if Bitmap Pager is enabled.

[CASA_MT]

What map are you using in the CTexmap? Is it AO?

yes, it's AO :)
Usually I add the AO during post-production, it just gives more control.

I do not kow how this might help. But

OS: Win 7 Ultimate
Processor: Intel Xeon x5680 @ 3,33 Ghz (24CPUs)
RAM: 12GB

Specs local workstation:

OS: Win 7 Prof
Processor: Intel Xeon E5-1650 v2 @ 3,50Ghz (12 CPUs)
RAM: 16 GB

But might it be caused not only by lack of ram but also because of different versions of windows. I remember i read sowhere juet a while ago that not only 3dsmaxes versions suposed to be identical but also windows versions. But i might be wrong about it.

This also came to my mind but infortenately I cannot test it with another Win 7 Version because as you can imagine I cannot detach a slave from a running network for re-configuration.

[maru]

Does the rendering (or the precomputing - the thing you have problem with) speed up if you remove the CTexmap only and leave all the other render elements you used? I can imagine AO being a complete overkill when rendering an image in such a high resolution. You could try lowering the "samples" in AO map.

[CASA_MT]

Ah, seems reasonable... I will try this tomorrow, as we will have to render a job during nighttime.
I will come back to the topic tomorrow.
Thank you for your qick support!

[CASA_MT]

ok, I am back after a little more testing.
I disabled FTH on the rendernode and on my workstation.
The workstation works as it should, the rendernode still has problems.

I noticed the following:
It seems like I can only add one renderelement maximum. It does not seem to matter which one it is, it can also be the CTexmap, the node will start to render after some minutes and the "Computing secondary GI"-phase is finished after ~30 seconds.
As soon as I add 2 elements, the same problem starts appearing - the secondary GI takes forever.

I also tried what would happen when I reduce the resolution to half of the original size and still add 6 renderelements.
The scene will start rendering after ~ 3 minutes of secondary GI.
The GI takes longer than when computed for the original resoultion with no elements, but at least it starts after a reasonable amount of time.

I find it strange, that the secondary GI seems to be dependant on the amount of render-elements. Is this normal, or is something strange going on with my scene?

[maru]

What are you using as secondary GI?
Can we move to our support portal? Can you submit a new support ticket? https://coronarenderer.freshdesk.com/support/tickets/new

[CASA_MT]

I am using UHD cache as secondary GI. I also did not touch any of the other parameters.
I will fill in the support portal-form, thank you!

[aref3dsmax]

What are you using as secondary GI?
Can we move to our support portal? Can you submit a new support ticket? https://coronarenderer.freshdesk.com/support/tickets/new

hi maru. we had same problem with Foxrenderfarm.
some render is too fast and some render stuck. They use their own engine. Not use BB or deadline