Missing Maps during DR/Network Rendering

[atelieryork]

Hi folks,

Running 1.2 in demo license mode on 1 workstation and 2 render nodes, all with activated Demo Licenses (opened Max on each and activated Corona to a demo license). Gamma settings are identical on all 3 machines, max versions, backburner versions all identical and working perfectly. Sent a successful bunch of jobs through BB using Corona and VRay and all perfect except maps will not work at all with Corona.

We've tried using UNC paths, as instructed, so paths are like \\machine\folder\map.jpg etc. and we've also tried mapping a network drive on all the machines so they all see the maps under L:\maps\map.jpg but neither approach has worked.

Same issue with both DR and with network frame rendering.

The results - renders with no map. So with a bright blue CoronaMaterial with a wood texture on it the DR nodes will return a bright blue result while the local render shows the map correctly. The local machine always renders correctly, even when the map is accessed across the network.

It's definitely not a Gamma issue (can tell this because of the above - the blue should not appear if it was a gamma issue).

We've tried literally everything we can think of from the Doc and from forum posts.

Any ideas?

Cheers,

PS. While we're on the topic, are there any plans to implement a "Transfer Assets" tool with DR like the new VRay has? This would solve all such issues I guess.

[maru]

This has to be fixable... As there are more and more reports like this, also more and more possible solutions pop up. Here is what we can advise you for now:
- https://forum.corona-renderer.com/index.php/topic,8543.0.html
-please send content of DrData (located in DR installation folder) to our support ( https://coronarenderer.freshdesk.com/support/tickets/new )
-aren't you rendering a frame with negative number? (example: frame -1, -5, etc)
-are you rendering any 3rd party plugins? (vray camera, vray hdri, multitexture, ...)
-can you run uninstaller (it is available as an option in the official installer) and completely remove Corona from all machines, and then install it again?
-completely uninstall (not just deactivate!) any antivirus and firewall you are using
-are there any XREF objects in your scene?
-you can also use some scripts like "asset collector" available on scriptspot to collect all of the assets in one place and update all materials, and check if this will help


Also, do you NEED Backburner for this? Does everything work fine if you use Corona's DR ONLY? Or Backburner ONLY?

[atelieryork]

Thank you I am running through this list over the next days and weeks. It's very frustrating how difficult it is to get this working. It should really work with UNC, local or network paths without issue. If the DRServer can read the scene ok then it should pull the maps over too. It's all very strange.

[Jpjapers]

Ive been having the exact same problem. Its very annoying to not be able to utilise the render farm because the speed boost is phenomenal when it renders. just missing the maps unfortunately.

[atelieryork]

Going to have another bash at this today. I refuse to be beaten by it! I'm losing a huge amount of productivity with my nodes sitting still doing nothing.

[rfletchr]

I've found that using the max "asset tracking" to make all texture paths absolute is the best way to fix missing textures when network rendering. This obviously hinges on the fact that you textures are stored on a network share.

[atelieryork]

So, a bit more testing has been done here and I can conclude the following:

- UNC paths work fine. Maps are transferred.
- Absolute Paths while using Mapped Network Drives do not work

So to clarify my setup, I have 1 master machine which has 3 drives/folders shared on my network, F, H and Z, and 2 rendernodes. Each of my nodes has these drives Mapped in Explorer to the same drive letter, so they each have F, H and Z, with full read and write permissions. The paths therefore are identical. Those machines can browse those drives perfectly and access all maps etc. This setup works perfectly with VRay (even when I don't use asset collection/transfer).

One more important conclusion - when using Absolute Paths and Mapped Network Drives, Backburner Network Rendering works perfectly - i.e. maps are transferred and read through the Mapped Network Drives just fine. So the issue is 100% purely with DR rendering using Mapped Network Drives.

So the issue appears to be with Corona in DR mode not pulling maps from Mapped Network Drives.

[maru]

Thanks for all that info, this is very helpful! The problem is - why does this work for some users, and does not work for others?

[atelieryork]

No problem. Who knows, maybe something to do with windows versions? I'm running Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit here. Backburner set up and running perfectly, so no issues there. Ports all opened up etc.

[maru]

Are you using some antivirus or firewall?

[atelieryork]

Just windows Firewall.

[maru]

Can you check what happens if you disable it everywhere? If you are not comfortable with that, you could cut off Internet for that time.

[atelieryork]

Will try this, sure.

[atelieryork]

Disabled Windows Firewall and still the same issue. No change.

[Jpjapers]

Ive also tried resolving paths to UNC but max doesnt seem to do anything to them. I am on Windows 7 and unfortunately i cant disable my firewall as its a hardware firewall on a network so they wouldnt be happy about that. I also tried with backburner and MR and the nodes render properly and with maps. they also share mapped drives with the manager PC. The more you know :)

[arqrenderz]

What works for me all the time is :Enter the asset tracking, select ALL items , go to paths and click on resolve to UNC
then with all items selected go again to paths and click on make relative to project folder
For me its working fine    Max design 2015 latest updates  win 7 on a office network
from 2 to 7 nodes working fine

[Jpjapers]

The problem is when i do the resolve to UNC the asset paths dont change at all. it hangs for a few minutes then nothing happens.
Making them relative to the project folder is a problem for me personally because all of the maps are used across many hundreds of project files in different locations and they are stored in a library drive. So they arent stored in an individual project folder.

Im wondering if its something to do with the way the drives are mapped. Maybe theres a problem with drives mapped by IP and not UNC? Ill check my nodes to make sure theyre UNC and not IP mapped.

[atelieryork]

The problem is when i do the resolve to UNC the asset paths dont change at all. it hangs for a few minutes then nothing happens.
Making them relative to the project folder is a problem for me personally because all of the maps are used across many hundreds of project files in different locations and they are stored in a library drive. So they arent stored in an individual project folder.

Im wondering if its something to do with the way the drives are mapped. Maybe theres a problem with drives mapped by IP and not UNC? Ill check my nodes to make sure theyre UNC and not IP mapped.

This is interesting. I didn't know you had a choice about how a drive gets mapped. I think this is the crux of the issue here.

[Jpjapers]

I Believe you can simply type an IP address to access the network drive if its the root folder however i just checked my nodes and they all have UNC paths. I wonder if the problem lies in the way the drives are mapped then. for example they arent physical drives, theyre all on the same physical drive but i have seperate drives set up for different folders within my server. Could it be a server problem? Im using an actual server with the nodes connected instead of directly being connected to a simple router.



You can see here the drives that are UNC mapped to \\designserver are the ones containing maps and indeed the project files and i have a drive IP mapped. That drive doesnt contain any of the maps associated with any project.

[atelieryork]

I Believe you can simply type an IP address to access the network drive if its the root folder however i just checked my nodes and they all have UNC paths. I wonder if the problem lies in the way the drives are mapped then. for example they arent physical drives, theyre all on the same physical drive but i have seperate drives set up for different folders within my server. Could it be a server problem? Im using an actual server with the nodes connected instead of directly being connected to a simple router.

It could be something like this. In my setup it's very simple. I have one workstation with 3 physical drives all shared on the network with Advanced Sharing Permissions, F, H and Z. The two rendernodes have those drives mapped to the same drive letters, so they are effectively identical paths. e.g. F:\projects\project1\maps\ is the same for all machines. VRay handles this perfectly. There is no transfer of assets required, other than shoving them across the network via my switch. The nodes recognise the assets as being "ok" i.e. Local. Not network paths. This simplifies my process enormously because I never need to worry about any missing assets at all, as long as they're not in C:\ anywhere. I don't need to worry if I use local absolute paths or UNC, it's all the same.

But when it comes to Corona it doesn't want to play ball... UNC = fine. Absolute = no maps. If VRay can handle it then I guess it's an issue with Corona, not with my network or windows or firewalls etc.

[Jpjapers]

yeah thats a good point actually i tried a standard mental ray backburner render and it picked them all up fine as did a standalone render on one of the blades. vray has worked in the past too. I Agree it has to be a DR server problem. My drives share the same letters across all nodes too.