Chaos Corona Forum

Chaos Corona for 3ds Max => [Max] I need help! => Topic started by: kehlje on 2016-08-09, 16:57:06

Title: VFB+ and Corona Distributed Rendering
Post by: kehlje on 2016-08-09, 16:57:06
Hi all,

I started playing with VFB+ recently and its pretty awesome. What I really miss however is the 'DR' tab in the Corona frame buffer that lets me know if my distributed rendering is going ok, and if there are any problems with my nodes.

Is there some other way I could keep watch on their status while using VFB+? Thanks in advance!
Title: Re: VFB+ and Corona Distributed Rendering
Post by: serch on 2016-08-09, 21:11:53
+1
Title: Re: VFB+ and Corona Distributed Rendering
Post by: Juraj on 2016-08-10, 15:54:12
I know this is not answer, but here is what I do for few more reasons. I use Corona buffer, and open VFB+ after the rendering is finished.

- Gives the same result as if the VFB+ was opened during the whole time.
- Gives me DR and all the info stuff
- Let's me denoise.

There is drawback, it only works one time. Seems like issue on Corona side, because when you select "send to native buffer" in corona framebuffer, it opens some weird instance which doesn't have plugins.
Title: Re: VFB+ and Corona Distributed Rendering
Post by: kehlje on 2016-08-10, 21:10:41
Juraj, this is a simple solution and works perfectly - thank you. It was actually your tutorial blog post that introduced me to VFB+! Thank you and I appreciated your blog post a lot. The emphasis you placed on the Sun/Lighting makes a lot of sense to me and is definitely impacting my work.
Title: Re: VFB+ and Corona Distributed Rendering
Post by: naikku on 2016-08-15, 12:03:30
Slightly off topic but a question about VFB+
I bought it last week but it wont show Corona Render Elements - Am I doing something wrong or ?
(for example right this moment I have Cgeometry_Zdepth and Ctexmap AO -elements but VFB+ shows them as black)
Title: Re: VFB+ and Corona Distributed Rendering
Post by: Juraj on 2016-08-15, 12:11:13
Slightly off topic but a question about VFB+
I bought it last week but it wont show Corona Render Elements - Am I doing something wrong or ?
(for example right this moment I have Cgeometry_Zdepth and Ctexmap AO -elements but VFB+ shows them as black)

I am not exactly sure of this, but I think VFB+ copies elements after the render is done ?
Title: Re: VFB+ and Corona Distributed Rendering
Post by: naikku on 2016-08-15, 14:45:44
I know this is not the correct place to ask this but... If anyone has any idea?
I will ask the maker of VFB+
In this quick test render there is Zdepth and Ctexmap but both elements come empty. As I click "Display elements" from render setup, it will be unchecked as I press F9.
Title: Re: VFB+ and Corona Distributed Rendering
Post by: Artisticpixel on 2016-08-19, 14:47:19
I have the exact same issue. Using the daily builds and have updated VFB+ and now the render elements are blank when rendered. Pain in the a$$ as I really liked the White balance adjuster in VFB+ as it is the same as a real camera.
Title: Re: VFB+ and Corona Distributed Rendering
Post by: naikku on 2016-08-20, 00:09:25
I wrote to the guy who has made VFB+ but he has not answered.

I have understood that IF I want render elements right now to VFB+, I have to render them first with Corona VFB and they will come to VFB+ when I render with it.
BUT. Change the camera angle > render again with Corona VFB and then render again with VFB+

And please - IF someone knows more than me - please let me know! :) For now my Render Elements are totally blank.
Title: Re: VFB+ and Corona Distributed Rendering
Post by: Rotem on 2016-08-20, 10:37:49
naikku, I have not received any email from you.

The issue of elements during render with Corona has been covered in this post: https://forum.corona-renderer.com/index.php/topic,10280.msg76635.html

Generally, if you render with VFB+ the render elements should be there when rendering is done. However, it seems that if you cancel the render then this doesn't happen. Since VFB+ doesn't make a distinction between a render that was cancelled and one that was completed then I'm assuming that Corona does not copy the render elements to the native 3dsmax buffers if the render was cancelled. Someone from the team should be able to verify.
Title: Re: VFB+ and Corona Distributed Rendering
Post by: Ondra on 2016-08-20, 22:58:30
I'm assuming that Corona does not copy the render elements to the native 3dsmax buffers if the render was cancelled. Someone from the team should be able to verify.
Correct, corona makes that distinction. This is because in max 2017+ you have the stop option, and we did not want Corona to behave inconsistently across versions (cancel meaning stop in older vs. cancel in newer 3dsmax)
Title: Re: VFB+ and Corona Distributed Rendering
Post by: naikku on 2016-08-21, 17:13:55
Confirmed :)
Have to let the image render (I tested until 50 passes then it stopped).
The elements, Zdepth and AO, show now in VFB+.

Thanks Rotem and Ondra!
Title: Re: VFB+ and Corona Distributed Rendering
Post by: 3dwannab on 2016-08-21, 17:47:10
@ Ondra.

I'm in the process for writing a script to take the image from coronas dumpVfb but it's not the image with denoising & effects etc.

Checked and the .exr files inside "...\plugcfg\corona\history" and they too are not with any post processing in Coronas VFB. Seems like that's done on the fly to the .exr which is a good idea as you don't destroy the image.

Is there a possibility to do a dumbVfb of the latest VFB image (once you do any PP that is) to anywhere on disk?

See image of btn incorporated into VFB+. Will probably add a dropdownlist of all coronas stored history files once I get this fix done in replacement of that button.

Title: Re: VFB+ and Corona Distributed Rendering
Post by: Ondra on 2016-08-21, 20:12:04
the getVfbContent method allows to specify postprocessing on/off, is that not enough?
Title: Re: VFB+ and Corona Distributed Rendering
Post by: 3dwannab on 2016-08-21, 23:43:50
Glazed over that one!! Cheers.
Title: Re: VFB+ and Corona Distributed Rendering
Post by: 3dwannab on 2016-08-22, 00:17:10
the getVfbContent method allows to specify postprocessing on/off, is that not enough?
Okay so how do I use it:

Code: [Select]
CoronaRenderer.CoronaFp.getVfbContent 0 true true
CoronaRenderer.CoronaFp.dumpVfb (systemTools.getEnvVariable("TEMP") + "\VFB+ Dumped File.exr")

1. First line to set output up and will get me the beauty pass with tone mapping and renderstamps
2. Dump that method to the system temp folder as .exr.

Is that correct or does it paste to memory?
Title: Re: VFB+ and Corona Distributed Rendering
Post by: Ondra on 2016-08-22, 10:00:27
getVfbContent will return a specific channel as bitmap, it is not connected to the dumpVfb method - that one works separately