RIB and (rudimentary) network rendering
luca_0e1f976d66
Posts: 0
I am quite new to the subject and I started playing with RIB following some indications given in a previous post.
Questions
- I am saving the RIB on one shared directory and rendering with a second computer where only the 3Delight engine is istalled. This is the best form of "network computing" I was able to utilize so far with DAZ (as Reality seems to me so much slower even if it actually distributes the load on the network). Anyone have suggestions on how to use this basic "RIB" method in a more efficient way?
- Even on the same computer I can see that saving as RIB and rendering with 3Delight alone is much less demanding (in terms of PC loads) than rendering inside DAZ. Not only I can keep using DAZ editor while rendering externally but I don't have major pc overflows (and slow downs while working) even rendering complex scenes with several figures and lights/shadows. I am surprised and I was wondering why if I render inside DAZ I have to stop using it (no multi thread possible?) and I cannot use any other program (like Word Excel etc) and if I use the 3Delight external engine for the same render I can keep using DAZ and work with other programs if I need without major slowdowns. Did I configure something wrong inside DAZ or is that a common thing?
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Comments
I think that the free standalone 3Delight render engine is restricted to using two cores (from memory), but the one that DS uses is not restricted at all, and can use all available cores. That is why when DS is running a render, all of your cores are being used.
I will assume that you are using Windows of some flavour. Call up the Task Manager, and right click on the DAZ Studio running process, and click on the Set Affinity option. There you will see all ot the CPUs that you have listed. Decide which ones you will allow DAZ Studio to use, and that should allow you to use other applications while DS is rendering, but it will lead to a longer render time obviously.
The standalone 3Delight render engine can use as many processors as you have, but not the free version. The paid for one costs several thousand dollars, so that's why I stick with the free one that comes with DAZ Stduio :)
the standalone 3Delight is beneficial if you are constantly crashing out of Studio with out of memory errors., or if you want to keep designing in Studio while you expedite the rendering to another system (or the same one). It's also slightly faster if your CPU has only two cores.
However there are several other rendering engines that can be utilized by Daz Studio.
Thanks Strat, I knew that you would know the right answers. Was the thread on using the stand alone 3Delight in the old forum? A new link to that on these forums would be very handy I think.
Or run Linux...the native Linux version, on a dual core system is very fast...especially if running a bare bones distro/console log in...that will maximize available resources (memory/CPU). I've rendered scenes in 15 to 20 minutes, in the Linux native (GUI login) that take an hour or so in either Windows or DS. (Windows version of 3DL is on a different machine, DS is on the same machine, but is running in WINE...both machines are dual core).
@Jimmy, glad I could help!
@MJC Interesting note on the linux, I noticed the Mac version always seemed a little more robust than the Windows version when I ran it on my Dual Core iMac on OS X vs native XP.
the link to the .RIB walkthrough is here.
http://forumarchive.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?p=1758895
Thanks for the link SD, saving it for future use.
Basically, I think it boils down to processor scheduling and OS overhead...and almost any OS in the world beats Windows on both counts.
I think I'll ask one of our Admins to put that in a sticky on this forum... repost it...
Thanks for the comments. Interesting point for the cores.
I have actually noticed that the external 3Delight Engine is a bit slower.
But the possibility to render in background, without hanging the PC and on multiple computer is priceless for me (but that is just an opinion).
When mentioning several other engines usable with DAZ can you please specify?
Can I use them with RIB or are integrated with DAZ?
I have only tried LuxRender (and bought Reality) but honestly I don't like it too much. Too slow and I don't like the noise remaining even after long render time. Light system seems to me better with 3Delights. But maybe because I need to study Lux more deeply.
Any other engine to suggest?
Tholus, for my money, stick with 3Delight, learn it as deeply as you can. It's not the second most popular render engine in Hollywood behind RenderMan for nothing.
-- EDITED - Apologies, I was probably OT - Found all the information on 3Delight documentation/forums --
I think I will accept the suggestion and stick to 3Delight. Thanks.
May I borrow five more minutes of your time for a question on 3Delight licenses?
First of all: in the original thread there was a long part dedicated to license activation. I did not use it but in my first tests everything was going smooth on two computers. No need to activate anything. Did they change the licensing activation policy (as the post is quite old)?
But after I tried with a third computer and I received the error "R5050 cannot run more than one 3Delight free license at once".
Anyone can explain this? How can he know that I am using another engine on another computer if they are not registered to me or my system? The two system just share a directory (but the renders are on different files)
And, considering that I am not a professional user, I don't use it for any commercial scope (just nerd play with 3d toys) am I violating any 3Delight agreement if I do a couple of render simultaneously on different computers (if one of the PCs is my wife's computer I am using her free license)?
I haven't checked exactly, but yes, if I remember correctly, you should be able to only get one computer running with the stand-alone 3Delight, whereas you can get as many copies of DS running at the same time at one (1) physical address. To get your computer back you can select your lights (!) and go to the parameters tab and select Display->Render Priority (Normal is the default). Lower it to Below Normal. Do this only after tdlmake has finished it's thing (i.e. do a test render at normal priority, before starting to lower it), otherwise it seems to never finish converting textures, or at least that's what it did last year. Not reported that one, now that I think of it.
I do have a suggestion Tholus. Once you have your render going on whatever computer from the network, disconnect it from the network before you fire it up on another machine. Make sure your file.rib and compiled files are local on that computer, of course...
Just checking but what versions of LuxRender are you using with what version of Reality, earlier versions of Lux were prone to "firefiles" and it's gotten better, but a incorrectly lit scene is going to cause issues no matter what.
The lighting system is very different and you should not be using the standard distance and spot lights without avoiding them (use the ones with Reality) or seriously modifying them. as a matter of preference I find myself guessing a lot less with LuxRender where my lights go and how to set them up because they are based on the laws of physics, which is not always the case with 3Delight.
I use 3Delight and I love but honestly I get far more realistic results with Lux. the trade off is I set the render to go when I'm not using the computer for a few hours, but I can render out to a bunch of computers in my SOHO, I can batch, I can see if a render is usable early in the render stage and keep it going or cancel it out, or save it to finish up later. I'd say don't limit yourself to one or the other.
I'm not using LuxRender or Reality. I only have 3Delight.
The thing is, I know for fact we can get similar results with 3Delight as is done with LuxRender. The problem is getting the shaders set up right. As I keep trying to tell people, 3Delight is second only to Renderman in popularity for realistic rendering in the motion picture industry.
My attitude is this: I'd rather go in depth on a single render engine than try to use two or three and get the best results I can.
Instead of changing any processor affinity settings when rendering in D|S there is a better tweak. Open the task manager and do the same thing as when changing processor affinity but instead of "Set Affinity" use the "Set Priority" menu item and set it to "Below Normal". It doesn't remember the setting change for the next time you use D|S but you will be able to use your computer for other things quite easily. This will also have the advantage of causing less of a hit to rendering speed than blocking the use of processor cores, unless you run another processor intensive program like Photoshop or a video app while rendering in D|S.
The main bottleneck and cause of freezeups etc. is usually insufficient memory and the only cure for that is running 64bit Windows (or Mac OSX I guess) and having at least 4 gig of ram. Anything that can't be held in ram while rendering is going on has to be read/written from your hard disk and will slow everything down considerably.