skaran

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    Posted in: Current progress and more – 9.5 status
  • skaran
    18th May 2011 at 9:05 am #15136

    It depends on the software package you are using for rendering.

    For Maya you can specify it under the instances Template settings.

    For Lightwave renders you have to specify it in the LW config files that muster reads (LW10-64.CFG, RenderThreads #)

    3ds Max and other renders might have other places for setting the number of threads that is available for use.
    Sometimes you can set it inside the program itself so it´s scene file specific or it might be a separate config.
    Google a little about the software you are using and ill bet you can find where to specify it.

    And you should avoid using the Realtime Priority since the render engine might completely overwhelm the instance and you might lose connection to it or make it unresponsive. High is fine :)

    Also note that different render engines use threads in different ways. some processes during the render phase might be limited to a single thread. so you will see a variation of cpu usage during the render period.

    Muster only reports the current cpu usage of the instance since it supports a multitude of software packages and every engine is programmed and works in different ways.

    If you want so take a closer look on cpu usage during different phases a tip is to activate the live render log in muster and login remotely on on of the instances so you can see the cpu usage first hand directly on the instance itself that way you can figure out what´s going on. Maybe an old unoptimized plugin is limiting threads usage who knows :)

    Scene file loading is usually a single threaded process in most renders for instance.

    You can also think about that the total render time is “loading time + calculations” so if you can change something in the scene or upgrade plugins, drives, network and so on you can might be able to shave of a few min per frame if your loading times are high.

    Good luck

    skaran
    11th May 2011 at 9:38 am #15169

    That surely sounds a bit weird, never had that kind of problems while using muster and the evaluation mode only limits nodes to 2, other than that it´s fully functional.

    The red dots usually means that something is wrong. and since it´s in your case is under the S it seems like there is something weird with the service.

    (Page 41 in the manual says)

    (red lightning) Service is either uninstalled or an unknown error happened querying the service

    So let´s try a few things

    First make a uninstall and, just for safety remove all trace of any config you might have done.

    Just delete the following folders after the regular windows uninstall
    (for x64) c:Program FilesVirtual VertexMuster 6
    (for x32) c:Program Files (x86)Virtual VertexMuster 6

    Make a fresh complete install but, Install the renderclient not as services but as batch mode instead during the install.

    (if you get it to work you can easily just make them services afterwards by just running the exes with the “renderclient.exe -install option” works for the dispatcher as well)

    This will also eliminate and network problems/blocked ports/user permissions and such since it´s running on your local user that is currently logged in.

    Start both the dispatcher and renderclient from the start meny as a first step, they should pop up as separate command line windows with a lot of text in them.

    Start the Muster Console and Connect to 127.0.0.1 in you should now have a green dot indicating that the computer connected correctly to the dispatcher.

    You should be ready for the next step and the service should be running as it should.

    Try to submit a local job and see what happens.
    If you get other errors, like J or T. check the manual on how to solve those.

    *Next step would be to make a connection from another computer to your dispatcher

    Do the same thing on your other computer but only install the renderclient and enter the name of your first as dispatcher during the install.

    Disconnect the Muster console on your first and Change the muster console connection to the first computers network name instead of 127.0.0.1 (rendernode1) or what you might have called it.

    Try starting the muster console on your second (rendernode2) and connect the muster console to rendernode1.
    If you don´t get a connection there is something that is blocking the connection. Like a firewall. Check page 14 of the manual to see what ports that is in use.

    If Everything checks out. install the dispatcher as services with the -install and assign a log-in user manually to the service (page 16 in the manual). Make sure that the user is called the same on both computers and that it has admin rights.
    If it´s not the service wont be able to access the network.

    Good luck

    More Troubleshooting Log folders and such

    c:Program FilesVirtual VertexMuster 6Logsclient
    Both the dispatcher log and client log are located there.

    If those folders are empty try to start the renderclient.exe and dispatcher from a command line window with
    renderclient.exe >debug.txt to make sure that you actually get a log from the renderclient or dispatcher.exe.
    (they wont pop up as before but should output all that text to a file instead)

    skaran
    11th May 2011 at 8:26 am #15167

    Hi

    It depends a little on what render template you are using

    For example if you are using the maya template there is a setting for it and it´s called “Number By”.
    If you want it to have the frame to be named correctly you can enter the first frame name there.

    it might look something like this.

    Start Frame: 62
    End Frame: 62
    By Frame: 1
    Number by: 62 (Name of the first frame in the job sequence)
    Step by: 1
    Digits: 3

    But there is a couple of other ways to address missing/broken frames

    *Re-init the chunk (for very quick renders)
    *Do a frame check with the “Manual frame check” (actually creates new jobs with the correct naming if you re-render using this guide)

    But the easiest way to do this is to re-init a chunk of frames where the error occurred.
    Check you chunk details on the job that was rendered (right click and select “Chunks details” or use the shortcut CTRL +C) Then find the frame range in the list where the error is. right click and select re-init chunk.
    Most of the time you can try to sort the list on “Time Span”, since if a frame failed in a chunk the time frame usually stands out a little from the rest.

    But please note that this will re render the entire chunk so all the frames instead of just one. default setting usually is 4 frames.
    If you had a quick job (like a couple of seconds or up to a min per frame) you can afford the extra time is takes to render all of them and just be done quickly without any hassle.

    If your render times is much longer (like 10min to hours) you might want to re render specific frames and then i would suggest that you check to manual and take a look at the Frame Check window.

    skaran
    5th May 2011 at 9:24 am #15120

    hmm

    Try to start the dispatcher and the renderclient not from services but from the program folder directly and see what happens.

    I am not sure on what OS you are running but if we say windows you will find the renderclient files here

    c:Program FilesVirtual VertexMuster 6

    First of all make sure that the Muster 6 services is stopped and no instance of the dispatcher and renderclient is running.

    Go into the program folder
    c:Program FilesVirtual VertexMuster 6
    and execute

    dispatcher.exe and renderclient.exe without any extra options

    They will now pop up as command-line windows instead of a hidden process so you can see what´s going on behind the scenes in a live view.
    (if they don´t, the service is still running)

    With the help of that you should be able to get a hint on what´s causing the problem, just keep and eye on them while submitting a job.

    Also double check so that the maya template is linked to the correct path and maya version you are trying to render.

    Good luck

    skaran
    7th December 2006 at 8:59 am #14582

    Excellent

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