Caustic Today, gone tomorrow?

[AndrewRaZ]

i did some digging through my scenes and backups and the problem seems to come down to one older version of the that i modeled. apparently, i converted it to subD somewhere, and it seems to be what is causing the problems, but not in the way i would expect. basically, i can convert it back to polys, but that's it. if i change the material, hide it, or delete it, the scene won't render. it just sits there and churns. any ideas why this might be happening?

btw, the 'easy' fix would be to simply export everything in the scene except that and just start the scene over. i'm trying to figure out *why* this one is doing what it's doing, so i can avoid it in the future.

edit: nope, the export/import trick doesn't even work. in the new scene it doesn't render either, so i'm back at square 2.

[AndrewRaZ]

well, it looks like i have to beg again.

i've been going through this file piece by piece, and for the life of me i can't figure this out. i have this old eye object that is now obsolete, and as long as it is in view, the scene will render with caustics. as soon as i modify the shader, the shader assignment on the object, hide, or delete it, it simply refuses to render, and hangs during the mental ray photon emission phase, if it even gets that far. i have tried exporting everything but that object into a new scene, and i have the same problem. the object doesn't have any strange connections in the hypergraph, only the shape and transform nodes, and currently a connection to a layer when i tried hiding it.

anyone have any ideas?

[AndrewRaZ]

alright, i'm getting a little frustrated. i still haven't figured out a solution to this, and it's bugging the heck out of me. someone on 3DBuzz suggested posting the scene and turning on progress messages and posting that, so i'm going to do the same thing here.


the object in question is called polyToSubD5, with a shape node named subdTessShape5, and it is currently a polygon object. it has a DielectricBump shader applied to it, which consists of scleraOuterDie, dielectric_materialSG, and a dielectric_material_photon photon shader, with a mental ray texture node (mrBumpTexture) calling the file directly (no file texture node): sourceimages\EyeballBump2.tif

let me know if you can make heads or tails of any of this.


Progress messages on:

select -r polyToSubd5 ; (this is where i hid the offending object, and started the render)
// Info: (mental ray) : number of render thread(s): 2
// Info: (Mayatomr.Scene) : shadows obey light linking requires full shadow tracing, optimize raytrace shadows ignored
// Warning: (Mayatomr.Shader) : mentalrayTexture1: no texture file referenced //
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : derive mental ray global approximation settings from Maya
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : derive mental ray global displacement settings from Maya
// Info: (Mayatomr.Scene) : update lights and related shaders
// Info: (Mayatomr.Scene) : update cameras and related shaders
// Info: (Mayatomr.Scene) : saving image to file H:/Work/Nilia/images/tmp/NiliaEye13b.iff
// Info: (Mayatomr.Scene) : saving image to file H:/Work/Nilia/images/tmp/NiliaEye13b.iff
// Info: (Mayatomr.Scene) : update geometry and materials
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : bgfilePlace2dTexture.vertexUvOne: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : bgfilePlace2dTexture.vertexUvTwo: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : bgfilePlace2dTexture.vertexUvThree: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Prog: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG node: bgSphere
// Prog: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG node: groundplane
// Prog: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG node: Head
// Warning: (Mayatomr.Custom) : mib_illum_ward1: connection to light shape spotLightShape2 detected, linking first instance spotLight2 instead //
// Warning: (Mayatomr.Custom) : mib_illum_ward1: connection to light shape spotLightShape1 detected, linking first instance spotLight1 instead //
// Prog: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG node: LightSphere1
// Prog: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG node: LightSphere2
// Prog: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG node: LightSphere3
// Prog: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG node: LightSphere4
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : EyeballBumpFilePlace2dTexture.vertexUvOne: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : EyeballBumpFilePlace2dTexture.vertexUvTwo: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : EyeballBumpFilePlace2dTexture.vertexUvThree: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Prog: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG node: Sclera1
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : EyeballFileplace2dTexture.vertexUvOne: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : EyeballFileplace2dTexture.vertexUvTwo: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : EyeballFileplace2dTexture.vertexUvThree: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Warning: (Mayatomr.Custom) : EyeSSS: connection to light shape pointLightShape1 detected, linking first instance pointLight1 instead //
// Warning: (Mayatomr.Custom) : EyeSSS: connection to light shape spotLightShape1 detected, linking first instance spotLight1 instead //
// Warning: (Mayatomr.Custom) : EyeSSS: connection to light shape spotLightShape2 detected, linking first instance spotLight2 instead //
// Warning: (Mayatomr.Custom) : misss_fast_lmap_maya1: connection to light shape spotLightShape1 detected, linking first instance spotLight1 instead //
// Warning: (Mayatomr.Custom) : misss_fast_lmap_maya1: connection to light shape pointLightShape1 detected, linking first instance pointLight1 instead //
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : IrisColorFilePlace2dTexture.vertexUvOne: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : IrisColorFilePlace2dTexture.vertexUvTwo: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : IrisColorFilePlace2dTexture.vertexUvThree: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : IrisColorSpecPlace2dTexture.vertexUvOne: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : IrisColorSpecPlace2dTexture.vertexUvTwo: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : IrisColorSpecPlace2dTexture.vertexUvThree: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Warning: (Mayatomr.Custom) : irisSSS: connection to light shape pointLightShape1 detected, linking first instance pointLight1 instead //
// Warning: (Mayatomr.Custom) : irisSSS: connection to light shape spotLightShape1 detected, linking first instance spotLight1 instead //
// Warning: (Mayatomr.Custom) : irisSSS: connection to light shape spotLightShape2 detected, linking first instance spotLight2 instead //
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : IrisBumpFilePlace2dTexture.vertexUvOne: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : IrisBumpFilePlace2dTexture.vertexUvTwo: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : IrisBumpFilePlace2dTexture.vertexUvThree: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Prog: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG node: Eyeball1
// Info: (Mayatomr.Geometry) : EyeballShape1: optimize vertex sharing not supported for per-face materials
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : RetinaPlace2dTexture.vertexUvOne: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : RetinaPlace2dTexture.vertexUvTwo: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : RetinaPlace2dTexture.vertexUvThree: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Prog: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG node: Retina1
// Info (Mayatomr): Aborted //
// Info: (Mayatomr.Scene) : render camera: persp1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------








and one further, if it's necessary: detailed messages. same deal as above:

select -r polyToSubd5 ;
// Info: (mental ray) : number of render thread(s): 2
// Info: (Mayatomr.Scene) : shadows obey light linking requires full shadow tracing, optimize raytrace shadows ignored
// Warning: (Mayatomr.Shader) : mentalrayTexture1: no texture file referenced //
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : derive mental ray global approximation settings from Maya
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : derive mental ray global displacement settings from Maya
// Info: (Mayatomr.Scene) : update lights and related shaders
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: spotLightShape1
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... light
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: pointLightShape1
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... light
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: spotLightShape2
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... light
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: BGLightShape
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... light
// Info: (Mayatomr.Scene) : update cameras and related shaders
// Info: (Mayatomr.Scene) : saving image to file H:/Work/Nilia/images/tmp/NiliaEye13b.iff
// Info: (Mayatomr.Scene) : saving image to file H:/Work/Nilia/images/tmp/NiliaEye13b.iff
// Info: (Mayatomr.Scene) : update geometry and materials
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: groundPlane_transform
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... transform
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: groundPlane
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: ViewCompass
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... transform
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: UniversalManip
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... transform
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: UniversalManip1
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... transform
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: persp
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... transform
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: top
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... pruned
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: front
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... pruned
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: side
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... pruned
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: TempEye1
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... pruned
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: TempEye2
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... pruned
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: |EyeballOld1
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... pruned
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: |EyeballOld2
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... pruned
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: IrisOld1
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... pruned
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: IrisOld2
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... pruned
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: |Eyeball3
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... pruned
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: bgSphere
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... transform
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: bgSphereShape
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : shading group: bgShaderSG
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : bgfilePlace2dTexture.vertexUvOne: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : bgfilePlace2dTexture.vertexUvTwo: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : bgfilePlace2dTexture.vertexUvThree: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... polygon mesh
// Prog: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG node: bgSphere
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Geometry) : bgSphereShape: vertex sharing optimization: 80
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: spotLight1
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... transform
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: persp1
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... transform
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: pointLight1
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... transform
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: groundplane
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... transform
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: groundplaneShape
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : shading group: bgShaderSG
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... polygon mesh
// Prog: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG node: groundplane
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Geometry) : groundplaneShape: vertex sharing optimization: 100
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: polyToSubd5
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... pruned
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: Head
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... transform
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: HeadShape
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : shading group: initialShadingGroup
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Shader) : lambert1: node belongs to multiple shading groups, light links are taken from initialParticleSE
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... polygon mesh
// Prog: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG node: Head
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Geometry) : HeadShape: vertex sharing optimization: -198
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: persp2
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... transform
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: spotLight2
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... transform
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: polySurface29
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... transform
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: polySurface29|polySurfaceShape31
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... ignored
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: transform22
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... pruned
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: polySurface30
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... transform
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: polySurface30|polySurfaceShape32
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... ignored
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: transform21
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... pruned
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: LightSphere1
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... transform
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: LightSphereShape1
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : shading group: blinn3SG
// Warning: (Mayatomr.Custom) : mib_illum_ward1: connection to light shape spotLightShape2 detected, linking first instance spotLight2 instead //
// Warning: (Mayatomr.Custom) : mib_illum_ward1: connection to light shape spotLightShape1 detected, linking first instance spotLight1 instead //
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... polygon mesh
// Prog: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG node: LightSphere1
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Geometry) : LightSphereShape1: vertex sharing optimization: 60
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: LightSphere2
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... transform
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: LightSphereShape2
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : shading group: blinn3SG
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... polygon mesh
// Prog: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG node: LightSphere2
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Geometry) : LightSphereShape2: vertex sharing optimization: 60
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: polySurfaceShape33
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... ignored
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: LightSphere3
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... transform
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: LightSphereShape3
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : shading group: blinn3SG
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... polygon mesh
// Prog: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG node: LightSphere3
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Geometry) : LightSphereShape3: vertex sharing optimization: 60
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: polySurfaceShape34
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... ignored
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: LightSphere4
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... transform
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: LightSphereShape4
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : shading group: blinn3SG
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... polygon mesh
// Prog: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG node: LightSphere4
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Geometry) : LightSphereShape4: vertex sharing optimization: 60
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: polySurfaceShape35
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... ignored
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: BGLight
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... transform
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: polySurface31
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... transform
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: polySurfaceShape38
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... ignored
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: polySurfaceShape40
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... ignored
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: transform24
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... pruned
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: polySurface32
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... transform
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: polySurfaceShape39
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... ignored
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: transform23
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... pruned
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: Sclera1
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... transform
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: ScleraShape1
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : shading group: blinn2SG
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : EyeballBumpFilePlace2dTexture.vertexUvOne: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : EyeballBumpFilePlace2dTexture.vertexUvTwo: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : EyeballBumpFilePlace2dTexture.vertexUvThree: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... polygon mesh
// Prog: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG node: Sclera1
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Geometry) : ScleraShape1: vertex sharing optimization: -207
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: ScleraShape2
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... ignored
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: polySurface2
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... transform
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: polySurfaceShape9
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... ignored
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: transform7
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... pruned
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: transform1
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... pruned
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: polyToSubd2
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... transform
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: polyToSubd2|polySurfaceShape6
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... ignored
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: transform3
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... pruned
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: transform4
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... pruned
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: polySurface6
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... transform
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: polySurfaceShape10
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... ignored
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: transform6
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... pruned
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: transform10
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... pruned
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: Eyeball1
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... transform
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: EyeballShape1
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : shading group: eyeballSSSSG
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : EyeballFileplace2dTexture.vertexUvOne: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : EyeballFileplace2dTexture.vertexUvTwo: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : EyeballFileplace2dTexture.vertexUvThree: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Warning: (Mayatomr.Custom) : EyeSSS: connection to light shape pointLightShape1 detected, linking first instance pointLight1 instead //
// Warning: (Mayatomr.Custom) : EyeSSS: connection to light shape spotLightShape1 detected, linking first instance spotLight1 instead //
// Warning: (Mayatomr.Custom) : EyeSSS: connection to light shape spotLightShape2 detected, linking first instance spotLight2 instead //
// Warning: (Mayatomr.Custom) : misss_fast_lmap_maya1: connection to light shape spotLightShape1 detected, linking first instance spotLight1 instead //
// Warning: (Mayatomr.Custom) : misss_fast_lmap_maya1: connection to light shape pointLightShape1 detected, linking first instance pointLight1 instead //
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : shading group: mix8layer1SG1
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : IrisColorFilePlace2dTexture.vertexUvOne: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : IrisColorFilePlace2dTexture.vertexUvTwo: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : IrisColorFilePlace2dTexture.vertexUvThree: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : IrisColorSpecPlace2dTexture.vertexUvOne: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : IrisColorSpecPlace2dTexture.vertexUvTwo: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : IrisColorSpecPlace2dTexture.vertexUvThree: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Warning: (Mayatomr.Custom) : irisSSS: connection to light shape pointLightShape1 detected, linking first instance pointLight1 instead //
// Warning: (Mayatomr.Custom) : irisSSS: connection to light shape spotLightShape1 detected, linking first instance spotLight1 instead //
// Warning: (Mayatomr.Custom) : irisSSS: connection to light shape spotLightShape2 detected, linking first instance spotLight2 instead //
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : IrisBumpFilePlace2dTexture.vertexUvOne: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : IrisBumpFilePlace2dTexture.vertexUvTwo: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : IrisBumpFilePlace2dTexture.vertexUvThree: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... polygon mesh
// Prog: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG node: Eyeball1
// Info: (Mayatomr.Geometry) : EyeballShape1: optimize vertex sharing not supported for per-face materials
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: transform18
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... pruned
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: Retina1
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... transform
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: RetinaShape1
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : shading group: RetinaMatSG
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : RetinaPlace2dTexture.vertexUvOne: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : RetinaPlace2dTexture.vertexUvTwo: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Info: (Mayatomr.Nodes) : RetinaPlace2dTexture.vertexUvThree: unsupported type of connection, current plug value used instead
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... polygon mesh
// Prog: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG node: Retina1
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Geometry) : RetinaShape1: vertex sharing optimization: 97
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : DAG path: transform17
// Debg: (Mayatomr.Scene) : ... pruned
// Info (Mayatomr): Aborted //
// Info: (Mayatomr.Scene) : render camera: persp1

[AndrewRaZ]

and the file. rar'ed and then zipped.

[AndrewRaZ]

ye gods this is frustrating. i've been fighting this thing for what, three days, and none of the maya wizards on this forum want to help? <sighs>

well, i had a little bit of progress at least. i was able to change the material assignment and still get the scene to render. it seems early in the development the object had per-face material assignments, and then it was converted to subD. SubD doesn't transfer that per-face assignment over, and doesn't even like it apparently. the object now is polys again, and i had to so per-face assignments over the entire object before i could assign a different material to it on an object-level.

i still can't delete or hide the object.

[AndrewRaZ]

wow, sad. i've been in here jumping up and down trying to get someone's attention, i get nothing. so much for the helpful community.

[DesignDawg]

Well, part of the reason is because you're using CAUSTICS FOR AN EYEBALL.

You should probably explore other possibilities. There is really no good reason to have to turn on caustics to render an eyeball. There are so many cheap, easy, quick ways to make eye renders look good. You're wasting a lot of energy trying to do something you probably shouldn't be trying to do. Maybe a more productive thread to start would be to try to get good tips on creating a nice looking eye? Or you could use the search feature. I know there are some great eye threads out there.

An eyeball at any reolution should never take 2 minutes to render. An eyeball with HDRI image-based lighting, full GI, subsurface scattering, refration, and reflection shouldn't take two minutes to render at "low resolution".

Sorry you aren't getting the help you want, but continuing to bump the thread and insult members here isn't helping your cause.

Ricky

[AndrewRaZ]

thank you for putting it bluntly. appreciate your candor, and for taking the time to respond.

i had caustics turned off for quite a while, and when i turned it on, i got a nice looking focused highlight on the iris, which i think helps the realism. right now, when the effect works, with SSS, caustics, and HDRI, the shot takes about a minute, two tops for an extreme closeup with the head hidden (meaning it renders the entire eye, not just a portion of it). for me, that's worth it, especially after seeing the work Weta did on Kong's eyes (I really felt they nailed that on the head about as well as anyone could get eyes.) from my understanding, they spent several months developing realistic eyes for all their characters, which admittedly included the system to deform the skin around the eyes. there's a lot of R&D associated with getting the eyes right, and there's lots of solutions proposed (i've read many of them).

long story short, i don't feel like my time on the eye is wasted effort, it really does look pretty good, (obviously coming from someone close enough to the project that can't see its flaws. ) a week isn't bad i'd say.

so, if caustics aren't going to work correctly as they did previously, i need something that will. do you have any suggestions for getting that focused highlight effect i'm after? The reflections work great without the caustic, i'm concerned now with the light effect inside the cornea. i already have an anistropic specular layer on the iris that gives it that somewhat-metallic specular color, but what i want on top of that is the band of focused light. any suggestions?

again, forgive me if i seem irate. i'm frustrated, and i'm not sure it's asking too much of one or two people to come in and give a suggestion, alternative, even just some wisdom, as you did. i see it all over the forums otherwise. i just feel a little left out.

[T-R]

"it never even gets to the photon emission stage any more..."

This usually happens when you get the "no photons stored after 10000" error. Check to see if you get this in your output window with progress messages turned on. I see you posted your progress messages above but im guessing thats on the imported/exported scene not the original(?) 99 percent of the time(made that up) it hangs on the photon emission stage, thats the problem. If so; you need to trap the excess photons by either giving everything a photon shader, perhaps readjusting light position, or placing a large sphere around your scene to "catch" them.


good luck.


EDIT: oops it never even..... for some reason i was reading that as it never gets past the photon emmision stage...need sleep. nevermind.

[MSB]

i didn't read the whole thing.

but here's what i found.

EyeSSS: connection to light shape pointLightShape1 detected, linking first instance pointLight1 instead //


i remeber once having the same issue and i remeber deleting maybe the IBL and everything worked, dunno why.

if i were you I would delete all my lights and try to see if it renders fine

sourceimages\EyeballBump2.tif


another thing would be NOT to use tif formation in mr .he doesn't like them.

another thing would be testing if its because of the phenomene you use.

last thing i can suggest.
why not to render caustics in separete pass?

hope that helps.

[AndrewRaZ]

thanks for the suggestions guys. the good news is that i think i had a breakthrough and might have solved this bugger.

// Info: (Mayatomr.Geometry) : EyeballShape1: optimize vertex sharing not supported for per-face

for the eyeball, i have the outer 'ball' part using essentially the default uvs, which are mostly cylindrical, which seems to work well. however, the iris, which is part of the object, is using a planar projection, since that is much easier to paint. to get all this to work correcty using the SSS shaders, i have per-face material assignments on the object, giving the ball the eyeball shader, and the iris the iris shader. apparently that was what was giving mental ray the problems, although for the life of me, i have no idea why it would be doing that.

so the good news is that it renders after i delete or hide that object. the bad news is that render times have jumped from 1 minute to 4-5 minutes for the same view. unfortunately, i attribute that to the caustics actually working correctly now, as that's about what i expected for render times (1-2 minutes seemed too good to be true sometimes).

i have submitted a bug report to Autodesk regarding this problem, and we'll see what they say about it. in the mean time, it seems to be working, so i'll take what i can get.

MSB: i keep forgetting about the .tif thing, but sometimes i remember. i always convert things over to .map format for final renders and sequences anyways, since i get much better preformance, but it's easier to modify tif files as i need to.

[AndrewRaZ]

**TOPIC CHANGE**


alright, something broke again, so i decided to start over in another file. good news is caustics are working again, quickly. bad news is that as soon as i turn on refractions, the shader won't render anything inside it. that means that the outer layer, which is the 'wet' part of the eye renders as if the inner eyeball and iris were removed or hidden. that is to say, it acts like there is nothing there at all. trace depths are all suficiently high, and to check, i even set them all to 100 (which is obcene), with the same results. renders the same in mental ray and maya software.

i'm sure this one is a simple setting somewhere that i'm missing. can someone point out what that setting is?

[AndrewRaZ]

well that was an easy one. for some reason, maya turns off "visible in reflections" and "visible in refractions" when i import the geometry as obj. well, that's fixed now. *is happy for once*

now i get why they call this "firefighting" and "render wrangling".

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