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RenderTITAN
02-08-2008, 05:42 PM
Lately we discovered a problem with VRAY for Cinema 4D.

If we received a file from somebody that used “VRAY for Cinema 4D” and they used different "units" than our systems, items that are distance dependent (like light falloffs...) would no longer match as intended. What's worst is that whatever that unit is, that measurement is not recorded so we wouldn’t know what to set the units too without calling the client.

This setting could be manually changed on one workstation but when set in to NET Render, it would use some kind of default unit. (Ironically, even if we set the NET Render farm's default unit to match the intended unit, it still would use something different, but we haven't figured out what is NET render's default unit (maybe meter?) It seems the client software for NET has its own setting that can't be changed (we tried but it doesn’t work with the preference file.)

VRAY for Max doesn’t have this problem because the units is set only in the plug-in, not in Max.

However, we wrote a script that seems to overcome the problem. By adding this script, VRAY for Cinmea4D works great. We have already tested it here on our farm successfully.

When the user adds the script, they can enter what is the intended unit which will be remembered when sent to NET Render forcing the nodes to use the correct measurements (by forcing a NET Render "Unit" Preference). For safety, we recommend that the script is only added AS THE AS STEP before sending to NET Render. (Early versions had a few issues... This seems stable but use at our own risk please.)

Download here:
http://www.rendertitan.com/RenderTITAN_VrayForC4D_SetUnitsScript_v1.2.zip (http://www.rendertitan.com/RenderTITAN_VrayForC4D_SetUnitsScript_v1.2.zip)
(Only tested on a PC)

Let us know how it works for you!


Happy Rendering,
Mark S. Alameel
President
RenderTITAN
(www.rendertitan.com (http://www.rendertitan.com/))
manlio
02-08-2008, 08:47 PM
It is a known issue, and your solution is the right one at this moment. The problem is related to the manner Cinema 4D manage units. These aren't stored in the project file.
The developers of Vray bridge will probably bypass this problem by setting units directly in Vray Bridge and not in Cinema preferences.
Bye :)
RenderTITAN
02-08-2008, 09:18 PM
It is a known issue, and your solution is the right one at this moment. The problem is related to the manner Cinema 4D manage units. These aren't stored in the project file.
The developers of Vray bridge will probably bypass this problem by setting units directly in Vray Bridge and not in Cinema preferences.
Bye :)

Thanks for the reply and compliment!

We do understand what casues the problem otherwise we wouldn't have found any possible solution. (We even created a few that didn't work.) :)

I have spoken to Stefan (VRAY for Cinema 4D) who is very helpful. He is aware of the issue and how Max handles this issue verses C4D. I even sent him the script before releasing it here. We discussed the possibilities of what could be done, but it seems he would prefer a little input from Maxon, which would be greatly appreciated by all.
M
jackb602
02-08-2008, 11:00 PM
I just want to give Mark and the RenderTitan crew a big thumbs up for helping me work through this problem. As soon as I discovered it on a job I had sent to their farm, they were on the phone with me trying to solve it. Their communication was great, and they kept at it until they found a solution. I wouldn't have made my deadline without their help.

Jack
Francky
02-09-2008, 05:56 AM
Any chance you could make that script available ?

It would be greatly appreciated :)

Francois
RenderTITAN
02-09-2008, 06:07 AM
Any chance you could make that script available ?

It would be greatly appreciated :)

Francois

OH SNAP! It was my intent to release it free to everybody!

Well I edited my original post to include the link but just so you do not have to read the first post...
http://www.rendertitan.com/RenderTITAN_VrayForC4D_SetUnitsScript_v1.2.zip (http://www.rendertitan.com/RenderTITAN_VrayForC4D_SetUnitsScript_v1.2.zip)

Let us know how it works.
M
Francky
02-09-2008, 03:31 PM
Thanks a lot Mark. Yeah I though I was crazy, you sounded like you were sharing it from your message, but I couldn't see it, but I didn't want to assume and just say "link missing". lol

Untill Maxon fixes this issue (where it simply saves the unit size per scenes and not a program preference) this will prove to be a life saver I'm sure.

Thanks again,

Francois
Francky
02-09-2008, 05:26 PM
Well I guess I have bad news on my side, the scene is impossible to open withouth freezing or crashing C4D.

I'm running 10.5 on a mac, could this be the issue ?
RenderTITAN
02-09-2008, 06:01 PM
I edited my original post to refect that we only tested this on PCs.

I can only guess that maybe that is the issue. I will ask a few of Mac friends to test it out more before I comment further.

It does work with files from the Mac, but not tested while it is on a Mac. So if your farm is PC based, then our tests show that if the script is added to a C4D file from a Mac, it is working.

I will report back sooner than later!
M
CWDesign
02-10-2008, 05:25 AM
I had the same problem yesterday, and im on a PC.
What I done is open C4D, change the units to Inch (this is the scripts default units)
then open the script, change the script to centimeter and save, then it never
froze and crashed again when opening.

I hope this works.

regards

Carl Dixon
lllab
02-10-2008, 04:31 PM
thanks Mark again for this helpfull script:-)

it comes in very helpfull when you need to render on a NET renderfarm with vray and need certain units to be kept in file.

cheers
stefan
vrayforc4d
sketchbook
02-15-2008, 05:12 PM
bless your hearts!

this bug has been ruining my life for a week.

hey titan,

do you have a workaround or a solution to the PPC/intel issue in regards to loading pre-caches IR maps?

thanks!
lllab
02-17-2008, 04:20 PM
hi sketchbook,

the way c4d handles the units is out of our control, maxon made it like this, thank full with this nice script you can easy help.
if you send it on a local farm c4d remembers the units very well though anyway.

the incompatibility problems between intel and ppc chips in saved IR map some had we investigate...
the vray forum is the right place for such things.

cheers
stefan
sketchbook
02-17-2008, 04:43 PM
true, the units is a maxon thing. i agree.

i have mentioned the IR maps problem maybe a dozen times, as have others, but no response on the vray forum.

nice to hear it's being worked on.

thanks
lllab
02-18-2008, 11:58 AM
vlado found the ppc problem today and try to resolve ithe told me.

cheers
stefan
RenderTITAN
02-18-2008, 01:03 PM
We only worked on the VRay for Cinema4D issue because it was a necessity. Let me know how it goes for you.

I wished VRay for Cinema4D worked like it does in Max were these settings were stored in the plugn verses in the scene file.

Hopefully Maxon and Stefan can get a more elegant solution verses our forced work around.
M
sketchbook
02-18-2008, 03:49 PM
vlado found the ppc problem today and try to resolve ithe told me.

cheers
stefan

That's great news! please tell me it won't take a month to post the solution. when can we get this?
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