OctaneRender for Rhino 1.32 [OBSOLETE] (RhinoSR7 31213)

[eric_clough]

Hi Paul ...

I finally got up the nerve to install the old card along with the new one and connected the two with a bridge.

Things seem to be working fine but ... I do have a couple of more questions.

When I check my 'Display adaptor' it lists both cards ... do I delete the new card there leaving only the old GeForce 9800 active? and turn off the 9800 listed in the Octane window?

I can't find any SLI choice listed in the Nvidea settings ... maybe I have not actually found them ... I am turning on the 'GeForce Experience' icon on my desktop but there do not seem to be any settings to be found there.
By the way I am using Windows 8.1
cheers,
eric

[face_off]

Hi Eric

I don't think you need to connect the cards with a bridge - they act independently. They should show up separately in your Display Adapters - which is right. They you simply plug your monitor in to the old non-rendering card, and DISABLE that card in the Cuda tab of the plugin.

I can't find the SLI option either!

Paul

[eric_clough]

Hi Paul ... Thanks again. Hooked up as you suggest.
It seems to work perfectly with a small model with lots of different materials. When I have time to test it with a larger model I will report back in.
cheers,
eric

[eric_clough]

Hi Paul ...

When I was working with small test models I was using a perspective view in Rhino ... set with the 'render' display. With another file, an old one, of a very small house, the 'render' display does not work well at all. Using Rhino's 'wire frame' gets Octane back up to speed again.

I am also getting quite a few Octane errors that stop all action. If I save the file at that point and restart Rhino then things are fine again. The house file has a number of old materials still attached to layers .. they don't render true in Octane, of course, but they may be causing the errors. I will replace these with Octane materials as I have time and see if that corrects the errors.

Now it seems that I can attach Octane materials to layers in Rhino ... but I have to delete the old material first ... Octane does not seem to overwrite the old ones.

I have a short break in my work (waiting for responses from 3 clients) so I am having some time to work on computer hardware stuff and to play with Octane. I am learning a bit about simplifying my modeling techniques in the process.

cheers,
eric

[face_off]

When I was working with small test models I was using a perspective view in Rhino ... set with the 'render' display. With another file, an old one, of a very small house, the 'render' display does not work well at all. Using Rhino's 'wire frame' gets Octane back up to speed again.

I am also getting quite a few Octane errors that stop all action. If I save the file at that point and restart Rhino then things are fine again. The house file has a number of old materials still attached to layers .. they don't render true in Octane, of course, but they may be causing the errors. I will replace these with Octane materials as I have time and see if that corrects the errors.

Hi Eric

Is it's possible your old card is not supporting OpenGl to the level expected by Rhino to show the small house in the Rhino "render" Preview window? Does this problem occur if you the Octane Veiwport if open or closed? Is the second (display only) card an Nvidia card, or ATI? If you put all your hardware spec's into your forum signature that will stop me asking this question repeatedly

Regarding materials, yes, when you perform the "Convert all rhino materials to octane materials" function it leaves the Rhino materials in the Material panel list - although there are not used by any geometry in the scene. This seems the "safest" workflow, but I could add an option "Do you want to delete all Rhino materials" to the end of the function. Would that help?

Now it seems that I can attach Octane materials to layers in Rhino ... but I have to delete the old material first ... Octane does not seem to overwrite the old ones.

Not sure I understand this. Are you able to provide more details pls? You should be able to assign an Octane material to a layer.

Paul

[eric_clough]

Hi Paul

Yes, you are correct ... the old card is not working in the Rhino perspective 'render' display mode. It simply does not have the juice to run it that way ... though it did before I upgraded and added the new video card.

I am stumbling through and finding that I can usually add or change a material in the Rhino layer window but there odd behaviors that I can't figure ... I created a large flat (thin) block and gave it the material grass. When it is turned on it is visible through the front windows of the model and wipes the floor and back wall of the building out altogether. I can put all kinds of other objects behind that wall and they stay where they belong visually.

And a the posts between the windows changed color and I cannot change them back ... they are part of a total surface that contains them all. They were fine and after one of the cuda errors now are a different material.

As I play with this old model I find that there are construction errors in it from way back so that may be part of the problems I am finding ... Perhaps I will rebuild it from scratch with entirely new layers and see if that makes it any better but even with the simple block models I was working with earlier I do find materials do peculiar things like changing the direction of wood grains on different blocks of the same model.

Frustrating sometimes but learning as I go.
eric

[face_off]

Hi Eric

Firstly - to assist you, it's really important to know exactly what hardware and drivers you have, so could I trouble you to add the info under "pls provide the following information" from the first msg in this thread in your forum signature pls?

Secondly, they say "a picture is worth a thousand words", so a screenshot of the issue you described above would give me something to go on. Or simply email/dropbox me the rhino scene - then I can load it up and see what's happening first hand.

Yes, you are correct ... the old card is not working in the Rhino perspective 'render' display mode. It simply does not have the juice to run it that way ... though it did before I upgraded and added the new video card.

Does DISABLING Rhino Options->View->Display Modes->Rendered->Use Advanced GPU Lighting help?

They were fine and after one of the cuda errors now are a different material.

If you ever get a Cuba error, pls take a screenshot, and also go into the plugin Devices tab and open the Octane log and save that. Then send both to me, or post here.

Thanks

Paul

[eric_clough]

Hi Paul ...

To answer at least one or two questions ...

My original card GeForce 9800 GT would simply not run the latest versions of Octane for Rhino. When I removed it and installed the GeForce GTX 760 I had to run it on Medium speed to use the 'render' display in Rhino along with the Octane window.

Now that I have put the 9800 GT back in the machine I am getting the error message I sent to you. Tomorrow I am going to try some other configurations and will let you know my results.

I will also add my hardware configuration to my signature .. I did not realize I can do that.

cheers,
eric

[face_off]

My original card GeForce 9800 GT would simply not run the latest versions of Octane for Rhino. When I removed it and installed the GeForce GTX 760 I had to run it on Medium speed to use the 'render' display in Rhino along with the Octane window.

I'm guessing that the 9800GT is quite old and has a compute model of 1, which at some point (Octane 1.21?) was no longer supported by Octane.

Paul

[eric_clough]

Hi Paul ...

This morning I removed the old GeForce 9800GT and am running on the GeForce 760 GTX. No more cuda error messages that I can see. I let the Octane window run for about 8 minutes without changing anything and the speed was about 1000 samples per minute.

It seems that I cannot use any Rhino display mode other than wire frame and have smooth response with the Octane window on the 2nd monitor (full screen) at the same time. If, for instance, I put the Rhino perspective view in 'render' mode and turn off the Octane window to move the view and then turn it back on again the adjusted image is fine ... I simply cannot move the views simultaneously except when using 'wire frame' in the Rhino perspective view (at full screen) on the primary monitor.

This is totally acceptable behavior, by the way. I was just not sure what to expect.

One last question for now. Would installing another cuda low cost card improve performance or should I perhaps just let be with what I have?

I mentioned some odd behavior with the grass obliterating the floor and rear wall of the building ??? This was an illusion, reflection in the glass.

Thanks for your patience with all this. I hope you won't be hearing from me for awhile.

eric