Problems with New NWDA Default scene

[DanielHruby]

If I up the render resolution in this Default scene to something like 1500 pixels wide, I see the initial irradiance pass (the light sampling dots at the beginning of the render process) but then i get a black render.  If I reduce the image to 1200 pixels, I will get a correct render.  I have 11 GB of ram on an 8 core MacPro.  Is there a setting I need to tinker with to get larger res output?

[Henry Blewer]

Did you wait long enough for the image to draw? I get the 'dot' pass, and then a portion of the image goes black as the final render pass starts. Post a small thumbnail of the image if everything final renders black, with the tgo file. Both will be needed for diagnostics.

[FrankB]

I have no idea why this would be the case, but does it also happen when you use a heightfield instead of the fractal terrain?
I think I took care not have too small scales in the fractals, which sometimes can create weird irritations. So if you don't use the fractal terrain, does the problem go away?

Frank

[rcallicotte]

I know this might sound like an insult, but it isn't.  Did you check to see that your camera is above the surface of the ground?

[Henry Blewer]

LOL, I have found that my camera is sometimes beneath the ground... It's embarrassing to admit, but it happens sometimes when I don't allow the preview window to render out enough; 80% seems to be enough of a check.

[DanielHruby]

YEah, I am sure I am above the terrain.  Like I said, ther is a cuttoff point in image resolution where it all goes black.  Here is 1000x571


I just lowered teh resolution to 800 x 457 and it came out all black.  That is counterintuitive to what I thought was happening, which is an increase in size killed it.  In this case, a decrease made it black.  I dont know what it is, but maybe this image will give a clue.

My preview window looks fine and I can see the right looking image in the dots before it all goes black.

[rcallicotte]

It looks like you have an object in there.  Maybe you should send the TGD for people to inspect.

[DanielHruby]

All I do is open the Default file as it is downloaded from site, goto render settings, and set the size to something like 2000 pixels wide and hit render.  I get a black image even though I can see the dots show  a terrain and my preview looks good.  If I reduce to 1000 pixels, the rendering works.

[cyphyr]

So just to be clear (sorry its been a long day ) is there an object in the top right of your image? If there is testing could be problematic without the object itself...

Richard

[DanielHruby]

I add nothing to the file.  I open it as it is from the download and change the size to 2000 pixels wide.  The current camera is looking down to the ground.  It seems somewhat random. I managed today to get a 2000 pixel image to render.  Then I rotated my view to look horizontally across to the nearby mountain and when I render, the image goes black as it renders.... see here..... this is 1/2 way through the rendering. Just to be clear, the menu bar does eventually say finished rendering and I have a black image.  If I change the resolution to 1000 pixels, I get the second image.sorry for the image size...

[dandelO]

If there isn't an object there, I have absolutely no idea what that is. That's one of the strangest TG render errors I've seen, especially since there are no triangles in the black area, all edges are squared.

EDIT: The large image posted at the same time I posted this looks to be a normal enough render, it's normal for the GI prepass to disappear at the start of rendering. At only 6m 53 seconds in, this appears to be just that happening. Does it not begin to render at all after that and how long are you leaving it open before you shut it down?
I've still no idea what that black thing is in the other image.

[cyphyr]

Very odd indeed, since this is a free give away from NWDA, you could upload the file here so people could try some dissection ... I know you have said you have changed nothing but I think this is unlikely, sorry but I have dl'd the scene too and it looks different on my pc, you've moved the camera, activated the clouds and probably some other stuff too. Now obviously this is something you should be doing (otherwise there would be thousands of default renders out there lol) but it dose make it difficult to see what the problem may be. Given that this is an NWDA original file they're your first port of call but also given that its a free "what you see is what you get" give away file they are probably busy with  other projects. So if you upload the file maybe we could find out what the issue is.
Couple of things spring to mind right away. Have you got any luminous or reflective surfaces in your scene? Are any of the render settings or quality settings set to a high value. (atmo sample over 512, GI/Detail at 4 etc)
cheeers
Richard

[rcallicotte]

I agree with Cyphyr.  Upload your file so we can check it out with you.

[DanielHruby]

Here is the file I used.  This problem occurs on my home mac as well as my office mac.  Both 8 core MacPros.  I was able to get a 2500 pixel image to render if I did nothing to the camera orientation.

[url="http://files.me.com/danielhruby/sw4wbs"]http://files.me.com/danielhruby/sw4wbs[/url]

So, in this example, I changed nothing except a minor rotation in the camera to see the horizon and a nearby mountain peak.  I render the full render camera at default resolution and I get this:


I only change the resolution to 1500 wide and I get this a couple minutes through:


and final image looks like this:



So, there is no way I have an object in my way or I am buried.  Or the first rendering would not look correct either.  Something related to size of rendering is causing this.  The earlier post seems to capture the effect of a spherical anomaly that is blackening out the image.  By luck, perhaps, i chose a resolution that just barley clips the anomaly.  Presumably, the sphere is not married to any of the camera position axes. Or it would be centered on the view. no?

[neuspadrin]

download doesnt work for me.

ahh, the link is getting screwy.
http://files.me.com/danielhruby/sw4wbs

should work.

the render is working just fine for my computer (vista 64bit).  did the same thing you did.  basically.  Try forcing your render to use only 1 core and see if that works?  Under your render settings, go to the advanced tab, and set both min and max threads to 1 and try rendering again.  

below is my render.  also, it took my quad core with 4 gigs of ram just under 7 minutes to render this while on skype, watching hulu, programming, and few other various programs up.  It took your 8 core 11 gigs ram 12 over minutes?  Sounds like core/memory issues perhaps.

And for the smaller render, it took me 1:17 to render, again ~half the time it took yours.