I keep thinking I'm going to search the forum one of these days to see if this has been addressed yet, but I just haven't had the time. (it's been about 8 months I think :P) I'm also posting this as more of a bug report than a support request as I don't really have the time to mess with it atm. Let me know if more info is needed here.
The problem occurred when I combined an inverted crater with altitude constrained displacement using a warp shader, added water at the base and set the camera close to the crater catching its reflection. Increasing the distance from the two will eventually allow you to complete rendering. Also doing a crop render to exclude the reflections (the lower left corner of my project) will allow a render to complete.
I've stripped down the file to include primarily the offending elements and included it below. As I was getting the file ready I noticed that the latest version (or maybe my current install) isn't rendering the crater now (preview window or renderer) unless you move the camera quite a distance away. The GI samples at the beginning of a render clearly show it's presence however.
My guess is that the problem(s?) is related more to the warping and not so much the water reflection. The water is just where the prob becomes evident and causes the crash.
Anyone interested in seeing the rendered protect (with a photoshopped lower left corner) I've posted it over here (http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=3909.0). ;)
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If you're a registered Deep (or Deep+Animation) user I suggest trying this in the newly released Technology Preview 3 (you should have received an email with the link by now). If you'd rather not muck with an "unstable" release you can try in the upcoming beta. It may well have been fixed...
- Oshyan
Thanks Oshyan, I will give it a try as soon as I can and post the results.
-Sardine