Render nodes appear to render different seeds

[HJ2813]

So here's an interesting problem we've been facing at our studio... We have a 6 machine render farm with 3 Boxx systems and 3 custom blades. All software is running the same versions, directories are all pointed at our NAS to the best of my knowledge.

I'm currently rendering out an animation and have a couple different sets of environments I'm running through. My first run went fine with the full farm on it, but every scene since it appears as though the custom blades are rendering a different seed for the distribution of items. I've double and triple checked to make sure it isn't a texture issue and made sure all systems are running the same version, but I'm at a loss as to why this could be happening. The Boxx systems all seem to work fine, and prior to Friday this hadn't been an issue.

The interesting part is when I switch the FP objects to item mode the issue disappears, which is why I'm convinced the blades are rendering a different seed value.

I believe we're running Forest Pack Pro 6.1.1, Max 2019, and VRay 4.30.1. Anybody have any advice on how to fix this without essentially baking the placement of all FP items?

[iToo]

Hi, please try to reproduce the problem in a simplified scene with only the problematic Forest objects.
You also may replace the geometry with a simplified model (as a box), to test it faster (that should not affect the seed).

If it also fails, please send us the file to take a look to it.

Thanks,

[HJ2813]

Thanks for getting back Carlos. I'll try to reproduce it with simple geometry first thing tomorrow morning. It may not necessarily be a problem with the file and rather some way our network is set up. The odd thing though is we've been working with this same setup for months without issue and to my knowledge nothing has changed outside of perhaps a windows update. I'll get back tomorrow as soon as I'm able to reproduce it in a smaller scene.

[iToo]

Ok. According to our experience, this problem happens only on exceptional circumstances, as nodes running different Forest versions or a rare bug (we have not similar issues reported). Windows updates should not affect it.

Perhaps a specific scene would cause problems, as Forest objects using references which change while rendering, and that modifies the distribution, but this is very rare as well.

[HJ2813]

I wouldn't think Windows updates would affect it but I can't really identify anything else that would have changed or updated recently.

So far this morning I've been unable to replicate the issue in a new scene using primitive objects, but I am able to replicate it using the FP objects created for the scenes I've been having trouble with. As mentioned, it only happens on three of the 6 render nodes so I'm not certain you'll be able to replicate it on your end.

I've already reinstalled Forest Pack to be absolutely sure it was on the same version as well, and I don't believe any references are changing that I can observe.

I've packed the file up, but it's still about 600MB. I'll send a file transfer directly to support to see if you can identify any issues.

[iToo]

If possible, please send us also some screenshots, to see what changes exactly.  Thanks.