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Author Topic: Strange Problems with DBR  (Read 6606 times)

c0cllc

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Strange Problems with DBR
« on: October 14, 2012, 09:32:37 AM »
Everytime i try to render with DBR i get the following errors:

LINK 1.0      6 MB error  191007: cannot load .\shaders_standard\mentalray\shaders/SubstanceShader.dll, The specified module could not be found.
LINK 1.0      6 MB error  191012: Unable to load file: SubstanceShader.dll
LINK 1.n      9 MB error  191007: cannot load SubstanceShader.dll, The specified module could not be found.
LINK 1.n      9 MB error  191012: Unable to load file: SubstanceShader.dll
LINK 1.n      9 MB error  191007: cannot load .\shaders_autoload\mentalray\shaders/FShader3.dll, The specified module could not be found.
LINK 1.n      9 MB error  191012: Unable to load file: FShader3.dll
LINK 1.n      9 MB error  191007: cannot load .\shaders_autoload\mentalray\shaders/RCShader.dll, The specified module could not be found.
LINK 1.n      9 MB error  191012: Unable to load file: RCShader.dll

I'm running 3ds max design 2013, freshly installed yesterday with the latest PU5...I can't figure out what might be wrong...All the files mentioned in the above error log are at their correct places - so something else i wrong. Without using DBG there are no errors, by the way.

I MIGHT GUESS it's not a Forrest problem, but the problem ist the newly introduced "NVIDIA" folder, which replaced the "mentalimages" folder? So when in DBR mode, there might be a bug looking for the mentalimages folder instead of NVIDIA. Possibly a newly introduced bug with PU5?
« Last Edit: October 14, 2012, 10:06:08 AM by c0cllc »

iToo

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Re: Strange Problems with DBR
« Reply #1 on: October 14, 2012, 10:29:32 AM »

This is a known problem of Max 2013. By some reason, the Mental Ray service cannot load the shaders which have dependences of other DLLs.

We opened a support case in Autodesk about this issue some months ago, but they have not solved it yet. Futhermore... it seems that now fails with their own shaders as well. :-\

I will write to them again. Unfortunately, there are not workarounds at this time.

This problem was described in the release notes of Forest 3.9.2 (the first version with Max 2013 support), but the note gone deep in the text. I will copy it for each new release until the problem is solved, so everyone is warned.

Carlos Quintero
iToo Software

c0cllc

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Re: Strange Problems with DBR
« Reply #2 on: October 14, 2012, 10:58:13 AM »
UNBELIEVABLE.  :o

And i pay 1200€ subscription fee for Autodesk Building Design Suite Premium to wait months for a working DBR.

They should really learn from you - Forrest itself never let me down.

c0cllc

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Re: Strange Problems with DBR
« Reply #3 on: October 15, 2012, 08:44:26 PM »
After posting a support question in my subscription center, i was called by an Autodesk employee. Do You know WHAT he told me?

"DBR is not much used, not so important and that’s why this case would need a lot more months before they have time to fix it.
And - 3rd party developers are responsible for their own shaders, and by the way, even the SubstanceShader is not from Autodesk but 3rd party!"

WOW!
I told him, does he believe, that popping up error messages while rendering in a final, freshly installed product helps nice for rising sales?...


Very bad, seems we are stuck with backburner.

OMG.
« Last Edit: October 15, 2012, 08:46:09 PM by c0cllc »

iToo

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Re: Strange Problems with DBR
« Reply #4 on: October 15, 2012, 09:11:49 PM »

Well, the real problem with Mental Ray is that it is not an Autodesk product either. The engine was originally developed by Mental Images, and recently purchased by NVidia. Unfortunately the integration with Max always was very problematic.

Probably this is the reason that 80% of our customers use other render engines (VRay mainly).

And yes, 3rd party developers are responsible of their own shaders... except if Autodesk breaks the compatibilty with previous versions.

Carlos Quintero
iToo Software

c0cllc

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Re: Strange Problems with DBR
« Reply #5 on: October 18, 2012, 11:50:45 PM »
Do you think we will ever be able to use DBR with Forrest again?...

I mostly use DBR for my workflow, not for final rendering. But it really speeds up the workflow of trial & error interim renderings.

Alejandro

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Re: Strange Problems with DBR
« Reply #6 on: October 19, 2012, 09:02:29 AM »
You could try copying the old folder structure (mental ray instead of nvidia) in your 2013 directory, just in case.

iToo

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Re: Strange Problems with DBR
« Reply #7 on: October 19, 2012, 09:11:01 AM »
Do you think we will ever be able to use DBR with Forrest again?...

I don't know. We are in contact now with Autodesk about this issue, i hope they provide us a solution.

Carlos Quintero
iToo Software

c0cllc

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Re: Strange Problems with DBR
« Reply #8 on: October 21, 2012, 05:43:23 PM »
we have a working solution for the substanceshader.dll, maybe forrest/railclone need something similar:

Quote
Looks like it was just a simple path error.
Any shaders that need dependance’s from the Max root folder
just fail.

on my system max root = C:\Program Files\Autodesk\3ds Max 2013
change the following to reflect your Max root.

on win 7 go:
Start->Computer->System Properties->Advanced System Settings
In the Advanced tab click “Environment Variables”

In the “System variables” scroll down to “path” click “edit”
In the “Variable Value” box go to the end of the text and add
;C:\Program Files\Autodesk\3ds Max 2013
Note that’s a colon ; and your path to max root with no trailing slash
Click OK on all the dialogs
Reboot

You’ll need to do this for all the hosts/slaves
So far this has worked for me…
Let me know if that helps :)
billP

This ist from here:
http://area.autodesk.com/forum/autodesk-3ds-max/autodesk-3ds-max--3ds-max-design-2013/issues-with-dbr-unable-to-load-file/

So might be we need another root in the "environmant variables" to be added for the autoload_shaders?...
« Last Edit: October 21, 2012, 05:45:37 PM by c0cllc »

c0cllc

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Re: Strange Problems with DBR
« Reply #9 on: October 21, 2012, 06:18:04 PM »
UPDATE:

the above posted methog WORKS for all VISTA and Windows 7 systems, Forrest & Railclone run perfectly in DBR!!!

Just my Windows XP 64 bit systems continue to report the error. Will need more investigation.

iToo

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Re: Strange Problems with DBR
« Reply #10 on: October 22, 2012, 09:36:06 AM »

Yes, it works !!!

If i remember well, we tried this trick some time ago, but i just realized why it didn't work: it is necessary to restart the Mental Ray Satellite service once added the path.

Also originally there was other problem: shaders could not be loaded from "shaders_autoload" folder, although they work from "shaders_3rdparty". This issue is already fixed in Product Update 5.

Thanks for your help !  ;)

Carlos Quintero
iToo Software

c0cllc

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Re: Strange Problems with DBR
« Reply #11 on: October 23, 2012, 04:59:53 PM »
Glad i could be of help, i just have the problem with my XP 64bit Systems now (all my slaves are with this OS). The trick doesn't work for them :(

iToo

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Re: Strange Problems with DBR
« Reply #12 on: October 23, 2012, 05:04:43 PM »

Please, see the following post. Perhaps it is the same problem:

http://www.itoosoft.com/forum/index.php?topic=781.0

Carlos Quintero
iToo Software

c0cllc

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Re: Strange Problems with DBR
« Reply #13 on: October 23, 2012, 08:49:08 PM »
WOW, thank you!


That didn't work, but i tried with putting the file directly in the NVIDIA root DIR of Max and THAT WORKS!

So i checked then what happens if i remove the additional text from the Environment variables: error pops up again.

So that means for Windows XP:

- you need to do the fix in the environment variables
- you need to copy the "dbghelp.dll" from the <3dsmax_installdir> directly to <3dsmax_installdir>\NVIDIA\

That's it! By adding pieces together between billp, iToo and me, we solved this huge Autodesk problem.

 :)