Particles rendering differently on different machines

[Pete]

Hi there,

Just wondering about how people deal with this issue.
I often find with Softimage that if i set off a particle fx render across multiple machines, I'll often end up with slightly different frames. So how do people deal with this? Do you have to cache everything?

Thanks
Pete

[caledonian_tartan]

if you're about to render simulations on multiple machines it's very important to cache them first.

[Pete]

Okay thanks,
I'll have to get in the routine of doing that.

[Pete]

So would you usually use the cache on file node? Or the cache manager?

[NNois]

For beginners the cache on files, cache manager etc is a real pain, since you have to deal with a second set of clouds (or scenes) for rendering

The easiest, and always working way is caching the whole environment.

-In the explorer, switch to environment, then open the active one then tick in the second tab the "cache on playback" box.
-Play your animation from the start to the end to write it.
-When it's done, tick the lock cache button.
Done, test with scrub your timeline

PS, this is a real ice cache so if needed you can use this cached files for the cache on file node or the mixer.

[Pete]

Hey thanks!
I just spent I while trying to get my head around cache manager and it seems pretty weird. Some parts feel a bit broken. I ended up using cache on file, but I was wondering, how do you control what attributes are being cached through that?

Thanks
Pete

[NNois]

this is where using the environment cache is good, this cache all... used attributes (i think) ... so be carefull, if you plan to use some post simulation things not present when you cache, try to display unused attributes or use the emtools "force evaluation" compound, this would be ok after that