kensonuken Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 Does it mean that they provide that Unlimited render licenses for one license purchase? I got confused what this " Render Token " is all about. can anybody tell me what this really is ? does it mean that one can render using the command line as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 yes, you can render on the command line and Unlimited render tokens means just that...if you have a farm with 5000 nodes you can use it all... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kensonuken Posted August 13, 2008 Author Share Posted August 13, 2008 ohhhh my god it means that there is no need to buy standalone rendering software? then i can integrate this very well in the pipeline....? still unbelievable... what am I answering is right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kensonuken Posted August 13, 2008 Author Share Posted August 13, 2008 does mantra has anything similar to RIB for renderman? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 it's called an IFD http://odforce.net/wiki/index.php/Ifd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edward Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 ohhhh my god it means that there is no need to buy standalone rendering software? then i can integrate this very well in the pipeline....? still unbelievable... what am I answering is right? Well, sorta. You can effectively run as many mantra processes that you want on the farm. The catch is how you're gonna generate those IFDs/RIBs. If you want to do that on the farm as well, then you want Houdini batch licenses. I'm not in production so I'm not sure but you might be able to do with much lesser Houdini batch licenses than render tokens depending on the time it takes you to generate an .IFD/.RIB vs. actual rendering time. I think mantra is probably still much cheaper than a comparable setup for prman? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitallysane Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 ohhhh my god it means that there is no need to buy standalone rendering software? then i can integrate this very well in the pipeline....? still unbelievable... what am I answering is right? Yes. For some reason SESI has failed yet to properly communicate this amazing fact to their potential customers, so it mostly goes unnoticed. Basically mantra has free unlimited licenses when you purchase a houdini license (be it Escape or Master: it doesn't apply to Master only). Also, your interactive Houdini licenses (Escape or Master) can work as Batch licenses too. You can generate IFD's (which can be very fast or quite slow, depending on the scene), and then render them on as many nodes as you want. Dragos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kensonuken Posted August 14, 2008 Author Share Posted August 14, 2008 Ive few questions can anybody solve it? 1.Mantra seems to be a REYES renderer just like Prman so guys does this renderer renders faster and same quality as Prman? 2.Does the IFB format takes obj sequence directly instead of .bgeo? 3.Can I use both Displacement in parallel with Surface shaders? ( like I want to render out using normal maps + displacement + Phong model ) does it supports em? 4.Can I output multiple AOVs that too per lights? 5.Does layering of shaders allowed? 6.Raytracing passes saperately? 7. Can fur be rendered with same quality as PRman? 8. Are point clouds efficient? 9. What package from houdini needs to be installed on render nodes to make use of it as renderer? is it full Houdini? please clarify my questions so that I can buy Houdini Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 it might be best to download the Apprentice version and read through the documentation...most of the answers to these questions can be found there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kensonuken Posted August 14, 2008 Author Share Posted August 14, 2008 I have just one question left .... so if I use houdini compositing module then can i render using the render tokens? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malexander Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 No, the render tokens only apply to Mantra. All other output from Houdini - be it geometry, image or otherwise - uses either a non-graphical license (hbatch, hython) or a graphical license (houdini, hescape). The compositor uses one of these two licenses, depending on whether you're running a graphical version or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kensonuken Posted August 14, 2008 Author Share Posted August 14, 2008 lookup table option in compositing not working... ive generated a 3dlut from cinespace .itx format of size 32... but using lut is not working with the lookup node in the COP can anybody guide me what could be the way to use it properly? anybody tried? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted August 15, 2008 Share Posted August 15, 2008 1.Mantra seems to be a REYES renderer just like Prman so guys does this renderer renders faster and same quality as Prman?2.Does the IFB format takes obj sequence directly instead of .bgeo? 3.Can I use both Displacement in parallel with Surface shaders? ( like I want to render out using normal maps + displacement + Phong model ) does it supports em? 4.Can I output multiple AOVs that too per lights? 5.Does layering of shaders allowed? 6.Raytracing passes saperately? 7. Can fur be rendered with same quality as PRman? 8. Are point clouds efficient? 9. What package from houdini needs to be installed on render nodes to make use of it as renderer? is it full Houdini? 1. It's more than a REYES renderer - it has several modes, micropolygon, raytracing and PBR variations (Physically Based Rendering). Speed is definitely comparable. 2. You may be able to use the Delayed Load procedural to get Mantra to read .obj's instead of .bgeo's... I'm not sure - but I don't see why it wouldn't work. 3. Yes, I don't see why not... (unless I am misunderstanding your post) 4. Yes. (There is a Light export capability, you just need to make sure your shaders support it.) 5. No. Although if you're assembling shaders in VOPs, it's kinda nearly the same thing. Have you experimented with that? 6. You shaders would have to export the raytraced component into an AOV. 7. Mantra's fur rendering is very good, but I've not seen a direct comparison. 8. Yes (unless you use them wrong, of course). There is also the ability to write point clouds from Mantra. If you're mainly referring to point-clouds with SSS rendering - yes, it's really fast. 9. Any Houdini package would work. They are all shipped with Mantra. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kensonuken Posted August 15, 2008 Author Share Posted August 15, 2008 hey jason thanks alot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kensonuken Posted August 17, 2008 Author Share Posted August 17, 2008 I was checking almost all the features and got quiet impressed with its capabilities in fast rendering as well as quality rendering... But i believe one can use this for production use. I know that most of the big studios use Houdini only for Fx and not something for fur or any other thing... But really I didnt hear Mantra as Buzz word. Everybody use to speak only about Prman Prman ..... Ive used Gelato it was a good renderer but its speed is not upto the mark. Then I started to realize that any REYES based renderer gives good quality. But I was doubtful about speed. Coz when I used Sitex Air I found it as not a fast renderer as 3deli or Prman. But Pixie was also very good renderer but It has some bugs... Now i feel that Mantra is a very good one and can be used for intensive production purpose. All that I need to know is to configure it properly... thanks alot guys... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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