Problem with Mayatorm creating enormous .mi file

[batsans]

Hi,
I'm using mentalray standalone345 with Maya7.0.
To create my mi files, I'm using the mel command :

Mayatomr -mi -bin -cam $camera -xp "00a00a00a0" -pf 0 -file $sceneName;

I'm trying to render a scene but my problem is that Mayatomr creates enormous mi file, (I think it re-defines all the scene for every frames and for every render layers)
exemple with a scene containing 3 render layers:
Mi file for 1 frame 1 renderLayer ~ 150Mo
Mi file for 1 frame 3 renderLayer ~ 455Mo
Mi file for 10 frame 3 renderLayer ~ 4,5Go

I need help please!! What am I doing wrong ?
thanks

[mattMR]

hello,

I think try to set different mi files for each pass, because maya wrote 3 times your scene by passes and by frame... so it's enormous, try to exprot each layers in 3 differents files. it'll be light. also, your memory will be flood by the file, and your render time will be increase.

An other way try MR liquid, it's an other translator for maya and mentalray, and the scene description is different and many time faster. With it you can make "on demand geometry", it writes geometry in mi object file that'll be load in the memory only when mentalray need it, same as renderman rib files. so only a bounding box will be convert during the translation so your file will be light because it's only, 3 times bounding box will be convert. the passes setting is different than maya 7 passes, so you can make passes with MRLiquid. Or if you want use Mayatomr and make on demand geometry, try to use the placeholders and the Paolo Berto's technique (saw in the dvd from alias "custom shaders"), to make the same effect from MRLiquid bake geometry. In the 2 ways, with use of geometry on demand, your mi files will be light normally

I hope that will help you.

>Matt.

ps : again sorry for my English

[batsans]

thank you for your answer Matt,

I have already tried to create a mi file per layer but the problem is the same :
for 10 frames, every file is about 1.5Go, so I reach the same total.

must exist another solution , or I will never be able to render my animation !!

thanks

[mattMR]

hello,

Try to use "on demand geometry" to force MR to call object on demand, to have only "box" or placeholders translate by maya2mr, or try MRLiquid "bake geometry" to bake static or animated object that have many polygons, and after reconnect your shaders (shaders use for the different passes) to the new bounding box created.

example : if you have an object with 20 000 faces and you bake it with MRLiquid, the object created by MRLiquid will be only a box (6 faces), who have the size of your model and have a special node that call your high model only when MR need it.

MRLiquid doesn't translate all function of maya for the moment, but if you have no very special effect it maybe interesting for you. you can see information about it at :

http://www.putfile.com/gga73

and found MRLiquid to :

http://sourceforge.net/projects/mrliqui ... .com/gga73

But if you want to use maya2mr, you can also use the trick from Paolo Berto saw in "mentalray custom shaders" from alias.

you can also mail me if you want to send you a simple scene who contains "on demand geometry".

Good luck

ps : in all ways you'll have heavy geometry in mi file somewhere, but on demand is only one model with all view enable, so more light than in all frame.

>Matt.

[timefly]

you could try to add the miAnimated custom attribut to all static objects (eg. environment....can also just be added to the very topgroup node and will travel down the hierachy...if applicable), this makes it so that it only needs to export the object(s) for the first frame, and reuse it for all subsequent frames (pr. packet usually...if you use a rendermanager like say..smedge, try to keep a good sized packet for you purpose..might be some rendertime to gain)

Cheers

C

[batsans]

Thanks for your help,

I have found the problem:
to export a layer, this layer must be the only renderable layer in the scene.
as it, it will use incremental changes, else all the scene is defined at every frame.