Front-end specific version?

[MichaelB]

So I am geared up to give this a go, but then it occurred to me that Autodesk, when selling mental ray standalone, sells front-end specific versions. From what I understand, they do this to make sure that all the appropriate shaders are shipped with it (which still doesn't make sense to me...why can't they make sure all standard shaders are shipped with standalone version? How many could one have that another doesn't? And isn't mr going to understand them all? I thought only the UI was differenet but the shader.dll was always compiled for mr. If you get the standalone version that is shipped for Max, couldn't you put any Maya specific shader dll's in the correct folder and render off a *.mi created in Maya? (or SoftImage?(and what about Houdini? what standalone version will roll with that?)))

So the question becomes...as a Max user, when I create a scene and send out a *mi file, will this work in the Cloud?

[Aquila]

Hi Michael,

when Autodesk ships a OEM version of mental ray, their first interest is to have a smooth installation and integration user experience with the respective Autodesk product. Shaders and maybe other additional material is their own intellectual property and makes for a good part in defining the uniqueness of the specific application. As all three major DCC applications (Max, Maya, XSI) are now with Autodesk, we will most probably see some standardization on the shader side from them.
The best that we could do for now with mental cloud direct, was to select the mental ray versions to match most closely with those used by the recently released DCC applications.

So the question becomes...as a Max user, when I create a scene and send out a *mi file, will this work in the Cloud?

As long as you have access to the necessary shaders, because you are already using a mental ray standalone distribution for Max, they should easily integrate with the default ones already contained in the AMI and mental ray should perform just as it would do on your local installation.

[Olaf Finkbeiner]

will the shaders that ship with max or maya not be ok?
do we at least need one mr standalone version of the respective dcc application?

kind regards

Olaf

[Aquila]

will the shaders that ship with max or maya not be ok?
do we at least need one mr standalone version of the respective dcc application?

The shaders used by Max and Maya should be ok, if they are for Linux-x86-64.
Sorry, I don't know actually how Autodesk ships their shaders and under what license conditions.

[MichaelB]

The shaders used by Max and Maya should be ok, if they are for Linux-x86-64.

Naturally, the default mental ray shaders (such as the lume, base, subsurface, etc.) that originated with mental images (and are across all standalone versions, regardless of dcc appliaction) will work just fine.
But how about the ones contained in the "3dsmaxshaders.dll" shader? does anyone know if Autodesk compiled it for Linux mr standalone?
(I don't have mr standalone for Max)

To put it another way, in addition to the cloud having several release versions of mr, are there also the various dcc versions? Or one version that includes the shaders from each dcc version?
I don't mean to sound thick, but there seems to be a few variables here.

A similar concern, the "mr Arch and Design" material I use in Max is a Max-specific material. Should that work straight away in the cloud or will it only work if it is made by using the "mia_material" shader inside a "standard mental ray material"? (does that make sense?)

On a related note, can I use my custom built shaders? Will I have access to the directory to temporarily drop my own shaders?

[Aquila]

To put it another way, in addition to the cloud having several release versions of mr, are there also the various dcc versions? Or one version that includes the shaders from each dcc version?

No, the AMI just contains plain mental ray with only shaders from mental images (mi_... mia_...).

I don't mean to sound thick, but there seems to be a few variables here.

Sure thing. Making cloud rendering work seamlessly with a DCC app needs more than simply putting mental ray on an AMI, which basically is what mental cloud direct is of today. And for more, the DCC app vendor has to be involved. Please take the current state as a BETA test (which is, what it says on top of the intro page) to probe waters and to give those who asked and can make use it right away the chance to do so.

A similar concern, the "mr Arch and Design" material I use in Max is a Max-specific material. Should that work straight away in the cloud or will it only work if it is made by using the "mia_material" shader inside a "standard mental ray material"? (does that make sense?)

I sincerely hope that shaders of the same name just behave the same (minus versioning). But for some expert opinion, you should go around the corner to the mental ray/3dsmax forum.

On a related note, can I use my custom built shaders? Will I have access to the directory to temporarily drop my own shaders?

Yes, after the instance is booted you'll have full root access to tweak, add and remove everything as you like.