Animator not rendering the sky with Vray after crash

ntxdave · 12 Jan 2023, 20:59

You might try Twilight Render. I have used it with Animator and never had any problems.

DarkParadise · 13 Jan 2023, 16:58

Hi Dave,

thanks for the tip ! I'll give it a try with the hobby version... Are you aware of any limitation with this one ?

All the best,

Olivier

DarkParadise · 13 Jan 2023, 17:08

Dear Fredo,

I also tried with a prior version to the crash and the problem persits. So it's not due to some file corruption of some sort.

I uninstalled Vray and re-installed it, and the problems remains as it is:

It is so strange. Should I also try to uninstall/install Animator ?

thanks again for your support.

Olivier

ntxdave · 13 Jan 2023, 17:21

@darkparadise said:

Hi Dave,

thanks for the tip ! I'll give it a try with the hobby version... Are you aware of any limitation with this one ?

All the best,

Olivier

Not really. I have used it many times with Animator. They also have several tutorials and a good support team.

Let’em know I recommended them.

DarkParadise · 13 Jan 2023, 21:28

Dave, hi again !

I've installed Twilight 2 in Sketchup. Rendering seems fine with the render engine from the software itself, but I can't see it in the Generation of Video in Animator.

Any way to fix this ?

Thanks again,

Olivier

ntxdave · 13 Jan 2023, 22:34

I am having problems with my laptop so I cannot currently explore this for you, but Twilight Render should show up in the Generate Video toolbar. It has always been there for me. It has been quite a while so I cannot remember how to add it.

I would suggest you post in the Animator thread. Fredo is always pretty good at responding. You might also post the question in the Twilight Render forum.

Sorry I cannot run it to help you.

ntxdave · 15 Jan 2023, 00:25

Any resolution to your issue?

fredo6 · 15 Jan 2023, 11:57

@darkparadise said:

I also tried with a prior version to the crash and the problem persits. So it's not due to some file corruption of some sort.

I uninstalled Vray and re-installed it, and the problems remains as it is:

[attachment=0:3b2vx4d8]Vray vs vray and animator 20020113.JPG[/attachment:3b2vx4d8]

It is so strange. Should I also try to uninstall/install Animator ?

I don't think you need to uninstall Animator (the video management is in LibFredo6 anyway).

Likewise, if this happens with any model, I don't think this is useful to send me the model.

There must be a setting left in VRay which is used by the VRay API. So, I would recommend you post to the VRay forum, asking whether the API has a separate configuration versus the direct rendering within VRay.

ntxdave · 15 Jan 2023, 14:33

Why isn’t Twilight Render showing up for him in Animator?

DarkParadise · 16 Jan 2023, 13:49

Dear Dave,

Sorry for my silence, unfortunately no resolution yet. I'll try the vray forum as mentioned by fredo6 and will keep you both posted !

Thanks,

Olivier

DarkParadise · 16 Jan 2023, 14:16

@fredo6 said:

@darkparadise said:

I also tried with a prior version to the crash and the problem persits. So it's not due to some file corruption of some sort.

I uninstalled Vray and re-installed it, and the problems remains as it is:

[attachment=1:a4kjdtxc]Vray vs vray and animator 20020113.JPG[/attachment:a4kjdtxc]

It is so strange. Should I also try to uninstall/install Animator ?

I don't think you need to uninstall Animator (the video management is in LibFredo6 anyway).

Likewise, if this happens with any model, I don't think this is useful to send me the model.

There must be a setting left in VRay which is used by the VRay API. So, I would recommend you post to the VRay forum, asking whether the API has a separate configuration versus the direct rendering within VRay.

Dear Fredo,

the vray forum is locked unfortunately

[attachment=0:a4kjdtxc]vray forum locked.JPG[/attachment:a4kjdtxc]

Am I missing something ?

Thanks,

Olivier

ntxdave · 16 Jan 2023, 14:44

Did you ever get Twilight Render to show up?

Fletch · 17 Jan 2023, 15:52

So basic SketchUp animation and some plugins do work with Hobby, like the standard SketchUp animation, but Animator requires something we call "external control". It allows Animator to actually execute Twilight Render calls. And that is limited to Twilight Render Pro.

I just downloaded latest available versions for LibFredo6 and Animator and Twilight Render is appearing for me as an option using Twilight Render V2 Pro.

This machine is using Windows 10/(actually 11), SketchUp Pro 2022

I had to restart SU a couple times during install of "LibFredo6_v13.6a.rbz" and Animator_v3.8a.rbz but they eventually worked properly.

Step 1 set up the animation with Animator
Step 2 Set up frame rate and other settings in Animator>Generate Animation dialog

-choose Images Sequence
-Twilight Render
-set F/s

Step 3 Open Twilight Render animation dialog (Extensions>Twilight V2>Animation Editor), set resolution and render settings to use for Twilight to render animation

Step 4 Inside Twilight Render animation dialog, open the "Advanced" pulldown menu and set up your animation FPS to match that of your settings for the Generate Animation dialog in Animator.

set folder and name of animation sequence

Step 5 In "Generation of Video for Animator click the "Generate Video" button. It should start rendering using Twilight Render and placing the sequence of animated images in the "base image" folder you specified in Step 4.

We will see about creating a tutorial for this powerful animation plugin.

Rich O Brien · 17 Jan 2023, 16:11

@darkparadise said:

the vray forum is locked unfortunately

Am I missing something ?

Thanks,

Olivier

The official forum for vray hosted by chaos is open for business for licensed users

V-Ray for SketchUp - Chaos Forums

Chaos Forums (forums.chaos.com)

ntxdave · 17 Jan 2023, 21:37

@ntxdave said:

You might try Twilight Render. I have used it with Animator and never had any problems.

I found out it requires the Pro version of Twilight Render before it will show up and work with Animator.

It does work good though.

DarkParadise · 18 Jan 2023, 19:14

Dear Dave R, dear Fredo, dear (ntx)-Dave, dear Fletch and dear Rich,

many many thanks for all your support so far.

I realized many things in the course of this discussion:

-I should either get a pro version of Vray or twilight as it appears the test versions limit me to post question on forum (vray) or test the renderer with Animator (twilight). Not sure I can afford those for test purpose and artistic use that I practice as a hobby...
-As I'm thinking of creating an NFT Art Piece and given my PC and graphic cards capacity, I might need a pro with the right material to do the final rendering anyway (It takes me 1 min/frame for an 800*450 pix and if I wish to go that way, the resolution should be much higher). (@Fredo, if you know anybody willing to help me, speaking french, with experience in SU, Animator and Vray, let me know in private message.)
-I also had some discussion with a cabinetmaker and another woodworking professional that incite me to modify some part of my model (and hence redo the whole animation). I'll then be able to possibly retest the rendering part.

In any case, I'll keep you posted.

Thanks again for your inputs,

All the best,

Olivier

ntxdave · 18 Jan 2023, 19:41

Twilight Render is only $99. At least it currently is not a subscription so the $99 is a one time charge

Not all that expensive if you plan to use it for more projects in the future.

Wish you luck in what ever direction you go.