fryrender F.A.Q.
1.- General Questions
Q.- What platforms are supported by fryrender?
Q.- Are there any plans to develop plugins for any other 3D platforms?
Q.- Which computer should I buy to take full advantage of fryrender?
Q.- Can fryrender do network rendering?
Q.- When will the next version of fryrender be released?
2.- Licensing Questions
Q.- What is the difference between a MASTER and a SLAVE license?
Q.- Do I need to buy each plugin separately?
Q.- What type of licensing system is used by fryrender?
Q.- What happens if I buy a new computer or I reinstall the one I activated the software for?
3.- Basic Installation Questions
Q.- Do I need to install any redistributables or runtime modules in order to run fryrender?
Q.- I am using Windows Vista and the plugins don't seem to work
Q.- I just installed the software but can't find the plugins. Where are they?
Q.- How do I install the plugin I need?
Q.- I get a DirectX crash when I start the real-time viewport in the standalone. What's wrong?
4.- Basic Plugin Questions
Q.- What 3D platforms are supported?
Q.- What kind of geometry is exported to fryrender?
Q.- I'm having problems loading the 64-bit plugin for Softimage | XSI 6.5. The addon won't load.
5.- Basic Engine Questions
Q.- How accurate is the simulation performed by fryrender?
Q.- fryrender is a spectral render engine. What does that mean?
Q.- fryrender is an unbiased render engine. What does that mean?
1.- General Questions
Q.- What platforms are supported by fryrender?
A.- Regarding what Operating Systems our render engine is compatible with, fryrender and its plugins run under Microsoft Windows XP, x64, and Vista, both in 32-bit and 64-bit.
Regarding what host 3D applications our engine has a plugin for, there are fryrender plugins for 3DStudio MAX, Cinema 4D, Lightwave, Rhinoceros, Maya, SketchUP Pro, and Softimage|XSI.
Q.- Are there any plans to develop plugins for any other 3D platforms?
A.- Yes, although we can't disclose which ones or when they will be available. All that we can tell is that any new plugins will be released as soon as they're finished and tested.
Q.- I own a multi-core / multi-CPU computer. Will fryrender take advantage of all the CPU power my computer has?
A.- Definitely. fryrender is fully multi-threaded and has been carefully designed to take advantage of all the CPUs / cores in your system.
Q.- Which computer should I buy to take full advantage of fryrender?
A.- The more powerful your processor(s) are, the better. It is also recommended to get a machine as capable of multi-threading as possible (dual or quad core / dual or quad CPU) because brute CPU power is the only factor that makes a difference in terms of render time.
However, if you are going to deal with massive scenes, or want to achieve really high render resolutions, you will need to invest in RAM. Again, the higher the amount of RAM, the bigger the scenes and output resolutions you will be able to handle.
Q.- Can fryrender do network rendering?
A.- Yes. fryrender standalone will detect the machines on your network and will let you deploy render jobs to them. You'll be able to render simultaneously in as many network nodes as you have a license for.
Q.- Is fryrender easy to use?
A.- Yes, very easy. fryrender has been designed to have a very fast learning curve and some basic knowledge in 3D is all that you need to get started. For example, all the operations and parameters are available from the plugins, so you don't need to learn a new application beyond your host modeller of choice in order to use fryrender. Furthermore, since fryrender is unbiased and physically-based, all the complex effects such as Global Illumination, caustics, etc... happen automatically. There are very few parameters that you need to take care about, so you can focus on your creativity instead of on the technical side of the engine.
Q.- When will the next version of fryrender be released?
A.- When it's done.
2.- Licensing Questions
Q.- What is the difference between a MASTER and a SLAVE license?
A.- A MASTER license is one you can use to create and render scenes, while a SLAVE license is one you can use to render scenes, only.
SLAVE licenses only operate if there is at least one MASTER license present in the same LAN.
If, for example, you own 5 machines connected to the same LAN, and want to use them all to render, you will need 1 MASTER for your workstation, and 4 SLAVES for the rest of machines. With this configuration you will be enabled to create scenes in your workstation, and render in all the machines.
Note that you can have as many MASTER and as many SLAVE licenses in the same network as you need. Any configuration is valid, with the only restriction that each LAN where you want to use fryrender needs at least one MASTER license running.
As of 2008, we are selling each MASTER package with 2 extra SLAVE licenses for free. Additional SLAVE licenses must be purchased separately.
Q.- Do I need to buy each plugin separately?
A.- No, not at all. The fryrender setup includes all the plugins available. In fact, every time a new plugin is released it is included in the setup to be released along with the next fryrender build.
So, when you buy fryrender, you are buying all of its plugins at once.
Q.- What type of licensing system is used by fryrender?
A.- fryrender uses a software-based licensing system.
Each MASTER license is assigned a unique ID, and each machine yields a unique activation code. When a reactivation is necessary, the customer sends us both numbers by email and we reply with an activation file that unlocks the software.
Note that because of this, MASTER licenses are node-locked (not floating).
Q.- What happens if I buy a new computer or I reinstall the one I activated the software for?
A.- All you have to do is request a reactivation by email, using the procedure described above. Reactivations are free of charge.
3.- Basic Installation Questions
Q.- Do I need to install any redistributables or runtime modules in order to run fryrender?
A.- Most computers (particularly those which have been updated regularly) don't need any extra redistributables other than just the very fryrender setup in order to install and run fryrender.
However, in some 64-bit machines you may need to install the following Microsoft package:
Microsoft Visual C 2005 Redistributable Package (x64)
Also, fryrender's viewport is DX9c/DX10 based, so you may need to upgrade to DirectX 9c if you are using Windows XP (Vista comes with DirectX 10 pre-installed).
Q.- I am using Windows Vista and the plugins don't seem to work
A.- fryrender's setup installs a .DLL file in the system folder, which is shared by all the plugins. This operation is perfectly transparent in Windows XP, but Windows Vista prevents applications from having access to the system folders as long as the User Account Control (UAC) is enabled.
There are two ways to circumvent the UAC to install the necessary .DLL successfully:
1- Disable UAC in the Control Panel
2- Right click the setup, and select Run as Administrator (much simpler)
Q.- I just installed the software but can't find the plugins. Where are they?
A.- All the plugins are included in the setup and are installed under the /plugins folder in the installation directory. So, assuming that you didn't change the default installation folder, you will find them in c:/randomcontrol/fryrender/plugins32 or c:/randomcontrol/fryrender/plugins64.
Q.- How do I install the plugin I need?
A.- Detailed instructions on how to install each plugin are available in the Quick Start Guide of fryrender, and in the User Manual, which you will find both in the very installation package, and in the Documentation section of this website.
Q.- I get a DirectX crash when I start the real-time viewport in the standalone. What's wrong?
A.- You may need to upgrade your computer to a newer version of DX9c. Any recent version of DX9c should do the trick, but for your convenience, the versions available through the links below have been tested and are more than enough to run the real-time viewport in the standalone:
Microsoft DirectX 9c (November 2008) from www.microsoft.com
Microsoft DirectX 9c (March 2009) from www.microsoft.com
4.- Basic Plugin Questions
Q.- What 3D platforms are supported?
A.- You can find an exhaustive and always up-to-date list in the Plugins & Compatibility section of this website.
Q.- What kind of geometry is exported to fryrender?
A.- The fryrender plugins understand polygonal geometry.
Some packages work partially or entirely with other types of surfaces such as NURBS, though. In those cases, whenever possible, the plugin will transform those surfaces into polygons internally and export them to fryrender as polygonal geometry. All types of geometry which can’t be transformed into polygons (such as particles or splines without a thickness splines) won’t be exported or rendered.
Q.- The Rhino plugin displays the message: 'Unable to load fry_rhino.rhp plug-in: Dependent DLL is missing'
A.- Our plugin for Rhinoceros is built on McNeel's RDK, which you can download from McNeel's RDK site.
Q.- Are the fry plugins compatible with other 3rd party plugins? How about my SuperPeople? and UltraPlants?
A.- Despite not being supported explicitly, they usually are compatible as long as the 3rd party plugins generate geometry which can be exported to fryrender. This includes procedural plant/people plugins. Regarding the materials used by those 3rd party plugins, the fryrender plugins include an automatic material converter, which will deal with each 3D package's standard materials, but not with other 3rd party renderers or proprietary material systems.
Q.- I can't load any of the 64-bit plugins for Maya. I get an 'Error: Unable to dynamically load...' message
A.- First, make sure that the file frysdk64.dll is available on your C:\Windows\system32 folder.
Also, under certain circumstances you may need to install the following package:
Microsoft Visual C 2005 Redistributable Package (x64)
Q.- I'm having problems loading the 64-bit plugin for Softimage | XSI 6.5. The addon won't load.
A.- Please install these two Microsoft packages:
Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable (x64)
Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 SP1 Redistributable (x64)
5.- Basic Engine Questions
Q.- How accurate is the simulation performed by fryrender?
A.- fryrender does not use any cheats, simplifications, or shortcuts at all in the computations it performs. Also, all the elements involved in the simulation (cameras, materials, ...) are strictly physically-based. Last, but not least, fryrender is an unbiased render engine.
Putting this all together, it is safe to say that fryrender is as accurate as a light simulator can be.
Q.- fryrender is a spectral render engine. What does that mean?
A.- Traditional render engines encode light and colors using the RGB model. In fryrender, light transport is modeled with real wavelengths. This is called spectral rendering.
Spectral rendering has several key advantages in terms of accuracy. Also, spectral rendering allows for the simulation of certain natural phenomena like light dispersion, thin-film coating interference, etc... not feasible with the old RGB model.
Q.- fryrender is an unbiased render engine. What does that mean?
A.- unbiased rendering means that no interpolation or bias is introduced in the image during the render process.
The most remarkable property of unbiased rendering is that provided enough render time, the image will converge to an exact solution, without the introduction of artifacts of any kind.
Another remarkable property is the absence of technology-related parameters. Unbiased light simulation accounts for all the effects involved in the render process without the need of any configuration. There are no confusing antialiasing settings, photon mapping settings, cache settings, etc... The light simulation performed will converge to the correct solution automatically.
This all leads not only to strikingly photo-real results, but also to a very fast learning curve, and a high degree of comfort for the user.
