GPU jobs

RR has a job flag "GPU required".

This flag has no influence on the rendering or render application.

It only tells tells the rrServer if a job can be send to a client.

In addition, there is a rrJob setting "GPU in Appmode required".
If this is checked, then the rrClient must be runnnig in Application Mode (See further down this page).

This option is required for nVidia cards if your renderer uses OpenGL

(CUDA and AMD GPUs are not affected by this nVidia driver limitation).

Windows openGL GPU Issues

Houdini GPU simulation and openGL renderers cannot access the graphic hardware if they are executed by a service, like rrServer in service mode. This limitation does not apply to CUDA renderers like Redshift.

If you want to render with a openGL on windows, you have these 2 options:

1. App mode only.
   You have to disable the RoyalRender service, then start RR/win__rrClient.bat
   If you restart the machine or logout, then the rrClient is closed and the machine cannot render any more.
   
   
2. Dual mode.
   If you start the rrClient in app mode, then it disabled the service client.
   If you restart the machine or logout, then the service takes over again.
   Please see this help page “Dual Mode”.
   
   
3. Software openGL
   There are some openGL libraries that emulate a GPU.
   For example a openGL.dll file available on rexoweb.com (written for Blender, but might work for other apps as well)
   If you copy this openGL.dll to a network folder and define PATH= mypath;<PATH> in your setenv rrEnv file, the app should load this first.
   BUT: this will be CPU and not GPU rendering and therefore slower. (And I assume it uses 1 CPU core only).
   
   

Dual Mode:  background service +  application mode

To start the client in application mode, you can just add a link to the file RR\win_rrClient.bat file and place it into your "Startup" start-menu folder.

The disadvantage of the application mode is that you have to login on the machine. 

And if you have not setup an auto-login, then the rrClient is not running if you startup/reboot the machine.

Therefore you can run two clients on the same machine.

One in background service mode and one in application mode.

Keep the service running as usual (Installed via rrWorkstationInstaller).

Create a link to RR/win_rrClient.bat (via right-click in windows explorer).

Edit the properties and add the commandline flag -UITakeOverService

The interactive client will start and stays in an invisible mode.

The service client will disable itself, but it does NOT abort a render that is in progress.

Once the service is disabled, the service puts itself into invisible mode.

And the interactive client takes over.

You might want to use additional commandline flags like:

Change user account

The rrClient will run with the rights of the user logged in.

It is possible to start the rrClient with the user account of the rrService user.

Please execute

RR/bin/win/rrStartLocal -serviceuser -localTempPath C:\temp    rrClient -UITakeOverService ....