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<TITLE>Re: [Paraview] remote rendering with paraview</TITLE>
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<DIV id=idOWAReplyText59148 dir=ltr>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>Hi,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thanks for the information. Two quick
follow-up questions.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial size=2>In case 1 below (where the server reads the
file and executes filtering operations but does</FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial size=2>no rendering), is it worthwhile to do an
mpirun pvserver in this mode? Will the server do parallel
work</FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial size=2>in this case?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial size=2>In case 2 below (where the server
optionally renders the polygons), why is it necessary to set the</FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial size=2>DISPLAY to the gfx head of the server
(things are displayed on the PC) Why is the DISPLAY environment</FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial size=2>needed at all for this off-screen rendering
case?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial size=2>Does mpirun also have an effect in this
case?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thanks again.</FONT></DIV></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><BR>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> David E DeMarle
[mailto:dave.demarle@kitware.com]<BR><B>Sent:</B> Thu 2/5/2009 11:20
AM<BR><B>To:</B> Jim Montine<BR><B>Cc:</B>
paraview@paraview.org<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Paraview] remote rendering with
paraview<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV>
<P><FONT size=2>On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 2:09 PM, Jim Montine
<jmontine@sgi.com> wrote:<BR>> I download and I am running paraview
3.4.0. I run pvserver on a linux<BR>> cluster (where a .cas data file
to visualize resides) andI run paraview on<BR>> my Windows
laptop.<BR>><BR>> First I tried running: pvserver
--use-offscreen-rendering on the server<BR>> (which has gfx hardware)
without setting<BR>> DISPLAY properly. I got a message that the display
was not accessible and<BR>> that remote rendering would be<BR>>
disabled. I was still able to run paraview on the PC and connect to
the<BR>> server and display the model.<BR>><BR>> 1) In this scenario,
is any work at all being done by pvserver, other than<BR>> providing access
to the data file?<BR><BR>Yes. The server reads the file, and executes all of the
filtering<BR>operations, which may be extremely processor intensive.
Think<BR>arbitrary manipulation of large amounts of data. In the end
the<BR>surface extracts the polygonal surface geometry and sends that to
the<BR>client to display.<BR><BR>><BR>> Next, I set DISPLAY to the gfx
head on the server and reran: pvserver<BR>> --use-offscreen-rendering.
I got no<BR>> messages this time and I again could connect to the server from
the PC and<BR>> display the model on the PC<BR>> inside
paraview.<BR>><BR>> 2. In this scenario, is remote rendering happening on
the server? How are<BR>> things divided between the
pvserver<BR>> and paraview in this case?<BR>><BR><BR>This server now does
all of the above, and optionally renders the<BR>polygons, producing pixels which
are then depth composited and sent to<BR>the client to display. I say optionally
because if the geometry is<BR>small enough paraview will simply send that rather
than the pixels to<BR>the client and render as above. "Small enough" is
controlled via the<BR>Preferences->Render View->Server->Remote Render
threshold setting.<BR><BR>> Finally, I tried running on a server with NO gfx
hardware. I set DISPLAY to<BR>> be the PC. Again I could<BR>>
connect and display the model inside paraview (on the PC) but it runs
very<BR>> slowly.<BR>><BR>> 3. What is the correct way to run pvserver
on a server with no gfx hardware<BR>> and have the server do rendering that
is<BR>> then sent to the client?<BR>><BR>><BR>See the setting up a
server wiki page<BR><A
href="http://www.paraview.org/Wiki/Setting_up_a_ParaView_Server">http://www.paraview.org/Wiki/Setting_up_a_ParaView_Server</A>.
OSMesa is<BR>the recommended solution.<BR><BR>> Thanks<BR>>
_______________________________________________<BR>> ParaView mailing
list<BR>> ParaView@paraview.org<BR>> <A
href="http://www.paraview.org/mailman/listinfo/paraview">http://www.paraview.org/mailman/listinfo/paraview</A><BR>><BR>><BR><BR><BR><BR>--<BR>David
E DeMarle<BR>Kitware, Inc.<BR>R&D Engineer<BR>28 Corporate Drive<BR>Clifton
Park, NY 12065-8662<BR>Phone: 518-371-3971
x109<BR></FONT></P></DIV>
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