[Paraview] remote rendering with paraview

[Jim Montine]

Hi,
 
Thanks for the information.  Two quick follow-up questions.
 
In case 1 below (where the server reads the file and executes filtering operations but does
no rendering), is it worthwhile to do an mpirun pvserver in this mode?  Will the server do parallel work
in this case?
 
In case 2 below (where the server optionally renders the polygons), why is it necessary to set the
DISPLAY to the gfx head of the server (things are displayed on the PC) Why is the DISPLAY environment
needed at all for this off-screen rendering case?
 
Does mpirun also have an effect in this case?
 
Thanks again.

________________________________

From: David E DeMarle [mailto:dave.demarle at kitware.com]
Sent: Thu 2/5/2009 11:20 AM
To: Jim Montine
Cc: paraview at paraview.org
Subject: Re: [Paraview] remote rendering with paraview



On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 2:09 PM, Jim Montine <jmontine at sgi.com> wrote:
> I download and I am running paraview 3.4.0.  I run pvserver on a linux
> cluster (where a .cas data file to visualize resides) andI run paraview on
> my Windows laptop.
>
> First I tried running: pvserver --use-offscreen-rendering  on the server
> (which has gfx hardware) without setting
> DISPLAY properly.  I got a message that the display was not accessible and
> that remote rendering would be
> disabled.  I was still able to run paraview on the PC and connect to the
> server and display the model.
>
> 1) In this scenario, is any work at all being done by pvserver, other than
> providing access to the data file?

Yes. The server reads the file, and executes all of the filtering
operations, which may be extremely processor intensive. Think
arbitrary manipulation of large amounts of data. In the end the
surface extracts the polygonal surface geometry and sends that to the
client to display.

>
> Next, I set DISPLAY to the gfx head on the server and reran: pvserver
> --use-offscreen-rendering.  I got no
> messages this time and I again could connect to the server from the PC and
> display the model on the PC
> inside paraview.
>
> 2. In this scenario, is remote rendering happening on the server?   How are
> things divided between the pvserver
> and paraview in this case?
>

This server now does all of the above, and optionally renders the
polygons, producing pixels which are then depth composited and sent to
the client to display. I say optionally because if the geometry is
small enough paraview will simply send that rather than the pixels to
the client and render as above. "Small enough" is controlled via the
Preferences->Render View->Server->Remote Render threshold setting.

> Finally, I tried running on a server with NO gfx hardware. I set DISPLAY to
> be the PC.  Again I could
> connect and display the model inside paraview (on the PC)  but it runs very
> slowly.
>
> 3. What is the correct way to run pvserver on a server with no gfx hardware
> and have the server do rendering that is
> then sent to the client?
>
>
See the setting up a server wiki page
http://www.paraview.org/Wiki/Setting_up_a_ParaView_Server. OSMesa is
the recommended solution.

> Thanks
> _______________________________________________
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> ParaView at paraview.org
> http://www.paraview.org/mailman/listinfo/paraview
>
>



--
David E DeMarle
Kitware, Inc.
R&D Engineer
28 Corporate Drive
Clifton Park, NY 12065-8662
Phone: 518-371-3971 x109


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