Why do my vertex maps generated with X-Particles work great in IPR but do not work properly when rendered?

[dadeFC4BK]

I'm generating vertex maps using the xpVertexMap in X-Particles. When I render in IPR they work perfectly. However, when I try to render out images, the results are completely broken. The X-Particles are cached, so that's not the problem. In this instance, I'm using the vertex map to drive displacement...

Left: Vertex map in the viewport. Middle: Picture Viewer render. Right: IPR render.

[peter.horvath6V6K3]

One difference between the IPR and the PV render is that the IPR renders the active scene while the 'normal' render uses a prepared render scene. (So there's one more step in the 'normal' render.) That's why for instance the modifiers of the X-Particles Material are not rendered in the IPR, because the info is not there in the editor context.

I wonder what's the result of other renderers (like the Standard or Physical)? If they render the scene fine, than could be a bug in the plugin. Can you please send me a repro scene in this case?

[dadeFC4BK]

Hey Peter... thanks for the info. I performed a quick test and can verify that Cinema's Physical render also does not match the viewport. Must be something with the way xpVertexMap fades the vertex map. The location of the actual particle sphere is being rendered without the fade. Still scratching my head and looking into alternative techniques.

[dadeFC4BK]

Problem solved. Along with generating the vertex map using xpVertexMap, you need to assign an xpWetMap tag to the vertex mapped object. Simply assign the xpWetMap tag to the object, drop the xpEmitter into the Sources panel (particles) and the object's Vertex Map Tag to the Vertex map Out slot in the xpWetmap's General panel. Adjust the settings, cache the sim and hit render...