any ideas what’s preventing batch rendering from working on our servers?
Thanks
Chris
Error Message
Exception during render: An error occurred in RenderTasks(): RenderTask: Unexpected exception (Exception caught in 3ds max: – Runtime error: fileIn: can’t open file - “\slave\jobsData\SubmitterSettingsStruct.ms”
2009/03/18 13:57:23 INF: Loaded C:/Documents and Settings/All Users/Application Data/Frantic Films/Deadline/slave/jobsData/endalley55.max
2009/03/18 13:57:24 INF: Job: C:/Documents and Settings/All Users/Application Data/Frantic Films/Deadline/slave/jobsData/endalley55.max
) (Deadline.Plugins.ScriptPlugin+FailRenderException) (Deadline.Plugins.RenderPluginException)
at Deadline.Plugins.ScriptPlugin.RenderTasks(Int32 startFrame, Int32 endFrame, String& outMessage)
Slave Log
ostic Grid Method set to 0
0: INFO: +Diagnostic Grid Size set to 1.0
0: INFO: +Diagnostic Photon Method set to 0
0: INFO: +Diagnostic BSP Method set to 0
0: INFO: +Use Placeholders set to false
0: INFO: +Memory Limit set to 650
0: INFO: +Conserve Memory set to false
0: INFO: +mental ray Manages Maps set to false
0: INFO: +Skip Texture Maps set to false
0: INFO: +Enable Contours set to false
0: INFO: +Enable Material Override set to false
0: INFO: +Minimum Samples set to 4
0: INFO: +Maximum Samples set to 16
0: INFO: +Filter Type set to Mitchell
0: INFO: +Bucket Order set to Right to left
0: INFO: +RapidCollectRate (Fast Rasterizer : Samples per Pixel) set to 16
0: INFO: >Performing XREF workaround…
0: Plugin rendering frame(s): 1
0: INFO: Render Tasks called
0: INFO: Executing script: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Frantic Films\Deadline\slave\jobsData\maxBatchSubmitter.ms
0: INFO: Timed out getting Repository Root from Deadline Command. (error code: 3002)
0: INFO: Timed out getting Deadline Home Folder from Deadline Command. (error code: 3005)
0: INFO: Loading File [SubmitterSettingsStruct.ms]…
---- March 18 2009 – 01:58 PM ----
Scheduler Thread - Render Thread 0 threw an error:
Scheduler Thread - Exception during render: An error occurred in RenderTasks(): RenderTask: Unexpected exception (Exception caught in 3ds max: – Runtime error: fileIn: can’t open file - “\slave\jobsData\SubmitterSettingsStruct.ms”
2009/03/18 13:57:23 INF: Loaded C:/Documents and Settings/All Users/Application Data/Frantic Films/Deadline/slave/jobsData/endalley55.max
2009/03/18 13:57:24 INF: Job: C:/Documents and Settings/All Users/Application Data/Frantic Films/Deadline/slave/jobsData/endalley55.max
) (Deadline.Plugins.ScriptPlugin+FailRenderException) (Deadline.Plugins.RenderPluginException)
at Deadline.Plugins.ScriptPlugin.RenderTasks(Int32 startFrame, Int32 endFrame, String& outMessage)
Error Type
RenderPluginException
Error Stack Trace
at Deadline.Plugins.Plugin.RenderTask(Int32 startFrame, Int32 endFrame)
at Deadline.Slaves.SlaveRenderThread.RenderCurrentTask()
It looks like these two lines are causing the error to occur:
0: INFO: Timed out getting Repository Root from Deadline Command. (error code: 3002)
0: INFO: Timed out getting Deadline Home Folder from Deadline Command. (error code: 3005)
Can you go to one of the machines that this error is occurring on, open a DOS prompt, and then run these commands:
deadlinecommandbg.exe -getrepositoryroot
deadlinecommandbg.exe -GetCurrentUserHomeDirectory
The timeout for each of these commands is 10 seconds, so if it takes longer than 10 seconds to run each command, that could explain the problem. Let us know if this is the case. Also, if running these commands produces error messages, please post them.
Thanks!
i’m having a problem running those two lines…
from c:\ on a slave nothing happens and in the C:\Program Files\Frantic Films\Deadline\bin it says this is not a valid win32 action
have tried with > at the beginning and without
Sorry, I should have mentioned to not use the ‘>’. Anyways, it sounds like Deadline isn’t in your PATH (which the installer should have set up). Check that C:\Program Files\Frantic Films\Deadline\bin is in your PATH environment variable, and if it isn’t, add it. Then restart the machine to make sure everything is refreshed and try again. Try this with this one machine, and if that works, then go on to your other machines.
Let us know if this works!
Cheers,
Hey,
sorry if i’m sounding stupid but where to i check the environment path?
One way to check is to right-click on the My Computer icon on your desktop and select Properties. Then select the Advanced tab and press the Environment Variables button. Under System variables, there should be a PATH variable. This variable is a semicolon separated list of paths. If C:\Program Files\Frantic Films\Deadline\bin isn’t in the list, you can add it by appending a semicolon, followed by C:\Program Files\Frantic Films\Deadline\bin. For example, if your PATH variable looks like:
C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya2009\bin;C:\Perl64\site\bin;C:\Perl64\bin
Adding the Deadline bin folder would look like this:
C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya2009\bin;C:\Perl64\site\bin;C:\Perl64\bin;C:\Program Files\Frantic Films\Deadline\bin
Cheers,
what would be the variable for 3dsmax 2009 and deadline in it’s defualt install location?
I’m not sure I follow you here. You just need to add the deadline bin folder to the list of paths for the PATH variable (you don’t have to worry about where 3dsmax 2009 is installed). The default install location for deadline is C:\Program Files\Frantic Films\Deadline, and because you need to add the bin folder, you would add C:\Program Files\Frantic Films\Deadline\bin.
Also, which version of Deadline are you using? In 3.0 SP1 (build 33353), we added an option to deadlinecommand.exe to update the path automatically. Sorry, I don’t know why I forgot to mention this earlier. You would just open a command prompt, navigate to C:\Program Files\Frantic Films\Deadline\bin, and then run the following:
deadlinecommand.exe -UpdatePathVariable
If you’re using the latest version, give that a try. Then you don’t have to worry about playing around with the environment variables. 
After the variable has been updated, you need to restart ALL the Deadline applications (including the launcher) so that the updated variable is recognized by Deadline.
Cheers,