iterative deadline submit - get it to use max smtd vars?

Deadline
1

Heya Folks!

I’m doing a scripted deadline submission to allow me to render a load of krakatoa partitions individually with correct filenames to build up an elements library. I’m using some simple submit to deadline bits in maxscript which are the following:

[code]-- Submit to deadline

			SMTDSettings.JobName = (GetFilenameFile(maxfilename) + "_" + theCameras[c].name + "_" + i as string)
			SMTDSettings.PoolName = "vfx_3d"
			SMTDSettings.MachineLimit = 0
			SMTDSettings.delimiter = ""
			SMTDSettings.LimitEnabled = false
			SMTDSettings.LocalRendering = false
			--SMTDSettings.SubmitAsSuspended = true

			--submit Deadline job
			SMTDFunctions.SubmitJob()

[/code]

So this is fine, with a but. When I use the main deadline submission in max, I’ve turned off a tonne of options which have caused problems for me and I’ve found that if I use a scripted submission from maxscript, deadline won’t use the settings I’ve got in my SMTD dialog. I’ve got a load of issues getting zdepth’s to work in my renders with a lot of them coming out black when run through my iterate script, but working fine when I submit via deadline normally. I’m fairly convinced that deadline is using default settings for any of the options that I don’t explicitly code.

Is there a way to do something like a smtdsettings load from file so it can pull all it’s options from whatever my max submission dialog uses so I don’t have to chase down the options causing problems?

Cheers!

John

2

Hi John,

When the SMTD Functions file is loaded, the SMTDSettings structure is initialized to the factory defaults.
Call SMTDFunctions.loadSettings() to update all settings to their local sticky settings, or global defaults defined in the Repository’s global defaults INI file.
If a specific setting still requires to be changed from its current value (because sometimes Krakatoa submissions are different from VRay submissions for example), you can still add a few lines to your script that override those settings. Look at KrakatoaGUI.ms - when submitting partitions, it does this:

[code] oldMXS = SMTDSettings.SubmitAsMXSJob
oldMXSFile = SMTDSettings.MAXScriptFile
oldSingleTask = SMTDSettings.SingleTaskJob
oldWSMode = SMTDSettings.ForceWorkstationMode

		MAXScriptFile	= FranticParticles.KrakatoaHome + "Scripts\\KrakatoaPartitionTasksOnDeadline.ms"
			
		SMTDSettings.SubmitAsMXSJob = true
		SMTDSettings.MAXScriptFile = MAXScriptFile 
		SMTDSettings.SingleTaskJob = true
		SMTDSettings.ForceWorkstationMode = false

…

		SMTDSettings.SubmitAsMXSJob = oldMXS 
		SMTDSettings.MAXScriptFile = oldMXSFile 
		SMTDSettings.SingleTaskJob = oldSingleTask 		
		SMTDSettings.ForceWorkstationMode = oldWSMode[/code]

So it first stores the current values in temp. variables, then overwrites the settings with what is needed for the partitioning, then, once the submission is done, it restores the values.

3

Ah super - that’s exactly what I need!

I’m using the prt loader of krakatoa as a quick way to iterate grids which are picked by a frost and rendered in vray - we’re using magma to rewire some scale bits or we’d have gone direct to frost.

LoadSettings is perfect - it’ll save me an awful lot of copying and pasting of variables!

Much appreciated Bobo.