Hi, Im proud to say my company now owns Krakatoa!! Let the fun begin!!!
The next problem is getting it installed on our network.
All our plugins/scripts/rootfiles/ect are located on a network drive and we run a batch file that syncs these directories up and the launches max.
Usually I install a plugin to a temp directory then dump it to the network.
The problem is with the KrakatoaStartup.ms and the value of FranticParticles.KrakatoaHome.
I can hack the KrakatoaStartup.ms so it doesnt try to update and loads the scripts from where I put them but I noticed when I tried to submit partitions to deadline it errors as it cant locate KrakatoaPartitionTasksOnDeadline.ms.
Should I just install krakatoa on the drive hosting the network plugins or can I modify the FranticParticles.KrakatoaHome value to point where I want?
Cheers,
Jordan
The KrakatoaHome directory is set as the directory the MaxKrakatoa.dlr is loaded from, and the KrakatoaStartup.ms should be located in this same directory. Krakatoa expects all the supporting script files (including KrakatoaPartitionTasksOnDeadline.ms) in KrakatoaHome/…/…/Scripts/. As long as you maintain that structure, everything will be golden.
Does that help? Would you prefer something more flexible?
When I run FranticParticles.KrakatoaHome I get: “C:\Program Files\Autodesk” and my scripts are in “C:\Program Files\Autodesk\3ds Max 9\Scripts”.
KrakatoaHome/…/…/Scripts/ would be c:\scripts in my case wouldnt it?
Personally I prefer plugins to have “Dumb” installers as we manage them for all our machines. You installer looks great for the small office/ single seat kind of place, but I prefer to update and manage everything myself.
Maybe a simpler network deployment install option would be good.
Cheers,
Jordan
When I run
FranticParticles.KrakatoaHome
I get: "C:\Program
Files\Autodesk" and my
scripts are in “C:\Program
Files\Autodesk\3ds Max
9\Scripts”.
KrakatoaHome/…/…/Scripts/
would be c:\scripts in my case
wouldnt it?
Personally I prefer plugins to
have “Dumb” installers as we
manage them for all our
machines. You installer looks
great for the small office/
single seat kind of place, but
I prefer to update and manage
everything myself.
Maybe a simpler network
deployment install option
would be good.
Cheers,
Jordan
I see what you mean. Our installer was indeed made for individual workstation deployment, but copying a couple of folders to a network while preserving the sub-folders structure should not be that bad. It beats having to copy DLLs into the Max root as most other renderers require ;o)
Just don’t copy MaxKrakatoa.DLR to \Plugins, copy it to \Plugins\Krakatoa\3dsMax9\x64, then copy \Icons and \Script to \Plugins\Krakatoa, set the plugin.ini to point at \Plugins\Krakatoa\3dsMax9\x64 and you are done for the 64 bit version…
At this point, you cannot do anything else unless you actually put the scripts under c:\scripts which is a really bad idea.
Another note:
The reason for the current setup is that we don’t want to copy Krakatoa into a specific Max installation at all - after all, we already support 5 different builds with 2 more to come in a month.
So the default installation always goes to a Frantic Films folder under Program Files and all builds for all Max versions incl. 8, 9/2008 32 and 64 bit and soon 2009 32 and 64 bit are located in a directory structure two folders deeper than the “KrakatoaHome” that contains all other folders.
Having the Scripts and Icons there just once removes the necessity to duplicate them for each plugin folder containing a different DLR.
You are free to copy these files anywhere else as long as you preserve the “two levels up” rule relatively to the DLR.
Ok great, I will do what you suggested Bobo and add a few more directories to my network structure.
Thanks for the help!! But you guys were a bit slow!!! 
Look forward to askin some more questions soon!
Cheers,
Jordan
But you guys were a bit slow!!!
Of course we are, it is midnight here and we are all in the coziness of our well-heated Winnipeg homes ;o)
Wait to see us when we are at work!
In fact, we do the same at Frantic - we have a network installation of all plug-ins that gets copied each time Max starts on a workstation or slave.
As Darcy explained already (are you impressed with our speed of support yet? ;o), all you have to do is make sure you preserve the relative directory structure like this:
…\3dsMax9\Win32\
…\3dsMax9\Win32\
…\3dsMax9\x64\
…\Icons
…\Scripts
The folder names “3dsMax9”, “Win32” and “x64” can be ANY names, but “Icons” and “Scripts” MUST be named exactly like that and must exist TWO FOLDERS UP from where the DLR was loaded - that folder is the KrakatoaHome
Then you set the plugin.in for, say, Max 9 64 bit or Max 2008 64 bit to point at
Krakatoa=(your root)\3dsMax9\x64<br>
and it will resolve KrakatoaHome as just that path minus two folders, then the KrakatoaStartup.ms will go and find both \Icons and \Scripts there and do what is necessary.
Later on, when KrakatoaGUI.ms needs any of the support scripts, it will once again look for them under (your root)\Scripts based off the KrakatoaHome folder.
Hope this helps.
Come to think of it, FranticParticles.KrakatoaHome may have already added the …/…/ to the path of the .dlr, So KrakatoaHome/Scripts might be the correct location. I will double check tomorrow when I’m in the office.