sorry this might not be directly related to deadline, but I’m trying to figure out a way of just executing 3ds Max scripts, without actually requiring a user license for Max (essentially running it on a server side).
The reason is I need a little more complex re-pathing and setup scripts being executed prior to any rendering. And I don’t need it as a pre-load script file, I really just want:
launch Max without requiring a license
execute a more complex maxscript
exit Max.
Is anything like this possible?
I’m asking here because how deadline actually renders Max scenes using the actual 3dsmax.exe executable, instead of the 3dsmaxcmd.exe.
Or, alternatively, is there a way to utilize Deadline for this task? I mean, just have it launch a 3ds Max scene, execute a script and terminate Max without rendering?
Go to the scripts tab on submission and there is a Maxscript Job option, you can get it to load in Workstation mode if you need full workstation mode to do something like Saving a file for example.
You have to remember that there are certain limitations to running MAXScript in Slave mode without a license. For example, you cannot SAVE a Max file in that mode, or do anything that requires the UI to be accessible. The actual limitations are a bit unclear and I always have to do a test run to find out what works and what doesn’t.
The MAXScript mode of Deadline still expects to LOAD a Max scene, but instead of rendering it, it runs the script. Most of the time we launch in Workstation mode to have full access to all MAXScript functions, which of course needs a Max license.
thanks for the input. The license might be an issue for me as I’ll be needing to run scripts on a pure renderfarm (i.e.: there won’t be any licenses issued on the machines).
All I need is to run the:
getMAXFileAssetMetadata and
setMAXFileAssetMetadata
for path remapping.
I’m looking into other options, but this seems to be the only way (I don’t want to re-map the paths during a render session).
As soon as I sort this bugger out: