Maya render layers - MR and maya soft

Deadline
1

Hi there,



I’m just testing Deadline (and to this point it looks really great)!



I have updated all thinks to get it work with maya 2008. And all work fine.



However, it seams that deadline don’t really take care about different renders for render layers.

  • My scene has a few render layers
  • some are checkt to render with maya software, others with mental ray



    If I just start deadline within Maya, all layers will be renderd with maya software (also the two I have set to mental ray).

    In the dialog of the deadline-plug I can see an option “Submit each render layer as a seperate job” - but it’s greyed out (also the option “use maya batch plugin”) and I can’t check it.



    I’m sure all settings in maya are ok (it will work with a normal batch)

    I also found, that you try to use the “-r file” option in you script (which I also use in the normal batch render from command line to use the right renderer)



    So what should I do?

    any ideas?

    thx.
2

Hey there,

I was actually working on adding Maya 2008 support on Friday, and the reason why "Submit each render layer as a seperate job" is greyed out is because our submission script isn't getting the version of Maya properly. It's thinking that you're running Maya 2, so it's disabling things like render layers.

This problem has been fixed on our end, and we are planning on (hopefully) releasing a plugin patch that will include this fix. The fact that Deadline isn't using the "-file" option when rendering multiple layers in the same job might also be the result of Deadline thinking it's rendering with Maya 2, so we will be sure to check this and fix anything necessary before we release the patch.

Cheers,
 - Ryan

3

Hey Ryan,



thx for you RE.



“Deadline thinking it’s rendering with Maya 2”



Is this, because Deadline cuts of the other Digits from “2008”?

So may we can do it quick ‘n’ dirty and “customize” the RenderArguments.ffs??



I see the line:

-----------snip

// Check if we’re using the renderers specified in the Maya render options.

if( mayaMajorVersion >= 7 )

{

// If the we render all the render layers in one job, use the ‘-renderer file’ flag

-----------snip



So if I change

if( mayaMajorVersion >= 7 )



to

if( mayaMajorVersion >= 2 )



it may work? (Guess what, we don’t have any Maya under 8.5 so it wouldn’t matter)



BTW: Why not using the “-r file” flag as default and do a “if then” to check if we using a lower version than “maya 7”?

May this is simpler for the next mayaversions…



I’m not a programmer - sorry if this is stupid :wink:



Cheers,

Michael

4

Hi Michael,



Modifying the maya plugin and submission script requires a little more

work, so it’s probably best to wait for the plugin patch to get released

this week. I’ll make a post on this thread when it becomes available.



We don’t use the “-r file” option by default because it limits the

command line options we can pass to the renderer (mayaSoftware has some

render options that are different from Mental Ray). Specifying the

actual renderer in the command line gives use (and therefore you) more

control of the render. Once the patch is released, you will be able to

submit each render layer as a separate job, which should solve the

problems you are having.



Cheers,

5

Hi Ryan,



thank you for the explanations…



Well, life isn’t that simple as I sometimes think :wink:





I’ll start a new post with another question regarding your Maya2008 update…



Again thx,

Michael

6

A Deadline Plugin Patch which includes support for Maya 2008 can be

downloaded from here:

http://www.franticfilms.com/software/products/deadline/download/



The details and installation instructions can be found here:

http://www.franticfilms.com/software/support/deadline/releasenotes_pluginpatch_2.7.29178.php



Cheers,

7

Ryan,



I have tears in my eyes!!!

Will test it tomorrow…



Thx!

Michael

8

Well, no success :frowning:



Tried it with windowsNT (32bit) and Vista (64bit)…



ErrorLog:

Error Message

Exception during render: Could not determine version of maya to render with from version string: 2008





Slave Log

lugin for Deadline 2.7.29178, built Aug 22 2007 14:02:42 R

0: INFO: >> Maya Renderer for Deadline, 2004-10-09

0: INFO: job file: c:\deadline\slave\jobsData\00j_050_o_4040ce0b.job

0: Plugin rendering frame(s): 16-20

0: INFO: Ignoring popup windows matching “.entry point.”

0: INFO: Ignoring popup windows matching “.Entry Point.”

0: INFO: Rendering to network drive…

0: INFO: Rendering with Maya 2008

Scheduler Thread - Render Thread 0 threw an error:

Scheduler Thread - Exception during render: Could not determine version of maya to render with from version string: 2008



Exception Details
RenderPluginException -- Exception during render: Could not determine version of maya to render with from version string: 2008
RenderPluginException.Cause: JobError (2)
Exception.TargetSite: Void RenderTasks(Int32, Int32)
Exception.Source: DeadlinePluginLoader
Exception.StackTrace:
at Deadline.Plugins.PluginLoader.RenderTasks(Int32 startTask, Int32 endTask)
at Deadline.Plugins.Plugin.RenderTask(Int32 startFrame, Int32 endFrame)
at Deadline.Slaves.SlaveRenderThread.RenderCurrentTask()

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
---- October 04 2007 -- 12:16 PM ----
0: Loaded job: Barricade_adiWEAR_rm - SuperNovaCsh_adiWEAR_FIN:amoc (00j_050_o_4040ce0b)
0: INFO: Script plugin for Deadline 2.7.29178, built Aug 22 2007 14:02:42 R
0: INFO: >> Maya Renderer for Deadline, 2004-10-09
0: INFO: job file: c:\deadline\slave\jobsData\00j_050_o_4040ce0b.job
0: Plugin rendering frame(s): 21-25
0: INFO: Ignoring popup windows matching ".*entry point.*"
0: INFO: Ignoring popup windows matching ".*Entry Point.*"
0: INFO: Rendering to network drive...
0: INFO: Rendering with Maya 2008
Scheduler Thread - Render Thread 0 threw an error:
Scheduler Thread - Exception during render: Could not determine version of maya to render with from version string: 2008


Error Type
RenderPluginException


Error Stack Trace
at Deadline.Plugins.PluginLoader.RenderTasks(Int32 startTask, Int32 endTask)
at Deadline.Plugins.Plugin.RenderTask(Int32 startFrame, Int32 endFrame)
at Deadline.Slaves.SlaveRenderThread.RenderCurrentTask()


Cheers,
Michael
9

Hi Michael,



I’m pretty sure I’ve found the problem, and I’ve updated the plugin

patch on our downloads page, so download it and give it a try. I tested

it with both Maya 2008 32 bit and 64 bit and it worked. Let me know if

you continue to have problems.



Cheers,

10

hi there ryan,

i updated the plugin just now…

and i always get this error about not recognizing maya2008

i paste it here…

Error Message

Exception during render: Could not determine version of maya to render with from version string: 2008





Slave Log

for Deadline 2.7.29178, built Aug 22 2007 14:02:42 R

0: INFO: >> Maya Renderer for Deadline, 2004-10-09

0: INFO: job file: c:\deadline\slave\jobsData\00j_050_o_142148ff.job

0: Plugin rendering frame(s): 1-5

0: INFO: Ignoring popup windows matching “.entry point.”

0: INFO: Ignoring popup windows matching “.Entry Point.”

0: INFO: Rendering to network drive…

0: INFO: Rendering with Maya 2008

Scheduler Thread - Render Thread 0 threw an error:

Scheduler Thread - Exception during render: Could not determine version of maya to render with from version string: 2008



Exception Details
RenderPluginException -- Exception during render: Could not determine version of maya to render with from version string: 2008
RenderPluginException.Cause: JobError (2)
Exception.TargetSite: Void RenderTasks(Int32, Int32)
Exception.Source: DeadlinePluginLoader
Exception.StackTrace:
at Deadline.Plugins.PluginLoader.RenderTasks(Int32 startTask, Int32 endTask)
at Deadline.Plugins.Plugin.RenderTask(Int32 startFrame, Int32 endFrame)
at Deadline.Slaves.SlaveRenderThread.RenderCurrentTask()

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
---- October 04 2007 -- 03:43 PM ----
Scheduler Thread - Plugin loaded in 0.05 seconds.
0: Loaded job: test - OCC (00j_050_o_712c626e)
0: INFO: Script plugin for Deadline 2.7.29178, built Aug 22 2007 14:02:42 R
0: INFO: >> Maya Renderer for Deadline, 2004-10-09
0: INFO: job file: c:\deadline\slave\jobsData\00j_050_o_712c626e.job
0: Plugin rendering frame(s): 1-5
0: INFO: Ignoring popup windows matching ".*entry point.*"
0: INFO: Ignoring popup windows matching ".*Entry Point.*"
0: INFO: Rendering to network drive...
0: INFO: Rendering with Maya 2008
Scheduler Thread - Render Thread 0 threw an error:
Scheduler Thread - Exception during render: Could not determine version of maya to render with from version string: 2008


Error Type
RenderPluginException


Error Stack Trace
at Deadline.Plugins.PluginLoader.RenderTasks(Int32 startTask, Int32 endTask)
at Deadline.Plugins.Plugin.RenderTask(Int32 startFrame, Int32 endFrame)
at Deadline.Slaves.SlaveRenderThread.RenderCurrentTask()

don't know if i did something wrong....so i reinstalled all the repository...and the error is still there.
see u soon:)
mat
11

Hi Mat,



If you reinstalled the repository, that means you’ve overwritten the

patch and will have to install it again. :slight_smile:



I just downloaded the patch and went through all the maya plugin scripts

and none of them contain the line that prints out “Could not determine

version of maya to render with from version string…” anymore, so it

sounds like you were still running the old version of the patch. Try

clearing your web browser’s cache, then try downloading it again. After

you download and install the patch, check the Date of the

RenderArgument.ffs file in the \your\repository\plugins\Maya folder.

The date should be October 4th. If that’s the case, then you know you

have the updated file.



Cheers,

12

prehaps this is hapening couse i have to restart all the client…

this come to my mind now…may be?

couse i reinstalled the patch…

13

it is really weird…i go on getting the error !!!

i reinstalled the new patch…to be sure…

then i restarted all the slave…and i stil get that error…

do i have to configure the repository in some way i didn’t?

the error is always the same.

i copied the SubmitMayaToDeadline.mel file in the folder script startup that was older…is that prehaps the error?

14

Unzip the patch you downloaded to another location, then open

plugins\Maya\RenderArgument.ffs. At line 39, you should see this:



mayaMajorVersion = “”;

periodIndex = StrFind( mayaVersion, “.” );

if( periodIndex > 0 )

mayaMajorVersion = Substring( mayaVersion, 0, 1 );

else

{

periodIndex = StrFind( mayaVersion, " " );

if( periodIndex > 0 )

mayaMajorVersion = Substring( mayaVersion, 0, periodIndex );

else

mayaMajorVersion = mayaVersion;



}





If you see the following, then the file isn’t up to date:



mayaMajorVersion = “”;

periodIndex = StrFind( mayaVersion, “.” );

if( periodIndex > 0 )

mayaMajorVersion = Substring( mayaVersion, 0, 1 );

else

{

periodIndex = StrFind( mayaVersion, " " );

if( periodIndex > 0 )

mayaMajorVersion = Substring( mayaVersion, 0, periodIndex );

else

FailRender( "Could not determine version of maya to render with

from version string: " … mayaVersion );

}





I’ve attached the patch that I’ve just downloaded from our website. I’ve

confirmed that this file is up to date here, so give it a try.



Cheers,

15

Yes, after you install the patch, it’s a good idea to restart the slave

applications so that they recognize the change. I’ll update the

documentation to mention this.



Cheers,