Problem with Frame Range/FrameList Task Size

Deadline
1

Hello,

I have a problem with setting the “Task Group Size” when rendering every n-th frame.
My goal is to create a multiframe incremental irradiance map via deadline.

I submit the job from within maya (vray).
Rendering every 5th frame
I need to render this in one single task on one single machine.

Even if I tell Deadline that the task size should be 500 it generates single tasks for each frame (e.g 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 etc.)
The Frame list looks like: 5,10,15,20,25,30 etc. as well
I´m not sure, but I think in the past it worked like I need it to :slight_smile:

Is there a token/command or something to force a single task for the wohle range?

thanks in advance

2

A requirement for tasks is that the frames must be a range. It’s always been this way. However, since you are rendering the job on a single machine as a single task, it should be possible to do what you want with a little bit of customization. First, you would have to use the MayaCmd plugin, which means you would need to disable the “Use MayaBatch” option when submitting.

You also need to modify the MayaCmd plugin a bit. Go to \your\repository\plugins\MayaCmd and make a backup copy of MayaCmd.py. Then open the original MayaCmd.py and find this code:

				if self.RegionRendering and self.SingleRegionJob:
					commonArguments += " -s " + str(self.SingleRegionFrame) + " -e " + str(self.SingleRegionFrame) + " " + byFrameArg + " 1"
				else:
					commonArguments += " -s " + str(GetStartFrame()) + " -e " + str(GetEndFrame()) + " " + byFrameArg + " 1"

This is where we’re setting the “by” frame to 1. You can remove that like this:

				if self.RegionRendering and self.SingleRegionJob:
					commonArguments += " -s " + str(self.SingleRegionFrame) + " -e " + str(self.SingleRegionFrame)
				else:
					commonArguments += " -s " + str(GetStartFrame()) + " -e " + str(GetEndFrame())

This actually shouldn’t affect anything, because Maya is probably already defaulting to a by frame of 1. Finally, when you submit the job to Deadline, specify your own “-b 5” argument in the extra command line options. This will tell Maya to render every 5th frame. Just make sure to set the frames per task as appropriate so that you only have a single task.

Hope this helps!

  • Ryan
3

I did everything I should, but I get an error Code 204

Error Message

Exception during render: An error occurred in RenderTasks(): Error in CheckExitCode(): Renderer returned non-zero error code 204. Check the renderer’s output.
bei Deadline.Plugins.ScriptPlugin.RenderTasks(String taskId, Int32 startFrame, Int32 endFrame, String& outMessage)

any ideas?

I put “-b 5” in quotes and I get the error message
without quotes the job is set completed after a few seconds, but no output is written.

4

You shouldn’t need the quotes around the arguments. Can you submit the job again without the quotes, and after the job finishes, can you send us the log from the job? You can find the log by right-clicking on the job in the Monitor and selecting Job Reports -> View Log Reports.

Thanks!

  • Ryan
5

Hello again,

I tried it again today and it worked.
Dunno what happened last time…
thanks a lot for the help!