Hi,
As a test I submitted a job for 3D Studio Max to render some particles with Afterburn. The slaves on the farm that don’t have the plug-in rendered black frame and were marked successful. Why didn’t Deadline report an error that the plug-in was missing on the slaves?
Mathew Foscarini
Technical Director
Crush, Inc.
Toronto
Hi Mathew,
Deadline only reports an error if Max reports an error. If Max is returning success, then there is no way for Deadline to know that there were problems during rendering. You could try using the Fail On Black Frames option when submitting to check for black frames though.
Cheers,
Ryan Russell
Frantic Films Software
http://software.franticfilms.com/
(204)949-0070
Deadline only reports an error
if Max reports an error. If
Hi Ryan,
(I think) Max does report this as an error, because Backburner catches this problem. Logs it as an error, and marks the tasks as having an error. It also reports the DLL’s that are missing in the log file.
Also, if you load the scene file on a slave manually then 3D Studio Max reports an error that a plug-in is missing.
When you submit it to Deadline then nothing happens. A black frame is rendered, and the tasks are marked as completed.
I don’t know if this is something that has changed since Deadline 2.0, but the previous version would catch if Scripted Plugins were missing. I once submitted a job and forgot to install some PEN Customer Attribute scripts on the slaves. Those tasks were marked as having errors and Deadline handled the problem.
P.S. Some of my normal render frames are black so I can’t flag black frames as bad.
Mathew Foscarini
Technical Director
Crush, Inc.
Toronto
Hi Mathew,
Can you send us the max log file from one of the machines that had the missing DLL?
…\MaxRootDirectory\network\Max.log
I’m just wondering if Max considers the missing DLL messages to be warnings (WRN) or errors (ERR).
Currently, Deadline checks the return code of the Render API function for success. Perhaps we could look at adding checks to the Max.log file as well.
Cheers,
Ryan Russell
Frantic Films Software
http://software.franticfilms.com/
(204)949-0070
I’ve cut/paste from the log file all the entries for today from a problem slave.
I hope this helps. It looks to me to be errors.
2006/10/02 12:14:40 DBG: Starting network
2006/10/02 12:14:40 INF: Loaded c:\deadline\slave\plugins\deadlineStartupMax8.max
2006/10/02 12:14:41 INF: Job: c:\deadline\slave\plugins\deadlineStartupMax8.max
2006/10/02 12:14:41 INF: Loaded c:/deadline/slave/jobsData/pflow07.max
2006/10/02 12:14:41 ERR: Missing dll: AfterBurn.dlo - AB Shadow Map
2006/10/02 12:14:41 ERR: Missing dll: Afterworks.dlu - AFCKnot
2006/10/02 12:14:41 ERR: Missing dll: Afterworks.dlu - AFC Control
2006/10/02 12:14:41 ERR: Missing dll: Afterworks.dlu - AFC Controller
2006/10/02 12:14:41 ERR: Missing dll: Afterworks.dlu - Key
2006/10/02 12:14:41 ERR: Missing dll: Afterworks.dlu - Gradient Control
2006/10/02 12:14:41 ERR: Missing dll: AfterBurn.dlr - Mixed
2006/10/02 12:14:41 ERR: Missing dll: Afterworks.dlu - RapidRay
2006/10/02 12:14:41 ERR: Missing dll: AfterBurn.dlr - AfterBurn
2006/10/02 12:14:41 ERR: Missing dll: AfterBurn.dlr - AfterBurn Renderer
2006/10/02 12:14:41 INF: Job: c:/deadline/slave/jobsData/pflow07.max
2006/10/02 12:17:03 INF: Starting network rendering
2006/10/02 12:17:03 INF: Max is ready to begin render
2006/10/02 12:17:05 DBG: Stop network
2006/10/02 12:17:05 INF: Server is not responding
2006/10/02 12:18:32 DBG: Starting network
2006/10/02 12:18:32 INF: Loaded c:\deadline\slave\plugins\deadlineStartupMax8.max
2006/10/02 12:18:33 INF: Job: c:\deadline\slave\plugins\deadlineStartupMax8.max
2006/10/02 12:18:33 INF: Loaded c:/deadline/slave/jobsData/pflow07.max
2006/10/02 12:18:33 ERR: Missing dll: AfterBurn.dlo - AB Shadow Map
2006/10/02 12:18:33 ERR: Missing dll: Afterworks.dlu - AFCKnot
2006/10/02 12:18:33 ERR: Missing dll: Afterworks.dlu - AFC Control
2006/10/02 12:18:33 ERR: Missing dll: Afterworks.dlu - AFC Controller
2006/10/02 12:18:33 ERR: Missing dll: Afterworks.dlu - Key
2006/10/02 12:18:33 ERR: Missing dll: Afterworks.dlu - Gradient Control
2006/10/02 12:18:33 ERR: Missing dll: AfterBurn.dlr - Mixed
2006/10/02 12:18:33 ERR: Missing dll: Afterworks.dlu - RapidRay
2006/10/02 12:18:33 ERR: Missing dll: AfterBurn.dlr - AfterBurn
2006/10/02 12:18:33 ERR: Missing dll: AfterBurn.dlr - AfterBurn Renderer
2006/10/02 12:18:33 INF: Job: c:/deadline/slave/jobsData/pflow07.max
2006/10/02 12:18:53 INF: Starting network rendering
2006/10/02 12:18:53 INF: Max is ready to begin render
2006/10/02 12:18:54 DBG: Stop network
2006/10/02 12:18:55 INF: Server is not responding
2006/10/02 13:12:10 DBG: Starting network
2006/10/02 13:12:21 INF: Loaded C:\Program Files\Autodesk\backburner\Network\ServerJob\pflow08.max
2006/10/02 13:12:21 ERR: Missing dll: AfterBurn.dlo - AB Shadow Map
2006/10/02 13:12:21 ERR: Missing dll: Afterworks.dlu - AFCKnot
2006/10/02 13:12:21 ERR: Missing dll: Afterworks.dlu - AFC Control
2006/10/02 13:12:21 ERR: Missing dll: Afterworks.dlu - AFC Controller
2006/10/02 13:12:21 ERR: Missing dll: Afterworks.dlu - Key
2006/10/02 13:12:21 ERR: Missing dll: Afterworks.dlu - Gradient Control
2006/10/02 13:12:21 ERR: Missing dll: AfterBurn.dlr - Mixed
2006/10/02 13:12:21 ERR: Missing dll: Afterworks.dlu - RapidRay
2006/10/02 13:12:21 ERR: Missing dll: AfterBurn.dlr - AfterBurn
2006/10/02 13:12:21 ERR: Missing dll: AfterBurn.dlr - AfterBurn Renderer
2006/10/02 13:12:22 INF: Job: C:\Program Files\Autodesk\backburner\Network\ServerJob\pflow08.max
2006/10/02 13:12:22 INF: Starting network rendering
2006/10/02 13:12:32 INF: Max is ready to begin render
2006/10/02 13:13:35 DBG: Starting network
2006/10/02 13:13:46 INF: Loaded C:\Program Files\Autodesk\backburner\Network\ServerJob\pflow08.max
2006/10/02 13:13:46 ERR: Missing dll: AfterBurn.dlo - AB Shadow Map
2006/10/02 13:13:46 ERR: Missing dll: Afterworks.dlu - AFCKnot
2006/10/02 13:13:46 ERR: Missing dll: Afterworks.dlu - AFC Control
2006/10/02 13:13:46 ERR: Missing dll: Afterworks.dlu - AFC Controller
2006/10/02 13:13:46 ERR: Missing dll: Afterworks.dlu - Key
2006/10/02 13:13:46 ERR: Missing dll: Afterworks.dlu - Gradient Control
2006/10/02 13:13:46 ERR: Missing dll: AfterBurn.dlr - Mixed
2006/10/02 13:13:46 ERR: Missing dll: Afterworks.dlu - RapidRay
2006/10/02 13:13:46 ERR: Missing dll: AfterBurn.dlr - AfterBurn
2006/10/02 13:13:46 ERR: Missing dll: AfterBurn.dlr - AfterBurn Renderer
2006/10/02 13:13:46 INF: Job: C:\Program Files\Autodesk\backburner\Network\ServerJob\pflow08.max
2006/10/02 13:13:46 INF: Starting network rendering
2006/10/02 13:13:58 INF: Max is ready to begin render
2006/10/02 13:41:57 DBG: Starting network
2006/10/02 13:41:57 INF: Loaded c:\deadline\slave\plugins\deadlineStartupMax8.max
2006/10/02 13:41:57 INF: Job: c:\deadline\slave\plugins\deadlineStartupMax8.max
2006/10/02 13:41:57 INF: Loaded c:/deadline/slave/jobsData/pflow09.max
2006/10/02 13:41:57 ERR: Missing dll: AfterBurn.dlo - AB Shadow Map
2006/10/02 13:41:57 ERR: Missing dll: Afterworks.dlu - AFCKnot
2006/10/02 13:41:57 ERR: Missing dll: Afterworks.dlu - AFC Control
2006/10/02 13:41:57 ERR: Missing dll: Afterworks.dlu - AFC Controller
2006/10/02 13:41:58 ERR: Missing dll: Afterworks.dlu - Key
2006/10/02 13:41:58 ERR: Missing dll: Afterworks.dlu - Gradient Control
2006/10/02 13:41:58 ERR: Missing dll: AfterBurn.dlr - Mixed
2006/10/02 13:41:58 ERR: Missing dll: Afterworks.dlu - RapidRay
2006/10/02 13:41:58 ERR: Missing dll: AfterBurn.dlr - AfterBurn
2006/10/02 13:41:58 ERR: Missing dll: AfterBurn.dlr - AfterBurn Renderer
2006/10/02 13:41:58 INF: Job: c:/deadline/slave/jobsData/pflow09.max
2006/10/02 13:43:57 INF: Starting network rendering
2006/10/02 13:43:57 INF: Max is ready to begin render
2006/10/02 13:43:59 DBG: Stop network
2006/10/02 13:43:59 INF: Server is not responding
2006/10/02 13:50:41 DBG: Starting network
2006/10/02 13:50:41 INF: Loaded c:\deadline\slave\plugins\deadlineStartupMax8.max
2006/10/02 13:50:41 INF: Job: c:\deadline\slave\plugins\deadlineStartupMax8.max
2006/10/02 13:50:41 INF: Loaded c:/deadline/slave/jobsData/pflow09.max
2006/10/02 13:50:42 INF: Job: c:/deadline/slave/jobsData/pflow09.max
2006/10/02 13:54:26 INF: Starting network rendering
2006/10/02 13:54:26 INF: Max is ready to begin render
2006/10/02 13:54:28 DBG: Stop network
2006/10/02 13:54:28 INF: Server is not responding
Note: At the bottom of the log the errors go away because I installed the plugins on all the slaves by this point.
Mathew Foscarini
Technical Director
Crush, Inc.
Toronto
It turns out that Max’s default action when DLLs are missing is to simply log the information to the Max.log file, which is why the renders reported success. In future versions of Deadline, the render will fail when DLLs are missing, but there will be an option to ignore missing DLL errors which can be toggled during submission or after the job has already been submitted.
Cheers,
- Ryan
That’s great Ryan.
Thank you.
Mathew Foscarini
Technical Director
Crush, Inc.
Toronto
It turns out that Max’s
default action when DLLs are
missing is to simply log the
information to the Max.log
file, which is why the renders
reported success. In future
versions of Deadline, the
render will fail when DLLs are
missing, but there will be an
option to ignore missing DLL
errors which can be toggled
during submission or after the
job has already been
submitted.
Cheers,
- Ryan
This does not appear to be the case in Deadline 2.6.
It is still rendering black frames for missing plugings, and Deadline is reporting the job as successful.
The flag is definitely there and SMTD supports it - default is not to ignore missing DLLs.
http://software.franticfilms.com/content/support/deadline/plugins/3dsmax/submission2/content.html#maxrendering
If you are using PRManager, it might not be setting that flag and the default might be to ignore missing DLLs… Grant is updaing RPManager to support all flags and additional features of SMTD right now, this behavior might change soon.
Cheers,
Bobo
----- Original Message -----
From: Frantic_Deadline Listmanager
To: Recipients of ‘Frantic_Deadline’ suppressed
Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2007 9:17 AM
Subject: Slaves render black frames when AfterBurn missing.
From: “Mathew Foscarini” (mathew@crushinc.com)
It turns out that Max’s
default action when DLLs are
missing is to simply log the
information to the Max.log
file, which is why the renders
reported success. In future
versions of Deadline, the
render will fail when DLLs are
missing, but there will be an
option to ignore missing DLL
errors which can be toggled
during submission or after the
job has already been
submitted.
Cheers,
- Ryan
This does not appear to be the case in Deadline 2.6.
It is still rendering black frames for missing plugings, and Deadline is reporting the job as successful.
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Ok, Thanks.
Once a job is submitted. Is it possible to change this flag?
Mathew Foscarini
Technical Director
Crush, Inc.
Toronto
It should be in the [3dsmaxN] tab of the job properties, in the Render Options group of controls, between the Camera drop-down list and Ignore Missing External files.
It is disabled if blank, so if the submitter did not set the flag, you would not see it in the dialog.
You can add the flag yourself by editing the Job Info file. Just add the line
IgnoreMissingDLLs = 0
to the file.
Alternatively, you could change the file
yourRepositoryFolder\plugins\3dsmax9\3dsmax9RenderOptions.param
and change the control to not be disabled if the flag is not found in the file.
Locate the section
[IgnoreMissingDLLs]
Type=boolean
Label=Ignore Missing DLL Files
Category=Render Options
Description=Ignore missing DLL errors.
Required=false
DisableIfBlank=false
and change the DisableIfBlank to FALSE to always see that checkbox, even if the flag is not in the file. If you would change the state of the checkbox now, the entry will be added automatically to the end of the job info file…
Looking at its behavior here though, the default is to FAIL when the flag is missing, so your jobs should not render black frames… We will have to test this again to make sure it behaves correctly by default.
Borislav “Bobo” Petrov
Technical Director 3D VFX
Frantic Films Winnipeg
Looking at its behavior here
though, the default is to FAIL
when the flag is missing, so
your jobs should not render
black frames… We will have
to test this again to make
sure it behaves correctly by
default.
FYI: When looking at the error log from Deadline. I notice that it’s logging the error, but not aborting the task. If I added the error that a bitmap was missing, then it was catching that error but not the missing DLL.
Hi Mathew,
I did some testing and it turns out the problem is that the flag is
being set AFTER the max scene is loaded by the plugin, so it never
catches the missing dll errors. We’ll be sure to get this fixed.
Cheers,
- Ryan
–
–
Ryan Russell
Frantic Films Software
http://software.franticfilms.com/
204-949-0070
Thank you very much.
I’m sure I’ve found another bug, or design change in Max9.
When you installed Max 8.0 it will automatically add the “plugins” folder to the plugin.ini file.
But, in Max 9.0 is not adding the folder. The file contains only the line “;=;”. Which I have no clue what the means.
When the slave run under Max 9. They do not see any plugins in the plugins folder. Unless, you manually add the plugins folder to the plugin.ini file.
Doesn’t this sound wrong? Should installed slaves automatically pickup DLLs from the plugins folder?
Mathew Foscarini
Technical Director
Crush, Inc.
Toronto
any follow-up on this ? I have got the same on my machines and that could explain why powernurbs geometry is not rendered at all (while not making any error message)… -see recent post.
Olivier
any follow-up on this ? I have got the same on my machines and that could explain why powernurbs geometry is not rendered at all (while not making any error message)… -see recent post.
Olivier