I am trying to render an AE project with Plexus3 plugin through Deadline - aerender.exe. The render process always crashes before it starts. The error is “GL32 error 1280”.
When I open the AE project in AE GUI it loads fine. Plexus is licenses via render only license.
I installed already the latest Geforce driver for the Titan X, but it did not solved the issue.

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Error

GL_VERS: 32Prog Error: 1280
at Deadline.Plugins.PluginWrapper.RenderTasks(String taskId, Int32 startFrame, Int32 endFrame, String& outMessage, AbortLevel& abortLevel)

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Type

RenderPluginException

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Stack Trace

at Deadline.Plugins.SandboxedPlugin.a(DeadlineMessage A_0)
at Deadline.Plugins.SandboxedPlugin.RenderTask(String taskId, Int32 startFrame, Int32 endFrame)
at Deadline.Slaves.SlaveRenderThread.a(TaskLogWriter A_0)

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Log

2017-07-27 15:39:24: 0: Loading Job’s Plugin timeout is Disabled
2017-07-27 15:39:26: 0: Executing plugin command of type ‘Sync Files for Job’
2017-07-27 15:39:26: 0: All job files are already synchronized
2017-07-27 15:39:26: 0: Plugin AfterEffects was already synchronized.
2017-07-27 15:39:26: 0: Done executing plugin command of type ‘Sync Files for Job’
2017-07-27 15:39:26: 0: Executing plugin command of type ‘Initialize Plugin’
2017-07-27 15:39:26: 0: INFO: Executing plugin script ‘C:\Users\cgi3d\AppData\Local\Thinkbox\Deadline9\slave\z840\plugins\5979e10391a0a74100c04f0f\AfterEffects.py’
2017-07-27 15:39:27: 0: INFO: Fail on Existing After Effects process: 0
2017-07-27 15:39:27: 0: INFO: About: After Effects Plugin for Deadline
2017-07-27 15:39:27: 0: INFO: Render Job As User disabled, running as current user ‘cgi3d’
2017-07-27 15:39:27: 0: INFO: The job’s environment will be merged with the current environment before rendering
2017-07-27 15:39:27: 0: Done executing plugin command of type ‘Initialize Plugin’
2017-07-27 15:39:27: 0: Start Job timeout is disabled.
2017-07-27 15:39:27: 0: Task timeout is disabled.
2017-07-27 15:39:27: 0: Loaded job: 170727__mnp_v05 - Copy.aep - pre_Plane animated (5979e10391a0a74100c04f0f)
2017-07-27 15:39:27: 0: Executing plugin command of type ‘Start Job’
2017-07-27 15:39:27: 0: Done executing plugin command of type ‘Start Job’
2017-07-27 15:39:27: 0: Plugin rendering frame(s): 0-150
2017-07-27 15:39:27: 0: Executing plugin command of type ‘Render Task’
2017-07-27 15:39:27: 0: CheckPathMapping: Swapped “_mnp_v05 - Copy.aep” with “_mnp_v05 - Copy.aep”
2017-07-27 15:39:27: 0: INFO: Attempting to create “C:\Users\cgi3d\Documents\ae_render_only_node.txt” to force After Effects to run in Render Engine mode
2017-07-27 15:39:27: 0: INFO: Stdout Redirection Enabled: True
2017-07-27 15:39:27: 0: INFO: Stdout Handling Enabled: True
2017-07-27 15:39:27: 0: INFO: Popup Handling Enabled: True
2017-07-27 15:39:27: 0: INFO: QT Popup Handling Enabled: False
2017-07-27 15:39:27: 0: INFO: WindowsForms10.Window.8.app.* Popup Handling Enabled: False
2017-07-27 15:39:27: 0: INFO: Using Process Tree: True
2017-07-27 15:39:27: 0: INFO: Hiding DOS Window: True
2017-07-27 15:39:27: 0: INFO: Creating New Console: False
2017-07-27 15:39:27: 0: INFO: Running as user: cgi3d
2017-07-27 15:39:27: 0: INFO: Executable: “C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects CC 2017\Support Files\aerender.exe”
2017-07-27 15:39:27: 0: INFO: Argument: -project “S:\AX_1707_np_v05 - Copy.aep” -comp “pre_Plane animated” -s 0 -e 150 -sound OFF -close DO_NOT_SAVE_CHANGES
2017-07-27 15:39:27: 0: INFO: Full Command: “C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects CC 2017\Support Files\aerender.exe” -project “mnp_v05 - Copy.aep” -comp “pre_Plane animated” -s 0 -e 150 -sound OFF -close DO_NOT_SAVE_CHANGES
2017-07-27 15:39:27: 0: INFO: Startup Directory: “C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects CC 2017\Support Files”
2017-07-27 15:39:27: 0: INFO: Process Priority: BelowNormal
2017-07-27 15:39:27: 0: INFO: Process Affinity: default
2017-07-27 15:39:27: 0: INFO: Process is now running
2017-07-27 15:39:27: 0: STDOUT: aerender version 14.2.1x34
2017-07-27 15:39:30: 0: STDOUT: Using DXGI: Device: “NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X” has dedicated video RAM (MB): 12244
2017-07-27 15:39:30: 0: STDOUT: Using DXGI: Device: “NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X” has dedicated video RAM (MB): 12244
2017-07-27 15:39:42: 0: STDOUT: License Validated at System Folder
2017-07-27 15:39:42: 0: STDOUT: GL Version: 3.2
2017-07-27 15:39:42: 0: INFO: Checking for file “C:\Users\cgi3d\Documents\ae_render_only_node.txt”
2017-07-27 15:39:42: 0: INFO: Attempting to delete “C:\Users\cgi3d\Documents\ae_render_only_node.txt” to allow After Effects to run in the workstation enviroment
2017-07-27 15:39:42: 0: STDOUT: GL_VERS: 32Prog Error: 1280
2017-07-27 15:39:42: 0: STDOUT: Creating Circle Texture
2017-07-27 15:39:43: 0: Done executing plugin command of type ‘Render Task’

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Details

Date: 07/27/2017 15:39:47
Frames: 0-150
Elapsed Time: 00:00:00:21
Job Submit Date: 07/27/2017 14:48:04
Job User: cgi3d
Average RAM Usage: 4837035520 (8%)
Peak RAM Usage: 5581627392 (9%)
Average CPU Usage: 4%
Peak CPU Usage: 7%
Used CPU Clocks (x10^6 cycles): 61278
Total CPU Clocks (x10^6 cycles): 1531943

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Slave Information

Slave Name: z840
Version: v9.0.6.1 Release (96b611826)
Operating System: Windows 10 Pro
Running As Service: No
Machine User: cgi3d
IP Address: 2003:e4:2bdd:d00:f41e:c095:b9a:d900
MAC Address: A0:36:9F:C0:04:DC
CPU Architecture: x64
CPUs: 40
CPU Usage: 2%
Memory Usage: 4.4 GB / 63.9 GB (6%)
Free Disk Space: 367.709 GB (279.206 GB on C:, 88.502 GB on Z:)
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X

I’m wondering if that plugin requires some chunk of the UI to be present as I’ve seen the same kind of thing in Nuke before. It could be the plugin author’s never tested running things through aerender before…

Can you try and run your project from a command prompt like so:

REM change the "X:\Path\To\Project.aep" to the real path
"C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe After Effects CC 2017\Support Files\aerender.exe" -comp "pre_Plane animated" -s 0 -e 150 -sound OFF -close DO_NOT_SAVE_CHANGES -project "X:\Path\To\Project.aep"

That’ll be our minimum requirement for Deadline to do its thing. If you can get that working, we can automate the workflow no problem.

I just did a quick search on OpenGL error 1280. It’s pretty vague and only says that an invalid number (an enum) was passed into a function. Without the source code of that plugin, we won’t know what caused it.

Hey Edwin

I tried the commandline you wrote.

The result is:
aerender version 14.2.1x34
Using DXGI: Device: “NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X” has dedicated video RAM (MB): 12244
Using DXGI: Device: “NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X” has dedicated video RAM (MB): 12244
License Validated at System Folder
GL Version: 3.2
GL_VERS: 32Prog Error: 1280
Creating Circle Texture
aerender ERROR An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host.
: Unable to receive at line 314
aerender ERROR: After Effects can not render for aerender. Another instance of aerender, or another script, may be running; or, AE may be waiting for response from a modal dialog, or for a render to complete. Try running aerender without the -reuse flag to invoke a separate instance of After Effects

I already got a first answer from the plexus support. They said this error belongs to that the open GL could not be loaded via aerender commandline.
They suggested to update the nvidia drivers, but I already tried that. No change.
The plugin needs open GL 3.2 for rendering. It does not matter if you switch the AE project to GPU Cuda or software CPU mode. It needs it anyway to proccess Depth of field and motion blur.

THX

Hmm. That’s unfortunate. I guess it’s up to Plexus to create their own OpenGL context if running from the command line. I checked in the initial log you sent and Deadline was not running as a service (which makes their job even harder), but I’m hoping it’s something they could work on.

It’s been quite a number of years since I’ve worked with OpenGL and I didn’t go very deep, so I’m not sure if DoF and Motion Blur have standard APIs (probably?) or if AE is needed to do that heavy lifting elegantly.

Just for anyone looking at this now:

Plexus has now been updated to 3.1.7, which fixes this issue. The updated version can be downloaded on Robytes website, or through the Aescripts website in your account.

Our studio have only just resolved this issue, which has been plaguing us for a couple of months!

Great to read that there is an update! I will test it in the next days.