network rendering

[gah5118]

I am looking to set up network rendering/queue and have searched only finding the suggestion of using drqueue. I am new to this concept and am seeing many other concepts that are new to me such as compiling they python scripts. not sure where to begin.

is there a tutorial out there on setting up a render queue/network rendering for octane? if not, can someone volunteer to make an article or video?

it would be great if it were generalized so any platform user could benefit from it, however i have octane for maya and stand alone of course.

Thanks in advance!

[kavorka]

I dont know how to do it right now...
But, supposedly, on Monday, we will get the next version of Octane that supports scripting. You might be able to/ someone else might make a script that can do what you want.

[gah5118]

that is excellent news... i am currently exploring different options like deadline and renderpal with no success yet.


i am also downloading visual basic to write a fancy batch file more or the less. basically i am trying to automate render passes; it will take more time to re open the file per pass, but ultimately saving me time since i wont have to check on it every 3 min

so far this is an outline of what i am working on

"C:\Program Files\OTOY\OctaneRender 1.20\octane.exe" "path" -t "t" -s "4000" -o "path" -e
target node t1
open with samples set to 4000
direct lighting
save x-1.png

"C:\Program Files\OTOY\OctaneRender 1.20\octane.exe" "path" -t "t" -s "200" -o "path" -e
target node - t2
open with samples 200
deep channel - shading normals
save x-2.png

"C:\Program Files\OTOY\OctaneRender 1.20\octane.exe" "path" -t "t" -s "100" -o "path" -e
target node - t3
open with samples 100
deep channel - material id
save x.png

[gah5118]

well, i wrote a VB program that at least automates octane into doing render passes... right now it has to open with a render target, finish, save png, and close. then it opens again with the next render target. maybe when scripting is released opening and closing wont be necessary (unless someone knows a trick to automate this)

once i have tested it, I may release it if others are interested.

[stratified]

You should check out Lua scripting in Octane. This should be easy in Lua. If you're stuck I can help you with it.

Cheers,
Thomas

[stratified]

I had 10 minutes to spare

Assuming you have all the render targets set up properly you could use something like this:

Code: Select all

-- find all the render targets
local renderTargets = octane.nodegraph.getRootGraph():findNodes(octane.NT_RENDERTARGET)

local maxSamples = 50
local saveDir    = "/tmp"

-- render each render target individually
for i, rt in ipairs(renderTargets) do
    print(string.format("start rendering %s", rt:getProperties().name))

    -- render
    octane.render.start{ renderTargetNode=rt, maxSamples=maxSamples }

    -- save out the render
    local path = string.format("%s/render%d.png", saveDir, i)
    octane.render.saveImage(path, octane.render.imageType.PNG16)
    print(string.format("saved image %s", path))
end

print(string.format("finished rendering %d images", #renderTargets))

Another approach would be to just have 1 rendertarget and switch the kernels.

cheers,
Thomas

[gah5118]

awesome! thanks for the reply

i started to take a look at it.

basically this is how i have my VB program set up
first have to have the scene setup with 3 render targets; i name them t1 t2 and t3. each frame is saved in its own folder (ocs and all other related files). each folder is numbered 1-whatever... in the program you type in start folder to end folder. it opens each one and processes the first pass, saves then closes and starts the next pass. when passes are complete it moves on to the next folder.

i send all of my jobs (folders) to another machine and run my VB program which handles the rest.

in summary; i would like to figure out how to script the render passes and opening of multiple scenes.

note, the renderings i am doing is not animation but technical illustrations for instruction manuals. so the lighting is different for almost every illustration. the parts will move in each frame also (open battery hatch, unscrew this, lift that, ext.)

this method has so far been the most productive.

I will look through the code you posted when i get back home. would there be a way to automate the things i listed via script? or is there a better way in general to do this? I also do have the maya plugin but havent had time to explore it (mainly due to having to adjust the way the materials work; i do like the way the stand alone handles it.)

Thanks again!

[stratified]

No you're system would work just fine. You can loop over the folders in Lua, open the project, render targets t1, t2 and t3 and then save the render.

cheers,
Thomas

[gah5118]

guess i will have to sit down for a weekend and figure this out....

currently i am trying to play with alembic, i got the geometry to export, but trying to figure out the cameras. if lua could be scripted to change the environment on the frame changes, this may actually be a great alternative.

[gah5118]

as far as opening new folders....

with my program, currently i can input from which folder to which folder i want to process (folder 3 - 12 for example) and it will do that, how can i ask for input to customize variables each time or does the script need to be reprogrammed?

Thanks!