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This is the documentation for an older version of Qube. The latest version of the documentation can be found here: Qube

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Below are instructions on your first steps submitting After Effects jobs with Qube!

 

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titleStep 1 (First Time Only)

The After effects Jobtype comes with the standard install of Qube! and does not require a specific jobtype to be installed 

InApp Installation:

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File > Install App UI > Install Aerender (AppFinder) App UI...

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titleStep 2 (First Time Only)

Once installed there are a few things that need to be done before using the script

Open General Preferences
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Mac: After Effects > Preferences > General...
PC: File > Preferences >General...
Tick "Allow Scripts to Write Files and Access Network"
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Panel
titleStep 3 (First Time Only)

Select "Qube_SetPath.jsx"

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 File > Scripts > Qube_SetPath.jsx

This will prompt you with

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Enter the correct path to the Qube application

Mac Defaults: /Applications/pfx/qube/qube.app

PC Defaults: C:\Program Files (x86)\pfx\qube\bin\qube.exe

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titleStep 4

With a scene loaded in After effects select "QubeAppFinder_Submit_RenderQueue.jsx"

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File > Scripts > QubeAppFinder_Submit_RenderQueue.jsx

 

This will present a pre filled submission UI

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Panel
titleStep 5

Ensure sections marked in red have the correct details

Click submit

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For further details on the submission UI look in the right panel

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titleTroubleshooting

If you find you are getting errors here are some useful links for troubleshooting

Troubleshooting Flowcharts 

Below Is an expandable view of the AppFinder Jobs > "Aerender (AppFinder) Job..." Jobtype Submission UI

Note

Not all sections need to be filled in in order to render only the fields marked in red are required


Please click on the text below the section of interest

 

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titleRequired

CS Version

Tooltip - Select version numbers to make an educated guess at where aerender is found on the remote worker.

Info

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Use the spinners to enter the required version of After effects

executable

Tooltip - Leave it set to "_AE_" to allow the job to find the right version of aerender on the worker.

Info

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Left default qube will automatically find the version of After Effects on the worker

Project File

Tooltip - Path to After Effects project (required)

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Browse or enter manually the location of the project file to be rendered. This is a required field for submission

Important: Best practise is to ensure the project file and all of its dependant files such as textures are on network storage accessible by the workers.

After effects requires all plugins and fonts to be installed and licensed on every worker

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titleContent (required to see job frame range and % complete)

Composition

Tooltip -

...

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The Composition to render

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(required if specifying frame range or other overrides listed below) If the comp is in the render queue already, and in a queueable state, then (only) the first queueable instance of that comp on the render queue will be rendered. If the comp is in the project but not in the render queue, then it will be added to the render queue and rendered. If no -comp argument is provided, aerender will render the entire render queue as is. In this case (no -comp), the only other arguments used will be -project, -log, -v, -mem_usage, and -close; the -RStemplate, -OMtemplate, -output, -s, -e, and -i arguments will be ignored.

clear explaination needed

Render Queue Index

Tooltip - specifies a render queue item to be rendered. Options that make sense when rendering a single render queue item are available like with the -comp flag.

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Enter the numeric value to override scene render queue index settings

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titleOptional (used if comp or render queue index specified)

Render Settings

Tooltip -

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the name of a template to apply to the render queue item.If the template does not exist it is an error. Default is to use the render template already defined for the item. Can only set if Composition option specified

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Enter manually or select from drop-down

Output Module

Tooltip -

...

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name of a template to apply to the output module. If the template does not exist it is an error. Default is to use the template already defined for the output module. Can only set if Composition option specified NOTE: Distributing a render across multiple machines requires image sequence output. That is usually best set in the AfterEffects Project or the Output File Path override.

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Enter manually or select from drop-down

Important: when choosing the output format be aware that extensions such as .MOV or .AVI can not be distributed across the farm. Please select an image sequence based format such as .TIF etc

Output File Path

Tooltip -

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Memory Usage

Tooltip -

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Specifying the destination render file. Default is the path already in the project file. For image sequences (the preferred method for distributed rendering) use # to denote frames. For example: /Volumes/Stuff/output/proj1/frames[####].psd. Can only set if Composition option specified.

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Browse or manually enter the location of the output image directory you wish to generate

Important: Best practise is to ensure outputs are written to network storage accessible by the workers

Memory Usage

Tooltip - (image_cache_percent max_mem_percent) where image_cache_percent specifies the maximum percent of memory used to cache already rendered images/footage, and max_mem_percent specifies the total percent of memory that can be used by After Effects.

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Enter the numeric value to override scene memory usage settings

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titleOptional

Verbosity

Tooltip - specifies the type of messages reported

Info

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Choose the level of detail you would like the logs to provide

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titleQube SimpleCmd and Shell Parameters

Cmd Template

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Shell (Linux/OSX)

Tooltip -

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_SimpleCmd_CmdTemplate
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_SimpleCMD_QubeJobTags

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_SimpleCMD_QubeWorkerSelection

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titleQube job Validation & RegularExpression-based Output Parsing

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Min File Size

Tooltip -

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regex_highlights

Tooltip -

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regex_errors

Tooltip -

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regex_outputPaths

Tooltip -

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regex_progress

Tooltip -

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regex_maxlines

Tooltip -

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_SimpleCMD_QubeActions

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_simplecmd_qubenotes

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