Versions Compared

    Key

    • This line was added.
    • This line was removed.
    • Formatting was changed.
    Comment: Published by Scroll Versions from this space and version 7.5-0

    Step by step instructions for submitting Maya jobs with Qube!

    ...

     

    Panel
    titleStep 1 (First Time Only)

    Install the Qube! Submission UI into Maya

    Section
    Column
    width60

     

    You will need to have installed the Maya jobtype. If you see a Qube! menu item in the top menu bar, the jobtype is already installed, and you can move to Step 2.

    Installation:
    If you are not familiar with the installation process please refer to the Quickstart section on installing workers, or to Installing Jobtypes. <if this doesn't exist, it should> You will need to select "Maya Jobtype" during the installation process.

     

    Column
    width40

    Image Removed

     

     

     

    Section
    Column
    width60

    Alternatively:

    If you only wish to use the "batch maya jobs" you can install the InApp plugins via the Qube! WranglerView.

    File > Install App UI > Install Maya App UI

    If you want the submission menu inside of Maya (recommended) then install the InApp plugins via the Qube! WranglerView as shown here. To do this, launch the WranglerView:

    • Windows: Double-click the color desktop icon
    • OS X: Find the color icon in Applications/pfx/qube and double-click on it
    • Linux: Type 'qube' at the command line (without the quotes)

    Then navigate to the File menu, choose "Install App UI" and choose "Install Maya App UI"

    You will need to do this on every workstation that you intend to submit Maya jobs from. If you don't see the "Maya App UI" entry in the menu, the Maya JobType was not installed. This should have happened with you installed the Worker, but if not, see this page for details of installing it.

    Column
    width40

     

    Panel
    titleStep 2
    Section
    Column
    width60
    Section
    Column
    width60

    Once installed you should be able to locate the "Qube!" menu in Maya's menu bar.

    InApp Location: 

    File menu > Qube! 

    Column
    width40

    Image Removed

    Panel
    titleStep 3

    With a scene loaded in Maya choose "Submit Maya Render Job...".

    Note that you could also choose "Submit Batch Render..." depending on your requirements.

    Info
    titleRender vs Batch Render

    What's the difference?

    Submit Render will open a single copy (instance) of Maya on the Worker that picks up the job, and that instance will send out frames to be rendered. The Supervisor will then assign those frames to Workersrender frames as assigned by the Supervisor. Since the scene file is only being opened one time, this can be faster to generate the full sequence.

    Submit Batch Render will use the command line to open a new instance of the Maya file for each frame that it renders. Although this can be slower for large scenes, it can also be more flexible in large, complex environments.

    Column
    width40

    Image Added

    Panel
    titleStep 3
    Section
    Column
    width60

    This will present a pre-filled submission UI like the one shown here. Ensure sections marked in red have the correct details.

    Tip
    titleUseful Settings

    While not strictly required, the following settings are useful for getting a better result. You will need to turn on "Expert Mode" (check box at the bottom of the submission UI) in order to get access to them.

    • Optimize the use of cores. Set the "Slots = Threads" checkbox and then set the "Specific Thread Count" to a value like 8 (assuming you have 8 cores). (If you have Designer licenses, only set the thread count. Do not check "Slots = Threads")
    • By default, Qube! will not retry failed frames. So set the "Retry frame/instance" value to 3 or 5, to get 3 or 5 retries before it gives up. Related to that, the default wait between retries is zero seconds, which is typically not useful. Set the "Retry Work Delay" to a value like 5 or 10 to allow machines time to recover from temporary problems such as network errors.
    Column
    width40

     Image Added

    Image Removed

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

    Troubleshooting Flowcharts 

    Panel
    titleStep 4
    Section
    Column
    width60

    Ensure sections marked in red have the correct details.

    Click 'Submit'

    For further details on the submission UI see below.

    Column
    width40

    Panel
    titleTroubleshooting

     

    Job Submission Details

    ...

     

    Note

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

     

    Include Page
    Include+
    nopanel
    scrollPageId405BE23F014B092BECE9892A21AF14C8
    scrollEditorDisplayTitle_SimpleCMD_QubeJobBasics
    scrollEditorUrlhttp://docs.pipelinefx.com/display/QUBE/_SimpleCMD_QubeJobBasics

    include
    Include+
    true
    scrollPageId
    405BE23F014B092BECCD2DB5359A0FBE
    scrollEditorDisplayTitle_SimpleCMD_QubeFrameRangeNoChunk
    scrollEditorUrlhttp://docs.pipelinefx.com/display/QUBE/._SimpleCMD_QubeFrameRangeNoChunk
    nopaneltrue
    Include Page
    +v6.7-0

    Include+
    scrollPageId405BE23F014B092BECDB9A2A7F86FA3C
    scrollEditorDisplayTitle_SimpleCMD_PreviewFramesSubmission
    scrollEditorUrlhttp://docs.pipelinefx.com/display/QUBE/._SimpleCMD_PreviewFramesSubmission
    nopaneltrue
    Include Page
    +v6.6-3

    Include+
    nopanel
    scrollPageId405BE23F014B092BECF1CCFC4A0BBE21
    scrollEditorDisplayTitle_SimpleCMD_RenderAppAutoThreads
    scrollEditorUrlhttp://docs.pipelinefx.com/display/QUBE/_SimpleCMD_RenderAppAutoThreads

    include
    Include+
    true
    scrollPageId
    nopanel
    405BE23F014B092BECFDB09139A430C4
    scrollEditorDisplayTitle_SimpleCMD_RenderAppUses
    scrollEditorUrlhttp://docs.pipelinefx.com/display/QUBE/_SimpleCMD_RenderAppUses

    Include+
    true
    scrollPageId

    ...

    405BE23F014B092BEDAF76141F0C0ED6

    ...

    Column
    width40

    Image Removed 

    Column
    width60
    Expand
    titleClick here for details...

    Scenefile
    Path to Maya scene (required)

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

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

     

    Project dir
    Path to Maya project directory

    Browse for or enter manually the location of the project directory.

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

    Section
    Column
    width40

     Image Removed

    Column
    width60
    Expand
    titleClick here for details...

    Cameras
    List of cameras to use for render (space-separated). Choose from pre-populated list and or enter manually cameras to override scene settings.

    Layers
    List of layers to render (space-separated). Choose from pre populated and or enter manually layers to override scene settings.

    EnableDefaultLight
    Choose from drop down to override scene settings.

    Section
    Column
    width40

    Image Removed

    Column
    width60
    Expand
    titleClick here for details...

    Renderer
    Choose from drop down to override scene settings 

    Render Threads
    Number of threads each subjob should use. Enter the numeric value to override scene settings. Set to -1 to sync with host.processors, 0 to use all cores on the worker. Further explanation needed.

    Ignore Errors
    Tick the box to ignore errors. This ignores error messages that are generated during the render that would otherwise cause frames to fail. 

    Distributed Rendering
    Enable Distributed Rendering (mental ray satellite OR V-Ray DR). Choose from the drop down to override scene settings. See also How to use the mental ray Distributed Bucket Render (DBR) or V-Ray Distributed Render (DR) feature with Qube!

    Maya Executable
    Browse for or specify the path to the maya executable file (mayabatch.exe for Windows), if you want to override the auto-detected default. (optional).

    Important : Be aware that if you are submitting from one OS to another, the path to the executable will be different.

    Section
    Column
    width40

    Image Removed

    Column
    width60
    Expand
    titleClick here for details...

    Render dir
    Path to Maya output render directory. Browse to or manually enter the location of the output image file you wish to generate.

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

    File Name Prefix
    Image file name prefix override. Explanation needed

    Frame/Anim Ext
    Choose from drop down to override scene settings. Explanation needed

    Frame Padding
    Number of digits for frame number, e.g. 4 means name.XXXX.ext. Enter the numeric value to override scene settings

    Renumber StartFrame
    The starting output image filename extension value. Enter the numeric value to override scene settings

    Renumber ByFrame
    The output image filename extension step ('by' or increment) value. Enter the numeric value to override scene settings

    File Extension
    The string added at the end of the file name. Enter the file extension value to override scene settings

    Section
    Column
    width40

    Image Removed

    Column
    width60
    Expand
    titleClick here for details...

    Image Width (pixels)
    Image width. Enter the numeric value to override scene settings

    Image Height (pixels)
    Image height. Enter the numeric value to override scene settings

    Maintain Aspect Ratio
    Maintain Aspect ratio. Select required option from drop down

    Maintain Ratio
    Maintain ratio. Select required option from drop down

    Pixels/Inch
    Resolution (Pixels/Inch). Enter the numeric value to override scene settings

    Device Aspect Ratio
    Device Aspect Ratio. Enter the numeric value to override scene settings

    Pixel Aspect Ratio
    Pixel Aspect Ratio. Enter the numeric value to override scene settings

    Section
    Column
    width40

    Image Removed

    Column
    width60
    Expand
    titleClick here for details...

    preRenderMel
    The mel string to be executed before a scene is rendered. Enter the script string.

    postRenderMel
    The mel string to be executed after a scene is rendered. Enter the script string.

    preRenderLayerMel
    The mel string to be executed before a render layer is rendered. Enter the script string.

    postRenderLayerMel
    The mel string to be executed after a render layer is rendered. Enter the script string.

    preRenderFrameMel
    The mel string to be executed before a frame is rendered. Enter the script string.

    postRenderFrameMel
    The mel string to be executed after a frame is rendered. Enter the script string.

    Include Page
    _SimpleCMD_QubeJobTags_SimpleCMD_QubeJobTags
    nopaneltrue
    Include Page
    _SimpleCMD_QubeWorkerSelection_SimpleCMD_QubeWorkerSelection
    nopaneltrue
    Include Page
    _SimpleCmd_AdvancedJobControl_SimpleCmd_AdvancedJobControl
    nopaneltrue
    Include Page
    _SimpleCMD_QubeJobEnvironment_SimpleCMD_QubeJobEnvironment
    nopaneltrue
    Include Page
    _SimpleCMD_QubeActions_SimpleCMD_QubeActions
    nopaneltrue
    Include Page
    _simplecmd_qubenotes_simplecmd_qubenotes
    nopaneltrue
    scrollEditorDisplayTitle_SimpleCMD_ParametersMaya
    scrollEditorUrlhttp://docs.pipelinefx.com/display/QUBE/_SimpleCMD_ParametersMaya

    Include+
    scrollPageId405BE23F014B092BED058D3406665A24
    scrollEditorDisplayTitle_SimpleCMD_QubeJobTags
    scrollEditorUrlhttp://docs.pipelinefx.com/display/QUBE/_SimpleCMD_QubeJobTags

    Include+
    scrollPageId405BE23F014B092BED0EE4246B9B43C9
    scrollEditorDisplayTitle_SimpleCMD_QubeWorkerSelection
    scrollEditorUrlhttp://docs.pipelinefx.com/display/QUBE/._SimpleCMD_QubeWorkerSelection+v6.6-3

    Include+
    scrollPageId405BE23F014B092BED21EDF55CD47477
    scrollEditorDisplayTitle_SimpleCmd_AdvancedJobControl
    scrollEditorUrlhttp://docs.pipelinefx.com/display/QUBE/._SimpleCmd_AdvancedJobControl+v6.6-3

    Include+
    scrollPageId405BE23F014B092BEDB74C720A2ED8CF
    scrollEditorDisplayTitle_SimpleCMD_PreFlightChecks
    scrollEditorUrlhttp://docs.pipelinefx.com/display/QUBE/_SimpleCMD_PreFlightChecks

    Include+
    scrollPageId405BE23F014B092BEDC0771C002BD4E8
    scrollEditorDisplayTitle_SimpleCMD_JobDelayedStart
    scrollEditorUrlhttp://docs.pipelinefx.com/display/QUBE/_SimpleCMD_JobDelayedStart

    Include+
    scrollPageId405BE23F014B092BED2900AF0E13DE30
    scrollEditorDisplayTitle_SimpleCMD_QubeJobEnvironment
    scrollEditorUrlhttp://docs.pipelinefx.com/display/QUBE/._SimpleCMD_QubeJobEnvironment+v6.6-3

    Include+
    scrollPageId405BE23F014B092BED37493F7556F3F0
    scrollEditorDisplayTitle_SimpleCMD_QubeActions
    scrollEditorUrlhttp://docs.pipelinefx.com/display/QUBE/._SimpleCMD_QubeActions+v6.6-3

    Include+
    scrollPageId405BE23F014B092BED3FFA6C6ABA7BCD
    scrollEditorDisplayTitle_SimpleCMD_QubeNotes
    scrollEditorUrlhttp://docs.pipelinefx.com/display/QUBE/._SimpleCMD_QubeNotes+v7.0-0