maintain renderslaves (3ds max)

[vlado]

Is there a way to use an arbitrary location like the maya install?

Yes, although you'll need to create a custom plugin.ini file on the fly to tell 3ds Max where to look for plugins.

Best regards,
Vlado

[jacksc02]

Vlado,
Are there any "how to" guides on how to do that?

[vlado]

Not as of right now... I will make a note to write one, but it will take a while until I get to it. I know that other users have done that, perhaps someone else will jump in with more info.

Best regards,
Vlado

[jacksc02]

Thanks Vlado.
I appreciate the help.

[duke2]

Wouldn't haven't them read the plugin off a network location slow it down, especially on render startup? I guess they're pretty small but still..

[jacksc02]

George,
I have set up our farm to read all plugins (except for vray) to read from a network location. Setting up new machines is a breeze and updating plugins is very very quick

[jacksc02]

Oh and there are no slow downs on startup or rendering

[super gnu]

why (except for vray)?

[jacksc02]

Why not vray? I haven't found a way to get it to work. Plugins with a single file are easy it's just when there are scripts and other important things it is just quicker to install as normal.
Do you have a guide as to how to do it easily?

[super gnu]

me? no. but maybe dmitry does.. for maya at least.. hm.

[vlado]

Why not vray? I haven't found a way to get it to work. Plugins with a single file are easy it's just when there are scripts and other important things it is just quicker to install as normal.
Do you have a guide as to how to do it easily?

It's quite straightforward; you just need to point 3ds Max to load the relevant plugins (vrenderNNNN.dlr and the ones from the vrayplugins folder), and also to modify the PATH environment variable to include the path to the DLLs that are installed in the root folder of 3ds Max (vrayNNNN.dll, libmmd.dll etc).

Best regards,
Vlado

[jacksc02]

Vlado,
Can I ask a dumb question? Where do I modify the Path environment variable?

[Zdravko]

You can find windows environment variables here:
Right-click My Computer > Properties > Advanced system settings> Environment variables.

[squeakybadger]

You can find windows environment variables here:
Right-click My Computer > Properties > Advanced system settings> Environment variables.

Just working through this now, and it works fine.

For getting dr working on all the servers as a service though, would we have to install vray anyway, or could this be done with copying some files into the network plugin dir?

[Zdravko]

On the nodes you need to run "3ds Max render slave" installation type.