Batch rendering several scenes over night with DR?

[TRGraphics]

I ran a search but didn't find anything.

I would like to know if there is a batch render script that will render several different files using DR overnight while I get a little sleep for a change.

If I can't use DR I would still like to know if it can be done with vray. As you can tell scripting is not my cup of tea.

Tony

[serge]

you can use videopost

[RErender]

use backburner

[serge]

use backburner

how did you use backburner with Dr ?

i make a try (1.46.04 but only one server is rendering

[RErender]

Sorry, I missed the DR part ...

[vlado]

Use MaxScript; writing a simple script to load and render a bunch of scenes is fairly easy.

Best regards,
Vlado

[vlado]

Here is a sample script; you can modify it as necessary:

-- batchRender
--   scenesDir: the folder with all the scenes
--   outputDir: the folder with the final images
--   all images are saved as .png files
fn batchRender scenesDir outputDir = (
  -- Create the output bitmap
  bm = Bitmap 640 480

  -- Set up the .png output (we need to save alpha)
  pngio.setAlpha true
  pngio.setType #true24
	
  -- Get all .max files in the folder
  filelist = getFiles (scenesDir+"*.max")
  
  -- Cycle through all the scenes
  for f in filelist do (
    -- Load the next file
    loadres = loadMAXFile f quiet:true useFileUnits:true
    
    -- If not loaded, print an error and move on to the next one
    if not loadres then (
      print "Error loading file "+f+"
"
      continue
    )
    
    -- Set some renderer parameters
    renderers.current.system_frameStamp_on = true
    renderers.current.system_frameStamp_string = "%vrayversion | %filename | %frame | %rendertime | %computername | %cpu %mhz %ram"
    
    -- Render out the image
    render outputWidth: 640 outputHeight: 480 outputFile: (outputDir+""+getFilenameFile(f)+".png") to: bm
  )
)

When you run this script, you can go to the MaxScript listener and type, for example:

batchRender "d:/scenes/batchScenes" "d:/images/batchImages"

Best regards,
Vlado

[TishoChaos]

you can use videopost

actually you can't do that

[corey]

We could really use this batch DR script. I have tried it with Max 6 and Max 7 both with Vray 1.46.10.

I run the script as is in Vlado's post then type the command batchRender "c:scenesatchScenes" "c:imagesatchImages" in MXS listner and I get and OK response from MXS. But nothing ever happens; no scenes load and no images get saved.

I tried the scenes with DR enabled and disabled.

We can use 3dsmaxcmd to batch render on single machines. 3dsmaxcmd does not work with DR enabled.

Any help or ideas would be appreciated.

Regards,

Corey

[arobbert]

I've had good luck with a script called "batcher utility" available at scriptspot.com. You run it from within Max and it will run a list of scripts on a folder full of files. All you need is a very simple script to render and save the file. You can also use it to generate IR maps on a series of files. Just set your render parameters up in each file before running it. It works for Max 4, don't know about higher versions. I notice there is another one called "batcher" that looks similar and is good for Max 6.

Alexie

[TRGraphics]

Vlado, thanks very nuch for the help with this.

I tried the script but I can't get it to work either. What specifically do I need to change in the script or the command to work on my machine?

As I said before, I'm a complete novice when it comes to scripting

My directory where the files are located is D:/scenes/nevins/receptacles

Thanks,

Tony

[arobbert]

Tony,
You can create a simple script by turning on listener and execute a render. Copy the text from the listener to a script and save it. You can test it by running it and seeing if it renders. Once you have the script working you can use the batcher do the hard part which is running the render script on a series of files. Just set your render parameters up in the files before running the script. I've used this a lot for unattended batch rendering to generate IR files. I haven't used DR with it but it might work. The beauty of it is that you don't have to do extensive scripting to get it to work.

Alexie