Animation (IFL: Image File List)

Owned by Robert Stepnoski
Last updated: May 02, 2023 by Robert Stepnoski
4 min read

Checklist before submitting to the UTSOA Render Farm

  • Have you been through the render farm training? To request training and get access to the render farm, contact soatechtrain@utexas.edu
  • Are your files and all referenced files on the network for rendering?  ( \\arch-data.austin.utexas.edu\Student-Work\YOUREID )
  • Did you create a file for the image files to be saved?
  • Do you have a camera(s) set?
  • Are you using 3DS Max or Rhino?
  • Are you able to connect to the UT VPN successfully?

Submission Workflow

Submitting from 3DS Max:

  • Important Note: Before following these steps be sure to set your file paths to UNC!!! If you haven't done so already goto Customize > Preferences > then go to the Files tab and select first check box under File Handling called "Convert file paths to UNC".
  • Asset Tracking: Verify the full path of all textures and maps is using a UNC path which will look like this: ( \\arch-data.austin.utexas.edu\Student-Work\YOUREID ).
    • Goto: File>Reference>Asset Tracking Toggle (ctrl+T) to manage your textures and maps.

       

Define the Render Output for the Scene.

  1. Select Rendering from the menu bar, then Render Setup.
  2. Under the Common tab, in the Common Parameters and Time Output section choose the option for rendering a time, frame, or range.
    1. To render your entire animation, select Active Time Segment.
    2. Or to render a certain range of frames, select Range and enter the beginning and end frame numbers.



  3. In the Output Size section:
    1. In the drop-down box click the down arrow.
    2. Select NTSC DV (video) from the list.
    3. Click the 360x240 button for your video size. (Note: If rendering for your final output, select 720x480, 1280x720, 1920x1080, 4096x2340, or something more.  Your instructor may provide you with the Output Size requirements depending upon your assignment.)



  4. In the Render Output section:

            

    1. NOTE!! Be sure to specify the render output path and all maps with a “fully qualified UNC path”.  Using a mapped drive letter path will cause an error. Such as: (R:\lar381r\name\Import-Export)
    2. UNC file path examples: ( always begins with two back slashes )
      1. \\arch-data.austin.utexas.edu\Student-Work\EID\ifl
      2. \\arch-data.austin.utexas.edu\Student-Work\EID\Animations
    3. Click the Files... button and select the folder provided for you, by your instructor, on the Render drive (i.e. \\arch-data.austin.utexas.edu\Student-Work\EID\ifl ). Be sure you are inside the folder, not just highlighting it!
    4. Enter a file name for your frames (i.e. image01.bmp, frame01, etc).
    5. Select BMP Image File (.bmp)* under the Save as type: drop-down box.
    6. Click the Save... button.
    7. A BMP Configuration window will appear.Be sure that RGB 24 bit (16.7 Million Colors) is selected and click OK. This will return you to the Render Scene dialog box.
    8. NOTE!! for the example above, we used .bmp as the output file type. .exr, .png, .jpg are also acceptable file formats for output.
  5. Assign renderer (i.e: Scanline, Vray, Redshift, Arnold, etc).
  6. Close out of dialogue box.

Submitting from Rhino:

Define the Render Output for the Scene.

  1. Download the rrSubmitter tool for Rhino if you haven't already.
  2. Set the current render plugin to "Rhino Render".
  3. Select the view you wish to render to make it active.
  4. Enter "EditPythonScript" at the command line to initiate scripting. (this will reset scripting).
  5. Enter "rrSubmitRhino" at the command line.
  6. Save Scene. YES
  7. The rrSubmitter app should appear.
  8. Follow the rrSubmitter steps here to submit your file to the Render Farm.

Royal Render Submitter

  1. Under the Royal Render menu (RRender in the menu bar), select "Submit Scene". A new window (rrSubmitter) will open.
  2. Expand the sub-category "Scene Settings" at the top of the RRender window.
  3. Under "Sequence" set the range of frames to render (SOA IT staff recommends testing small batches before submitting entire file for rendering).
  4. Verify the Image Dir to be mapped to \\arch-data.austin.utexas.edu\Student-Work\EID as created above.
  5. Verify and/or modify the FileName as desired.
  6. Verify the file type extension as Bitmap (.bmp) or OpenEXR (.exr) and that the box for "Single ouput file" is UNCHECKED. 
  7. Under the sub-category "Clients", assign your job to clients (workstations) as desired. The job will be dispersed among the clients to maximize render time.
    1. If you do not select specific client(s) to submit to, your render job will be submitted to the entire farm by default.
  8. If you wish to delay the start of the job, you can select the start time under "Wait" or specify to wait for another job to complete before submitting.
  9. Leave all other settings as default.
  10. Submit Job! (button is located in the bottom left-hand corner of window)


To observe the status of your render, open SOA Render Monitor in your web browser.  (Works best in Mozilla Firefox)

Once all image files are complete, open the Virtual Dub software to combine files into single animation.

Virtual Dub Post Process