Render Farm Project Information Sheet

Transcription

1 Render Farm Project Information Sheet Name: Phone #: Project Name: Files Needed by: Special Render Instructions:

2 Render Farm Submission Guide Preparing your Project for the Render Farm The first step in preparing your project for the render farm is to set up the proper file structuring to allow the rendering engine to locate all the files that it may need for processing. A simple way of doing this is to use Maya s default file structuring from the beginning of your workflow. If this has not been done, you can easily create a default file structure within Maya by going to File>Project, Window. This will bring up the project window within Maya by clicking on the New button in the upper right-hand corner of the project window. You can set a location for the project s main directory to be placed, and also name your new project. When naming your project, a good practice is to not use any space or special character in your naming convention, also begin a file name with a number may cause some unforeseen errors. How to Submit your Render Job From a lab computer or laptop on campus, copy your entire project folder to the network drive, located at \\lurfshare\submission_folder. Then, send an to Andrew Vermes, Render Farm manager, at avermes@lynn.edu. Be sure to include your contact information so he can let you know when the render job has been completed. How to get your finished rendered files After the completion of your project, your rendered files can be located within the \\lurfshare\submission_folder in a new folder called images. *Please be aware that this folder is not a permanent storage device and files will be removed periodically, so please make sure that all media is backed up on a personal data storage device.

3 After you are happy with the results of your location and file setup, hit the accept button. By default, this will set your project to the location specified in the Project Window. To save to this for the first time, you should use File>Save as. The directory that this brings you to should be the Scenes folder within the project folder you just created. Now you are ready to save your scene using proper naming conventions. Please remember that if the file originated from another project folder, any textures or cache data files maybe referenced to that project file. After your project has been set to a proper architecture the following parameters must be met before submitting your project to the render farm.

4 Render Farm Submission Checklist NOTE: You should allow approximately 72 hours for a project to render. The IT department is not responsible for late or incomplete work. To ensure timely completion of your project, please go through the following: Projects must be finalized and only include files that are needed to render. Have your project directory set up correctly. Use the default Maya folder structure. Make sure any dynamic solutions are cached. Make sure that the cached particles are not pointing to the local drive, but../cache_name This naming schema also applies to textures, meaning../texture_name You should use a folder name convention either using underscores (this_is_a_underscore) or camel notation (camelnotation), this also applies to ALL your files in your project, such as textures For project names, please use first initial and last name, along with the frame numbers (t_testing_1_100) or (ttesting1_100) Make sure that you are using name.#.ext for the frame naming convention, and that you are using a proper frame padding, ie, if it you have 100 frames, choose a frame padding of 3, if it s 1000, choose a frame padding of 4, ad nauseam Make sure you are not using punctuations, spaces, or special characters (!,@,#,$,%,^,&,*,(,),+,=,?.etc ) Make sure you are using render layers to passes instead of individual files Make sure that you are using the proper camera, and only the cameras that you want to render out Make sure that your scene has been optimized using Optimize Scene Provide a text file with your project that includes your address, frames to render and any other info you think the render admin needs to know. It is recommended you use Maya s native EXR format for textures, as Photoshop supports it now. When saving out your textures, make sure that they are 8-bit RGB and choose Maya as the EXR type.

5 Do not use unsupported image files for textures Check your render quality settings. A higher setting doesn t always mean better, and can hinder render times without a discernable image quality improvement. Do not use plug-ins that may not be supported by the college. Do not set your project up so that it is calling for files off of a network share or from other projects, if you DO have referenced files, import the object by using the Reference Editor, choose the referenced object you wish to import and go File > Import Objects from Reference. Make sure that all texture are in the sourceimages folder within your project directory.