[Bf-funboard] some pipeline related requests

Campbell Barton ideasman42 at gmail.com
Wed Aug 27 16:09:26 CEST 2014 

Is there any reason you can't use multi-layer EXR's for this purpose?
(or render multi-layer EXR's and split them up after)

There is an image output node which can have multiple file outputs,
but think this isnt very practical to setup-on-the-fly.

Otherwise If you want to set different output paths you have to render
multiple times as far as I know.

On Wed, Aug 27, 2014 at 9:39 PM, Thomas Volkmann
<lists at thomasvolkmann.com> wrote:
> And additional question: how would I access the different passes to save them as
> separate images?
> (The question of how to change the renderoutput and save between rendering the
> layers still remains)....
>
> Still some pitfalls on the way :)
>
>
>
>
>
>> Thomas Volkmann <lists at thomasvolkmann.com> hat am 26. August 2014 um 08:50
>> geschrieben:
>>
>>
>> This is going into the right direction, but with render_pre and render_post I
>> can't get inbetween the rendering of the different layers to set the
>> outputname
>> and it seems that the save-image is only called once after all layers are
>> done.
>> So to me it looks like this:
>>
>> render_pre(change ouputname)
>> rendering layer1
>> rendering layer2
>> rendering layer3
>> save image
>> render_post(restore ouputname)
>>
>> change frame
>>
>> render_pre(change ouputname)
>> rendering layer1
>> .
>> .
>>
>> Whereas I would need it to be like this:
>>
>> render_pre(change ouputname)
>> rendering layer1
>> save image
>> render_pre(change ouputname)
>> rendering layer2
>> save image
>> render_pre(change ouputname)
>> rendering layer2
>> save image
>> render_post(restore ouputname)
>>
>> change frame
>> .
>> .
>> .
>>
>> I hope that makes sense....
>>
>>
>>
>> > Campbell Barton <ideasman42 at gmail.com> hat am 26. August 2014 um 03:37
>> > geschrieben:
>> >
>> >
>> > While its possible to replace the render operator with your own one
>> > (you'd want to do that for the UI and the KeyBinding), Seems like you
>> > migh be better off to do this a different way. - Using a pre-render
>> > callback for example.
>> >
>> > def scene_path_cb(scene): scene.render.filepath = "my_path_override"
>> >
>> > bpy.app.handlers.render_pre.append(scene_path_cb)
>> >
>> > The downside with this is it will save the change to disk, so you
>> > might want to ass a post-render callback which restores the filepath
>> > so as not to annoy users.
>> >
>> > # store original_path in `scene_path_cb`
>> > def scene_path_restore_cb(scene): scene.render.filepath = original_path
>> > bpy.app.handlers.render_post.append(scene_path_restore_cb)
>> >
>> >
>> > On Mon, Aug 25, 2014 at 7:19 PM, Thomas Volkmann
>> > <lists at thomasvolkmann.com> wrote:
>> > > Another thing that just struck me:
>> > > is it possible to override the 'Animation' button with a custom command?
>> > > Because it is nice that I can have that background-script for modifiyng
>> > > the
>> > > filename when rendering on the farm, but when someone decides to render
>> > > some
>> > > parts locally the files will be named different than the renderings from
>> > > the
>> > > farm.
>> > >
>> > > And maybe as a basic thought:
>> > > Atm you can render multiple layers only when you render to multilayer-exr.
>> > > Otherwise the images overwrite each other, or you have to use a hack
>> > > (srcipt/nodesetup as mentioned before) to make it work.
>> > > Is that really a desired behaviour?
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >> Thomas Volkmann <lists at thomasvolkmann.com> hat am 25. August 2014 um
>> > >> 10:40
>> > >> geschrieben:
>> > >>
>> > >>
>> > >> Nice!!
>> > >> Exactly what I'm looking for. Now it should be easy enough to get this
>> > >> implemented (even for me).
>> > >>
>> > >> Thanks,
>> > >> Thomas
>> > >>
>> > >>
>> > >> > Campbell Barton <ideasman42 at gmail.com> hat am 25. August 2014 um 10:19
>> > >> > geschrieben:
>> > >> >
>> > >> >
>> > >> > On Mon, Aug 25, 2014 at 5:47 PM, Thomas Volkmann
>> > >> > <lists at thomasvolkmann.com> wrote:
>> > >> > > Hi,
>> > >> > > thanks for the answers! Python would be my weapon of choice, although
>> > >> > > I
>> > >> > > don’t
>> > >> > > see how I would be able to add a commandline flag to the Blender
>> > >> > > executable
>> > >> > > then. Maybe I should go into more detail about what I want to do. It
>> > >> > > all
>> > >> > > comes
>> > >> > > down to try to integrate Blender into our RoyalRender renderfarm. I
>> > >> > > found
>> > >> > > this
>> > >> > > script ( https://github.com/CallistoVFX/RoyalRender_Blender_Submitter
>> > >> > > <https://github.com/CallistoVFX/RoyalRender_Blender_Submitter> )
>> > >> > > which
>> > >> > > is
>> > >> > > working for us, except that we are not able to specify which layers
>> > >> > > we
>> > >> > > want
>> > >> > > to
>> > >> > > render. The RoyalRender submitter would let you select which
>> > >> > > Scene/layers
>> > >> > > to
>> > >> > > submit and create a renderjob for each one. Meaning it would create a
>> > >> > > commandline for each job that gets send to the clients. Ideally I
>> > >> > > would
>> > >> > > like
>> > >> > > it
>> > >> > > to look like this:
>> > >> > >
>> > >> > > blender.exe -b "foo.blend" -S <SCENE> -L <LAYER> -o <OUTPUTNAME> -x 1
>> > >> > > -t 0
>> > >> > > -s 1
>> > >> > > -e 5 -a
>> > >> > >
>> > >> > > Except for the layers everything is working fine. I would love if the
>> > >> > > resulting
>> > >> > > files would be named like:
>> > >> > >
>> > >> > > <OUTPUTNAME>.<LAYERNAME>.<PASS>.#####.<EXT>
>> > >> > >
>> > >> > > As you specify an outputname for every scene anyway it is not
>> > >> > > neccessary
>> > >> > > to
>> > >> > > have
>> > >> > > <SCENENAME> in the filename. I would suggest to have Blender add
>> > >> > > LAYERNAME
>> > >> > > and
>> > >> > > PASS automatically to the filename, so the user has not to worry
>> > >> > > about
>> > >> > > it.
>> > >> > >
>> > >> > > So, the main task for this would be, to add the commandline flag to
>> > >> > > the
>> > >> > > blenderexecutable and have blender add layer- and passname to the
>> > >> > > fileoutput
>> > >> > > (if
>> > >> > > not multilayer-exr). I don’t think that can be done via an addon, can
>> > >> > > it?
>> > >> >
>> > >> > You can do this, see the `background_job.py` template that comes with
>> > >> > Blender (access from text editor templates menu).
>> > >> >
>> > >> > A different example script to render FBX files:
>> > >> > https://github.com/ideasman42/pyfbx_render
>> > >> >
>> > >> > > 2.
>> > >> > > If we are using the extracted blender (not the installer), the
>> > >> > > BLENDER_SYSTEM
>> > >> > > paths are not used (only USER and LOCAL), and we can modify these
>> > >> > > variables
>> > >> > > to
>> > >> > > point to our shared config-location. Do I get that right? (I’ll give
>> > >> > > it
>> > >> > > a
>> > >> > > try
>> > >> > > anyway ;) )
>> > >> >
>> > >> > Yep, it should work fine.
>> > >> >
>> > >> > > But it would be really really nice if it was possible to add custom
>> > >> > > locations
>> > >> > > (plural). Maybe you have a set of project related
>> > >> > > scripts/tools/settings
>> > >> > > that
>> > >> > > you want to store with the project and not load it when working on
>> > >> > > other
>> > >> > > projects. You would launch blender then with a commandlineflag to
>> > >> > > point
>> > >> > > to
>> > >> > > the
>> > >> > > workgroup (using the XSI term for the config/plugin location) you
>> > >> > > want
>> > >> > > to
>> > >> > > connect to. As I see it, this is not possible at the moment.
>> > >> >
>> > >> > its possible, you can for example use Python to manipulate addon path,
>> > >> > so you can have an on-load callback which re-configures Blender when
>> > >> > loading a new blend file.
>> > >> >
>> > >> > But this is getting a bit outside what we support out of the box, your
>> > >> > getting into customizing the default application which is OK, but the
>> > >> > more you want to make Blender work differently, to the defaults the
>> > >> > more work you give yourself.
>> > >> >
>> > >> > >From what you are saying, its probably easiest to just have some
>> > >> > different blender launchers for different projects (if you really need
>> > >> > them to have entirely different configurations, keymaps, addons,
>> > >> > preferences... etc).
>> > >> >
>> > >> > > cheers,
>> > >> > > Thomas
>> > >> > >
>> > >> > >
>> > >> > >
>> > >> > >> Campbell Barton <ideasman42 at gmail.com> hat am 25. August 2014 um
>> > >> > >> 04:25
>> > >> > >> geschrieben:
>> > >> > >>
>> > >> > >>
>> > >> > >> Quick reply, I think Bassam covered this mostly, but here goes...
>> > >> > >>
>> > >> > >> 1 & 1.a: Use Python, I know this may sound like some cop-out answer,
>> > >> > >> but if you really want fine grained control about rendering
>> > >> > >> different
>> > >> > >> layers to different locations... you can get this with quite a
>> > >> > >> simple
>> > >> > >> script, Also these kinds of issues tend to be less obvious & generic
>> > >> > >> then you might initially think (how to handle animations,
>> > >> > >> overwriting
>> > >> > >> options, color management.... ) its all possible, but with Python
>> > >> > >> you
>> > >> > >> can fine tune this stuff, probably the script will be <25 lines and
>> > >> > >> not hard to write.
>> > >> > >>
>> > >> > >> I would go as far as to say - if you want to have configurable
>> > >> > >> render
>> > >> > >> farm, its mandatory to have some kind of Python initialization
>> > >> > >> script,
>> > >> > >> which handles any number of details - check for missing textures,
>> > >> > >> baked caches... check output paths on compositor nodes etc...
>> > >> > >>
>> > >> > >>
>> > >> > >> 2. Yes, see "Environment Variables:" section in "blender --help"
>> > >> > >>
>> > >> > >>
>> > >> > >> On Thu, Aug 14, 2014 at 10:07 PM, Thomas Volkmann
>> > >> > >> <lists at thomasvolkmann.com> wrote:
>> > >> > >> > Hi,
>> > >> > >> >
>> > >> > >> > while checking how Blender could fit into our pipeline, I ran into
>> > >> > >> > some
>> > >> > >> > issues
>> > >> > >> > that maybe someone finds worth fixing/implementing.
>> > >> > >> > First a short list, and description further down:
>> > >> > >> >
>> > >> > >> > 1.: render renderlayers (and passes) to separate files
>> > >> > >> > 1.a: commandline flag to chose which renderlayer to render
>> > >> > >> > 2: additional location(s) for Configuration and Data files
>> > >> > >> >
>> > >> > >> > It's pretty much self explanatory, but nevertheless some words of
>> > >> > >> > explanation:
>> > >> > >> >
>> > >> > >> > 1: When more layers are selected and I have an outputformat other
>> > >> > >> > than
>> > >> > >> > multilayer-exr, they will overwrite each other and only the last
>> > >> > >> > rendered
>> > >> > >> > layer
>> > >> > >> > survives.
>> > >> > >> > Possible solution could be to either hardcoded the layername to
>> > >> > >> > the
>> > >> > >> > outputname,
>> > >> > >> > or allow the usage of tokens (<Scene>.<Layer>.<Pass>).
>> > >> > >> > I have a thread on blenderartists with more datail if needed:
>> > >> > >> > http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?346014-rendering-layers-to-files
>> > >> > >> >
>> > >> > >> > 1.a: When it is possible to render layers separately, there should
>> > >> > >> > also
>> > >> > >> > be a
>> > >> > >> > commandline flag for it (where "-o" should override the eventually
>> > >> > >> > hardcoded
>> > >> > >> > name).
>> > >> > >> > This would be mandatory for proper renderfarm integration.
>> > >> > >> >
>> > >> > >> > 2: I think it would be good to be able to add custom locations for
>> > >> > >> > Config&Data
>> > >> > >> > files. I'll quote my blenderartists post
>> > >> > >> > <http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?346023-Additional-Configuration-amp-Data-Paths>
>> > >> > >> > here:
>> > >> > >> > is it possible to have more locations for configuration and data
>> > >> > >> > files
>> > >> > >> > than
>> > >> > >> > SYSTEM, LOCAL and USER?
>> > >> > >> > http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:2.6/Manual/Introduction/Installing_Blender/DirectoryLayout
>> > >> > >> > I would like to have one place (or more) on the server for
>> > >> > >> > additional
>> > >> > >> > settings,plugins,addons, whatever.
>> > >> > >> > SYSTEM doesn't work, because all users shall run Blender from the
>> > >> > >> > network.
>> > >> > >> > USER doesn't work, because either I would have to deploy the stuff
>> > >> > >> > for
>> > >> > >> > every
>> > >> > >> > user, or every user has to go with the same setup
>> > >> > >> > LOCAL would work, but I would need to install stuff for each
>> > >> > >> > separate
>> > >> > >> > version or
>> > >> > >> > build.
>> > >> > >> >
>> > >> > >> > That's basically it.
>> > >> > >> > Any thoughts/questions/advice?
>> > >> > >> >
>> > >> > >> > Thanks,
>> > >> > >> > Thomas
>> > >> > >> > _______________________________________________
>> > >> > >> > Bf-funboard mailing list
>> > >> > >> > Bf-funboard at blender.org
>> > >> > >> > http://lists.blender.org/mailman/listinfo/bf-funboard
>> > >> > >>
>> > >> > >>
>> > >> > >>
>> > >> > >> --
>> > >> > >> - Campbell
>> > >> > >>
>> > >> > > _______________________________________________
>> > >> > > Bf-funboard mailing list
>> > >> > > Bf-funboard at blender.org
>> > >> > > http://lists.blender.org/mailman/listinfo/bf-funboard
>> > >> >
>> > >> >
>> > >> >
>> > >> > --
>> > >> > - Campbell
>> > >> >
>> > >> _______________________________________________
>> > >> Bf-funboard mailing list
>> > >> Bf-funboard at blender.org
>> > >> http://lists.blender.org/mailman/listinfo/bf-funboard
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>> > > Bf-funboard at blender.org
>> > > http://lists.blender.org/mailman/listinfo/bf-funboard
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > - Campbell
>> >
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-- 
- Campbell

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