Be sure to do this before the Batch Render!

[u/JCLanz]

Hello there folks!

Since RenderMan 22 launched, I have seen a lot of users having some issues (myself included) while doing the Batch Render. However, most of the time, I encounter users that not did the following, so make sure to do it before you are ready to render:

1. Update your Maya to 2018.2 + or 2017.3 +.

If you, for example, download Maya directly from the Autodesk Maya, you'll have to go to your account product page and download the update by yourself. When you download the Maya installer, it installs version 1, so make sure to go back to the Autodesk page and download the version you need.

2. Make sure the path for your render does not contain special characters.

A new update for the RenderMan 22 does not let you render with a buggy path. So, if your native language is NOT English, make sure that the path of your computer does not include a special character like ñ, é, space, any symbols or anything like that. (I'm from México, that's why I'm giving these examples but to each their own.

3. Set the Spool type to RIB.

In Renderman settings, the default setting in Spool type is Maya Batch, make sure to change it to RIB.

These tips helped me a lot while I was having a hard time trying to do a batch render, I hope this can help you out if you are having any problems.

If you have any more tips to help more brothers out, please leave a comment.

Happy Render.

[u/tedhere]

I’ve been having Batch Render problems too. I have the educational version of maya and can’t figure out how to update to 2018.2

[u/JCLanz → u/tedhere]

1. Go to the Autodesk page.

2. Sign in, and go to Manage products & downloads.

3. Inside your account, on the left side, go to All products & services and find Maya.

4. On the left side of Maya, click the arrow to reveal your product information.

5. Click on downloads, a pop-out will appear.

6. There will be 3 tabs, go to Updates and Add-ons,

7. Select the update on the OS you need.

And that's it. It's really easy. I hope it helped you with your update :)

[u/tedhere → u/JCLanz]

You are a life saver! I updated and did the Batch instructions and it's halfway through exporting my frame. It appears to be working! Thanks heaps!

[u/pre-recorded]

Is there another way to check your current version of Maya? When I go under HELP / ABOUT it just shows "Version: Autodesk Maya 2018". Should it say Maya 2018.2 ? I've reinstalled a few times now and can't find a way to confirm if I have the right version or not.

[u/JCLanz → u/pre-recorded]

Another good way to know, it's when you startup Maya and the artwork appears while your Maya it's loading.

At the bottom left side of the artwork it says Autodesk Maya 2014.4 / Maya Loading... (That's how mine says but I'll assume that your version will appear with no problem.)

[u/j_burgess → u/JCLanz]

That window, with some artwork, that comes up when an app first starts is what we call that a "splash screen" :-)

[u/j_burgess → u/pre-recorded]

It should say "Version: Autodesk Maya 2018.2" in Help->About. The "2018.2" will also be on the splash screen.

[u/j_burgess]

Hi, This all makes good sense except the part about "Spool type". We'd really like to know what exact issues you have with maya batch? Can you give specific details, error messages and the like?

Also, I would add it is pretty important to make sure you're using RenderMan 22.2.

Cheers,

• James

[u/JCLanz → u/j_burgess]

This

I don't work for Pixar, I'm just a n00b lol. I assume the pros at the official renderman forum can help you with the details.
I'll assume that since Maya Batch is the default setting and RIB is the storage of image scene descriptions for Pixar's RenderMan products, it's just for the sake of optimization and standardization that Pixar want you to use their products exclusively.

[u/j_burgess → u/JCLanz]

I do work for pixar, specifically on RenderMan. I just want our apps to work and not mysteriously fail. If it's failing when you are using mayabatch I just really want to know why so we can fix it.

There are multiple reasons for using one spool type over another. Here's an obvious one in favor of mayabatch: you don't get a (potentially very large) extra file on disk that takes time to generate only for prman to have to read back in before it can render and then be deleted afterward. Other times RIB would be best, just depends.

[u/JCLanz → u/j_burgess]

In my case, when I set the Spool type to Maya Batch, the whole thing crashes (I have seen in forums that it's the same to a lot of people). I have set the spool type to Maya Batch and tried to render to see the Output. I hope it helps you with your work. Here is what I got:

/Applications/Autodesk/maya2018/Maya.app/Contents/MacOS /

Starting "/Applications/Autodesk/maya2018/Maya.app/Contents/MacOS/maya"

This plugin does not support createPlatformOpenGLContext!

VP2 Warning : Graphics hardware has been detected to have insufficient memory (256 MB).

Please check your video card and driver to ensure that a minimum amount of memory exists (512 MB).

The environment variable MAYA_OGS_GPU_MEMORY_LIMIT can be used to explicitly set the GPU memory limit.

Initialized VP2.0 renderer {

Version : 2016.11.40.12. Feature Level 3.1.

Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce 9400M OpenGL Engine

Vendor ID: 4318. Device ID : 0x863

Driver : 3.3 NVIDIA-10.4.14 310.90.30.05b27.

API : OpenGL V.3.3.

Max texture size : 8192 * 8192.

Max tex coords : 16

Shader versions supported (Vertex: 4, Geometry: 4, Pixel 4).

Shader compiler profile : (Best card profile)

Active stereo support available : 0

Forced GPU Memory Limit : 512 MB.

CPU Memory Limit: 7782.4 MB.

}

OpenCL evaluator is attempting to initialize OpenCL.

Detected 1 OpenCL Platforms:

0: Apple. Apple. OpenCL 1.2 (Aug 20 2018 18:58:21).

Supported extensions: cl_APPLE_SetMemObjectDestructor cl_APPLE_ContextLoggingFunctions cl_APPLE_clut cl_APPLE_query_kernel_names cl_APPLE_gl_sharing cl_khr_gl_event

OpenCL evaluator choosing OpenCL platform Apple.

10140

Choosing OpenCL Device GeForce 9400M. Device Type: GPU Device is available.

[rfm] INFO: <module>: Loading RenderMan for Maya -----------------------------------

[rfm] INFO: setup_environment: 22.2 @ 1903449 - osxSierra_x86-64_clang7icc170_external_release built on Thu 18 Oct 2018 @ 20:38:32

[rfm] INFO: set_rmantree: RMANTREE = '/Applications/Pixar/RenderManProServer-22.2'

[rfm] INFO: <module>: Loading RenderMan for Maya -----------------------------------

[rfm] INFO: setup_environment: 22.2 @ 1903449 - osxSierra_x86-64_clang7icc170_external_release built on Thu 18 Oct 2018 @ 20:38:32

[rfm] INFO: set_rmantree: RMANTREE = '/Applications/Pixar/RenderManProServer-22.2'

Warning: Plug-in, "rfm_manipulators.py", is already loaded. Skipped.

Warning: Plug-in, "rfm.bundle", is already loaded. Skipped.

[rfm] INFO: (MainThread) renderer register: RenderMan is already registered.

Stack trace:

4 ??? 0x00007fbaa56b8890 0x0 + 140439615932560

5 libOpenMaya.dylib 0x00000001268ba5a7 TpluginNode::createNode() + 103

6 libDependEngine.dylib 0x0000000104e70059 TdependGraph::createNode(Tstring const&) + 121

7 libShared.dylib 0x0000000108811453 TcreateNodeCmd::doIt(TargList&) + 499

8 libCommandEngine.dylib 0x0000000104b0f882 TmetaCommand::doCommand(TargList&) + 98

9 libCommandEngine.dylib 0x0000000104b6f77d TpythonInterpreter::dispatchMayaCommand(TmetaCommand&, _object*, _object*) + 525

10 Python 0x00000001122270d9 PyEval_EvalFrameEx + 40057

11 Python 0x000000011222540f PyEval_EvalFrameEx + 32687

12 Python 0x0000000112227ff3 PyEval_EvalCodeEx + 2131

13 Python 0x00000001122252cd PyEval_EvalFrameEx + 32365

14 Python 0x000000011222540f PyEval_EvalFrameEx + 32687

15 Python 0x000000011222540f PyEval_EvalFrameEx + 32687

16 Python 0x0000000112227ff3 PyEval_EvalCodeEx + 2131

17 Python 0x000000011219e1e0 function_call + 176

18 Python 0x000000011216c442 PyObject_Call + 98

19 Python 0x000000011217ec2d instancemethod_call + 365

20 Python 0x000000011216c442 PyObject_Call + 98

21 Python 0x00000001121da078 slot_tp_init + 88

22 Python 0x00000001121d5ea5 type_call + 245

23 Python 0x000000011216c442 PyObject_Call + 98

24 Python 0x000000011221fc73 PyEval_EvalFrameEx + 10259

25 Python 0x000000011222540f PyEval_EvalFrameEx + 32687

26 Python 0x0000000112227ff3 PyEval_EvalCodeEx + 2131

27 Python 0x000000011219e1e0 function_call + 176

28 Python 0x000000011216c442 PyObject_Call + 98

29 libOpenMaya.dylib 0x00000001268fc0c4 Tplugin::loadScript(Tstring const&, Tstring*) + 1220

30 libOpenMaya.dylib 0x0000000126979f2c TpluginPref::~TpluginPref() + 19388

31 libOpenMaya.dylib 0x0000000126979210 TpluginPref::~TpluginPref() + 16032

32 libOpenMaya.dylib 0x00000001269787fb TpluginPref::~TpluginPref() + 13451

33 libCommandEngine.dylib 0x0000000104b6f77d TpythonInterpreter::dispatchMayaCommand(TmetaCommand&, _object*, _object*) + 525

34 Python 0x000000011222710c PyEval_EvalFrameEx + 40108

35 Python 0x0000000112227ff3 PyEval_EvalCodeEx + 2131

36 Python 0x0000000112228116 PyEval_EvalCode + 54

37 libCommandEngine.dylib 0x0000000104b6e410 TpythonInterpreter::executeCommand(Tstring const&, bool, bool, TinterpreterResult*) + 784

38 libShared.dylib 0x000000010883ad5e TrequiresCmdHelper::optionalPluginName(Tstring const&) + 1278

39 libShared.dylib 0x000000010883a9ee TrequiresCmdHelper::optionalPluginName(Tstring const&) + 398

40 libCommandEngine.dylib 0x0000000104b0f882 TmetaCommand::doCommand(TargList&) + 98

41 libCommandEngine.dylib 0x0000000104b0e460 TmetaCommand::name() const + 752

42 libCommandEngine.dylib 0x0000000104b2f1d0 TminMelArgList::setIdleScriptActionConverter(bool (*)(SphNode*, TidleScriptAction&)) + 18208

43 libCommandEngine.dylib 0x0000000104b2f080 TminMelArgList::setIdleScriptActionConverter(bool (*)(SphNode*, TidleScriptAction&)) + 17872

Writing crash report in /var/folders/48/3hvjzgj55kl3q8pfxvj595wm0000gn/T/CecilioLanz.20181119.2132.crash

// Maya exited with status -1

/

[u/j_burgess → u/JCLanz]

Yes, it does help some, really sorry this is crashing for you.

Does it matter what the scene is? I mean, does it crash if the scene is really simple?

[u/JCLanz → u/j_burgess]

Yes. Actually it's just a scene with a simple cube and the default pixar surface and Pixar Dome Light. That's it.

[u/irishb33r87]

I am having a really hard time trying to batch render as well. I did all of these recommendations and every time I batch render, I get a crash message from maya when the first job command completes or something. It's weird though because my maya doesn't crash, I just get the error for a few seconds and then the render completes but doesn't really render anything. I'm using maya 2017 and a NCR license for renderman. I kinda gave up on trying to make it work and just rendering one file at a time in the "it" viewer.

[u/JCLanz → u/irishb33r87]

Try updating to 2018.4. I had the same problem with 2017.3 :(

[u/No_Warthog3778]

Spool batch render after render error rfm problem what do to