Rendering Maya
Maya is a high-end, highly customizable 3D graphics and modeling software package which, while quite complex, can be used to create photo-realistic images and animations, particularly when used with renderers like Mental Ray.
Before proceeding, make sure you've created input and output folders for yourself in \\arch-render\renderfarm as described here. Once you've done so, you're ready to render.
Open your file in Maya, and from the File menu, choose "Save Scene As...". In the window that opens, click on Set Project, browse to your input folder in \\arch-render\renderfarm\Input\, enter a file name, and click Save. This will save your project, including image maps and texture maps to your render farm input folder.
From the Window menu, choose Rendering Editors > Render Settings. In the Render Settings window, enter the following:
File name prefix: choose a name for your render file Frame/Animation ext: choose name.ext if rendering a single frame, or name.#.ext if rendering an animation. Image format: choose an image format such as Tiff or PNG even when doing an animation. Animations should never be rendered as AVI or MOV files, as these can't be distributed among the farm; render an animation as a series of still frames, then combine those frames once the render is complete using a program such as 3ds Max's RAM Player, Adobe Premiere or ImageKlebor Rendering Camera: select the camera view you wish to render; you can render multiple cameras simultaneously, if desired Image Size: choose from one of the presets, or enter a custom size and resolution. Make sure you note note this size, as you'll need it later. Also remember that you'll be breaking up this image into pieces, so choose a size and resolution that allows you to break the image into pieces of a constant size. For example, a 1024x768 size allows you to break the image into 192 pieces that are 64x64. Once you've entered your render settings, click Close, then save your model again. |
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Launch the Deadline Monitor application to submit and monitor your render job. If Deadline Monitor is already installed on your workstation, you'll find it in Start > Programs > Frantic Films > Deadline Client > Deadline Monitor or Start > Programs > Rendering > Deadline > Deadline Monitor, depending on whether you're on your own workstation or a lab machine. If not, you can install it by clicking on the 
Ghost icon on the task bar and choosing "Install Deadline."
When you first launch Deadline Monitor, you'll be asked to choose a user account to use, or to create your own. If you wish to create your own account so that you can be notified by email regarding your renders, use your net ID as the user name and enter your email address. Otherwise, use the generic students account.
In Deadline Monitor, choose Submit Maya Job to Deadline from the Submit menu.
Job Name: choose a unique name for your job to identify it in the render queue Group: select maya Priority: 50. Jobs found with a higher priority than 50 will be deleted Maya File: enter the path to your .mb file in your \\arch-render\renderfarm\input directory, making sure that file path is in the format \\arch-render\renderfarm (NOT "R:\input", which will cause your render to fail) Project Directory: enter the path to your Maya project directory on \\arch-render\renderfarm\input; this is the folder where you set your project file in Maya Output Folder: enter the path to the folder for your output file in your \\arch-render\renderfarm\output directory Frame List: enter the frames you want rendered (eg. "1-50," "101-200"). For a single frame job, enter 1. For multiple frames not in sequence, enter the frame numbers separated by commas Frames per task: for multiple frame jobs, enter the number of frames you want rendered per task. For example, if you had a 200-frame job and wanted to break that job into 10 tasks to be split amongst the farm, you would enter 20. |
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Version: select the version of Maya that you're currently using (currently 2011). Selecting an earlier version will cause errors.
Other options can be left at defaults.
Once you've entered the above information, click Submit.
The Submission Results window that opens will display whether your render submission was successful, or if not, why the submission failed.
If you see "Result=Success," your job submission was successful. Otherwise, note the error that's given.
Click OK to close the window, then click Close in the Submit Maya Job to Deadline window to return to the Deadline Monitor screen.
Once your job has been submitted successfully, you can monitor the job in Deadline Monitor.
More information on submitting Maya to Deadline can be found here.
Instructions on how to install the integrated 3ds Max submission script to submit jobs to Deadline directly from the Maya application can be found here.
For any questions or problems with the above information, please contact the DM Office.