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Shared Volume Media Management with Shake
It may be necessary to relink your assets once you move your project to the shared volume.
This varies depending on the types of files, plug-ins, fonts, and environmental
requirements. Things that commonly need to be changed are the FileIn and FileOut paths,
and env variables such as NR_INCLUDE_PATH and NR_FONT_PATH. UNC should be disabled,
as these paths are typically not resolvable to nodes in the cluster when arbitrary host
names are used.
To disable UNC and enable Apple Qmaster from within the Shake application
1 Go to: ~/nreal/include/startup
2 Create a file called: qmaster.h
3 Add the following:
script.uncFileNames = 0;
sys.useRenderQueue = "Qmaster";
4 Press Return several times after the last line.
5 Save your work.
Submitting Batches for Apple Qmaster Processing
Jobs are submitted in the form of a batch, and a batch can include one or more jobs.
Batches can be submitted from any computer that:
• Has Apple Qmaster software installed
• Is on the same network as the cluster to which you are submitting the batch
Submitting Batches with the Apple Qmaster Application
Apple Qmaster includes a plug-in for Shake that automates and customizes the process
by which Shake batches are submitted with Apple Qmaster. Because of this, the process
for submitting Shake batches is more automated than is the process for submitting
batches for other applications that do not have such plug-ins. A plug-in is included for
Autodesk Maya, as well as a generic Render Command plug-in for other frame-based
rendering applications, and a Shell Command plug-in that works with any application
that can be executed from the UNIX command line.
The plug-ins automatically set some default parameters for the job. They also provide a
dialog for you to adjust these parameters to your needs and to add more command-line
options to each job.
• To submit batches for Shake: See Submitting Shake Batches.
• To submit batches for Maya: See Submitting Maya Batches.
• To submit batches for other frame-based rendering applications: See Submitting Batches
with the Generic Render Command.
16 Chapter 1 Using Apple Qmaster 3