Qube! doesn't create folders for each camera in a scene.

[arenyart]

In other rendering management programs I have tried (i.e. Renderpal), when a scene with multiple cameras is submitted, a folder with the camera name is created and the frames from that camera are placed in said folder.   While testing Qube! , I noticed that all the frames are placed in the folder described in the "render dir" input box and it doesn't create sub folders for each camera.  Also, the frame output window shows an error saying it can't find the location, but it is looking for a sub folder with the camera name (actually the camera shape node).   How do I get Qube! to create the subfolders for each camera?  Thank you in advance for your help.

[shinya]

Hi arenyart,

I'm assuming that you're using Maya on Qube, but what versions of Maya and Qube (and the Maya jobtype) are you using?  The Maya jobtype indeed is supposed to generate the images in specific camera folders when rendering multiple cameras.  (Same holds true for  multi-layer renders).

Could send us the logs from a sample job (found on the supervisor machine, under C:/Program Files/pfx/qube/logs/job/) to us at support@pipelinefx.com ?  That would give us more clues.  Thanks!

[arenyart]

I'm using Maya 8.5 and Qube! 5.1.  The Maya jobtype is also version 5.1.  It appears that it tries to create a sub-folder but fails to.

Here is the stderr for one frame:

(notice the ">>>> result=R:/Bridgestone_maya_project/renderScenes/4.24.07/qube_test_v01/qube_test_v01.0000.tga
INFO: moving [R:/Bridgestone_maya_project/renderScenes/4.24.07/qube_test_v01/qube_test_v01.0000.tga] to [R:/Bridgestone_maya_project/renderScenes/4.24.07/qube_test_v01//dddh:Cam_RShape/qube_test_v01.0000.tga]" )



got work: 264:0 - running

==================== START FRAME #0000 ====================
maya::UniversalMayaRenderJob::processWork

$VAR1 = bless( {
  'pid' => 264,
  'status' => 'running',
  'name' => '0',
  'data' => undef,
  'package' => bless( {}, 'maya::Package' ),
  'host' => 'atlrender001',
  'subid' => 0
}, 'qb::Work' );

currentTime -e 0
setAttr defaultRenderGlobals.startFrame 0
setAttr defaultRenderGlobals.endFrame 0
setAttr defaultRenderGlobals.byFrameStep 1
getAttr defaultRenderGlobals.modifyExtension


INFO: rendering camera [dddh:Cam_LShape]
setAttr dddh:Cam_LShape.renderable 1
setAttr defaultRenderLayer.renderable 1
editRenderLayerGlobals -crl defaultRenderLayer
currentRenderer()

INFO: rendering layer [defaultRenderLayer] using renderer [mayaSoftware]
mayaBatchRenderProcedure(0, "", "defaultRenderLayer", "mayaSoftware", ""); system ("C:\Perl\bin\perl.exe -e \"sleep 1\"");
ftware", ""); system ("C:\Perl\bin\perl.exe -e \"sleep 1\"");

>>>> result=R:/Bridgestone_maya_project/renderScenes/4.24.07/qube_test_v01/qube_test_v01.0000.tga
INFO: moving [R:/Bridgestone_maya_project/renderScenes/4.24.07/qube_test_v01/qube_test_v01.0000.tga] to [R:/Bridgestone_maya_project/renderScenes/4.24.07/qube_test_v01//dddh:Cam_LShape/qube_test_v01.0000.tga]
setAttr defaultRenderLayer.renderable 0
setAttr dddh:Cam_LShape.renderable 0


INFO: rendering camera [dddh:Cam_RShape]
setAttr dddh:Cam_RShape.renderable 1
setAttr defaultRenderLayer.renderable 1
editRenderLayerGlobals -crl defaultRenderLayer
currentRenderer()

INFO: rendering layer [defaultRenderLayer] using renderer [mayaSoftware]
mayaBatchRenderProcedure(0, "", "defaultRenderLayer", "mayaSoftware", ""); system ("C:\Perl\bin\perl.exe -e \"sleep 1\"");
sleep 1\"");

>>>> result=R:/Bridgestone_maya_project/renderScenes/4.24.07/qube_test_v01/qube_test_v01.0000.tga
INFO: moving [R:/Bridgestone_maya_project/renderScenes/4.24.07/qube_test_v01/qube_test_v01.0000.tga] to [R:/Bridgestone_maya_project/renderScenes/4.24.07/qube_test_v01//dddh:Cam_RShape/qube_test_v01.0000.tga]
setAttr defaultRenderLayer.renderable 0
setAttr dddh:Cam_RShape.renderable 0

==================== DONE FRAME #0000 ====================
Reporting frame status to supe:

$VAR1 = bless( {
  'status' => 'complete',
  'name' => '0',
  'data' => undef,
  'package' => bless( {}, 'maya::Package' ),
  'host' => 'atlrender001',
  'subid' => 0,
  'pid' => 264,
  'resultpackage' => {
    'outputPaths' => 'R:/Bridgestone_maya_project/renderScenes/4.24.07/qube_test_v01//dddh:Cam_LShape/qube_test_v01.0000.tga,R:/Bridgestone_maya_project/renderScenes/4.24.07/qube_test_v01//dddh:Cam_RShape/qube_test_v01.0000.tga'
  }
}, 'qb::Work' );

reporting status on work for: 264.0 0 - complete
requesting work for: 264.0

[arenyart]

I figured out that its a Maya 8.5 namespace issue.  Our cameras are referenced into the scene and Maya 8.5 forces the use of namespaces (if you don't believe me, try to create a reference without a namespace in 8.5).  It also creates a ":" between the namespace and node name.  Since Qube uses the camera shape name for the subfolder creation, it tries to create a folder with a ":" and fails.  Renaming the cameras in the scene to exclude the ":" allowed Qube to create subfolders, but this solution is not ideal because it forces me to import referenced cameras.  Is there a way for Qube to automatically convert invalid folder name characters (such as ":") into underscores or some other valid character?

Also, I still can't see the rendered image in the output because it is looking for a folder following a "//" :
(Cannot parse data for image "R:/Bridgestone_maya_project/renderScenes/4.24.07/qube_test_v02//Cam_LShape/qube_test_v02.0000.tga").

How do I solve the double slash problem? 
Is there a modified perl script that includes regular expressions to solve these issues?

Sorry for the multiple questions, but I am in a pinch.  By the way, Qube rocks!

[shinya]

Hi arenyart,

I just replied to your email to support, and just noticed your posting here.
Anyway, it does indeed seem like the ":" character is the culprit.
I will look into a fix for the next version of the jobtype, and perhaps
a patch for you.

I'll also bring up the GUI display issue with the double slashes "//" with
the lead developer of the GUI.

[arenyart]

Thank you.  For the time being, it looks as though we will have to create output folders and submit separate jobs for each camera (which is a pain, but not a severe one).  Hopefully, this will be an easy fix and a quick patch.  Perhaps you could have an error checking loop that searches for invalid characters and replaces them with underscores.  Everything that creates a file or folder on the system would pass through it first.

[arenyart]

Wow! You are fast.  I just received your email with the patched Maya render job.  I tested it and did not work, but I modified it for our purpose and it seems to work.  My fixes are very much specific to our case so my patch fix would not benefit you.  I should mention that your patch did replace : with _ , but did so to the entire path, not just the camera namespace, thus renaming a mapped drive R:/ to R_/.  All I did was go in and change the search and replace regex with one specific to our cameras.  This solution is not ideal but pragmatic.  I works for us since we use the same imported camera setup in every scene, but would not be useful in other production environments.  I hope this helps in some way.  I also commend you on your excellent customer service.  This level of support is rare and definitely appreciated.  So again, thank you.

[shinya]

Hi arenyart,

Oops, sorry about the new bug.  I obviously only tested the patch on Linux.

I've just sent you a new version, so please give it a try at your convenience.

Thanks for the compliments too!!

Aloha,
-shinya.

[arenyart]

Thank you again for your persistence.  I tested the patch and it works perfectly   

[arenyart]

After reviewing the renders from last night I noticed that the new patch renames the image to the name of the scene and does not use the name set in the job submitter GUI.  It's not a major bug, but I thought you might like to know.

[arenyart]

I should also mention that the previously mentioned bug only applies to scenes with render layers.  Its seems to work fine with a scene that doesn't have layers.  Hopefully that helps with your bug squashing.

[shinya]

Hi arenyart,

Thanks for the heads-up.  Unfortunately, I'm not able to reproduce
the problem on my end.  Would you mind sending us (support@pipelinefx.com) the logs from a sample job?  Here's instructions on how:

----
In order to address your problem more completely, please send us the job log directory for the job in question.

You can locate the directory by logging into your Supervisor, and looking for the job log folder in the following location (depending upon your Supervisor platform):

Windows
\Program Files\pfx\qube\logs\job

Linux, OS X
/var/spool/qube/job

In that folder, you will find a numbered directory that corresponds to the number of thousands in the job ID. (ID < 1000 = 0) Search in one of these folders for the one that corresponds to the correct job ID.

Zip up the entire job ID folder and reply to this email message with the zipped file.

If the zipped job ID folder turns out to be larger than 2MB, don't send it, but let us know and we will help you address the problem in an alternative fashion.