vfxim-docs Release 0.3.1
May 30, 2021
User Documentation
1 Pipeline 3 1.1 Quick Start Guide...... 3 1.2 Quick Usage Guide...... 6
2 Pipeline 13 2.1 Installation...... 13 2.2 Project Setup...... 13
3 Maintenance 21 3.1 Curator Information...... 21 3.2 Maintenance Process...... 22 3.3 Maintenance Guide...... 22 3.4 Conventions...... 23
4 L2021 25 4.1 Rendering with Arnold in the Shotgun Pipeline...... 25 4.2 Extra’s...... 29
5 L2022 31
i ii vfxim-docs, Release 0.3.1
Warning: This version of the documentation is not a stable release. Click in the lower left corner to return to the latest version.
Welcome to the visual effects & immersive media documentation/wiki. On this wiki you’ll find all information, tutorials and documentation regarding the pipeline, workflows and other class related stuff. Each class has it’s own section meant for information and/or tutorials you’d like to share with the rest of the class. The contents tree on the left shows all sections.
Note: This documentation is supported in multiple languages. Click here to switch to the Dutch version.
Note: In case you’re here as a curator, head over to the Maintenance page to find out how to add articles and maintain languages.
User Documentation 1 vfxim-docs, Release 0.3.1
2 User Documentation CHAPTER 1
Pipeline
These pages outline general user guides of usage around the pipeline.
1.1 Quick Start Guide
This guide describes how to quickly get started with using the pipeline.
1.1.1 Start Shotgun Desktop
Technical Directors or developers in your class should have taken care of the installation of Shotgun Desktop. This program will launch your programs inside a pipeline environment in which you can load your tasks, assets, shots etc. Shotgun Desktop can be launched by typing Shotgun in your Windows search bar:
3 vfxim-docs, Release 0.3.1
When starting Shotgun Desktop for the first time, you’ll be greeted with a login prompt:
Important: Fourth and third years should be using https://nfa.shotgunstudio.com as their main task management! https://nfa2.shotgunstudio.com is meant for testing and second years.
Fill out the login info provided by your coordinator or supervisor and you’ll be greeted with all projects you are assigned to:
Tip: You may need to start up Shotgun Desktop again here as it sometimes bugs out after clicking sign in.
4 Chapter 1. Pipeline vfxim-docs, Release 0.3.1
1.1.2 Launching DCC’s
Double click the project you want to work on and the pipeline configuration will automatically be downloaded. Here you should see all the installed software that are configured with the pipeline. Double click any package you would like to use and the pipeline does the rest.
Warning: ZBrush is currently not supported in the pipeline due to a lack of a Python API.
1.1. Quick Start Guide 5 vfxim-docs, Release 0.3.1
Section author: Bo Kamphues
1.2 Quick Usage Guide
The pipeline uses Shotgun Toolkit as it’s main platform. From within most DCC’s you’ll be able to open your latest workfile or load source files from other work into your program through the Shotgun tab. There are a number of important things you can control using this tab.
1.2.1 File Save
One of the most important things in a pipeline is accurate version control of all the workfiles. Through Shotgun -> File Save you can save your current workfile with automatic version increments. When you click File Save in a new untitled save file, you’ll be greeted with a context selection screen. In this screen you’ll see all shots and assets you are assigned tasks to. Select one and click save.
Important: As you can see in the lower left corner, there is a name box. This name box is filled with scene by default. You can change this as a way to further refine what you are working on. (If you are working on an asset that
6 Chapter 1. Pipeline vfxim-docs, Release 0.3.1
Fig. 1: The Shotgun tab in Houdini.
1.2. Quick Usage Guide 7 vfxim-docs, Release 0.3.1
has multiple lines of workfiles, you could change this to reflect the part you are working on).
Once you have saved your empty file you can use ctrl + s to save your current file like usual. If you’d like to save a new version of the current file you can again hit Shotgun -> File Save to quickly save a new version.
After you have saved your file through the pipeline you’ll notice some more options open up, like publishing files, load, scene breakdown etc.
1.2.2 File Open
If you are not starting from scratch but continuing from someone else’s work, you’ll want to click Shotgun -> File Open. In this screen you’ll also be greeted with any tasks you are assigned to. When clicking on an entity you’ll see all the workfiles other artists have already made. You can open other work files or create a new file from this context.
1.2.3 Publish
An important distinction to be made is the difference between published files and workfiles. Workfiles are files where the work is actively being made while published files are files meant to be loaded by other workfiles. For example, if you have created a rig in Maya you would publish that file so that other people can load & reference that rig. To publish the current workfile and any items that are found inside (for example a file cache node or a set of rendered exr’s) click Shotgun -> Publish. If you have used a file cache node, or have rendered a file you will notice that the publisher automatically picks up those files and creates an item for them. Use the description and thumbnail to provide reference for other people who will load in these published files.
1.2.4 Load
The load app is used to load any published files from the project into your current work file. For example renders from CG that need to be loaded by Nuke or a simulation that was file cached by another artist that now needs to be loaded into the layout file.
8 Chapter 1. Pipeline vfxim-docs, Release 0.3.1
Important: Obviously not all software takes in all files. (Like trying to import a .bgeo.sc cache into Nuke) The loader will automatically only show files that the current software can import.
1.2.5 Scene Breakdown
If you have loaded any assets or files from other artists there’s a good chance they’ll be updated every once in a while. The scene breakdown app keeps track of all the published files you currently have imported in your workfile and shows a red or green light if it’s out-of-date or up-to-date. You can individually update or update all references. Section author: Bo Kamphues Section author: Bo Kamphues
1.2. Quick Usage Guide 9 vfxim-docs, Release 0.3.1
10 Chapter 1. Pipeline vfxim-docs, Release 0.3.1
1.2. Quick Usage Guide 11 vfxim-docs, Release 0.3.1
Fig. 2: This particular asset has a newer version to be updated.
12 Chapter 1. Pipeline CHAPTER 2
Pipeline
Below you’ll find all sections describing the current pipeline for TD’ers or developers.
2.1 Installation
Installation of the vfxim Shotgun Toolkit Pipeline is done by installing Shotgun Desktop on all computers that are used by artists.
2.1.1 Deployment
Shotgun Desktop installation is generally installed through a silent deployment. Silent deployment should always be done through Matthijs & Marijn.
2.1.2 Manual Installation
Should you want to install Shotgun Desktop manually on a computer (for home pipeline usage or if a computer is out of sync with the deployment), just run the .exe from this link. Section author: Bo Kamphues
2.2 Project Setup
Section author: Bo Kamphues This page guides you through the process of setting up projects within the current pipeline.
13 vfxim-docs, Release 0.3.1
2.2.1 New Project
When a new project is created on Shotgun it is not automatically configured for use within the pipeline. To setup a project to work with the Shotgun Desktop pipeline, first, add the project to Shotgun. You will now see the project in the Shotgun Desktop project manager.
Important: You need to be assigned to the project you want to setup, otherwise it will not show up in Shotgun Desktop.
Double click the project you’d like to setup and click your profile icon -> Advanced Project Setup. You’ll be taken to a wizard that allows you to setup the project pipeline configuration. The type of configuration needs to be Git. After choosing Git as your configuration type you’ll be greeted with a link box. The link to our current Shotgun Configuration is https://github.com/nfa-vfxim/nfa-shotgun-configuration.git. This is also the repository where most of the pipeline development takes place. Next you’ll need a place to store the project. You can either select an already created storage location or create a new one. Next you’ll need to assign a computer-friendly name for the project. This should always be lowercase and include no spaces or special characters. The last step before the project is correctly setup is to choose between a distributed or centralized setup. You should choose distributed here as it will download the configuration on every individual artist PC. This is a lot faster than a centralized system where the configuration will be stored on the server itself.
Important: Do not choose centralized as your configuration deployment!
Click run setup and everything should be good to go!
2.2.2 Updating Projects
If you already have a project setup correctly, but there’s been a pipeline update, you’ll need to re-setup your project. First, go to the Shotgun project page in your browser and make sure the tank_name field is not hidden. Delete the content inside the tank_name field and jump to the Pipeline Configurations page of the project. Delete all entities of pipeline configurations and go through the steps described in New Project. Section author: Bo Kamphues
14 Chapter 2. Pipeline vfxim-docs, Release 0.3.1
Fig. 1: All non-archived projects which you are assigned to are automatically shown in Shotgun Desktop.
2.2. Project Setup 15 vfxim-docs, Release 0.3.1
16 Chapter 2. Pipeline vfxim-docs, Release 0.3.1
2.2. Project Setup 17 vfxim-docs, Release 0.3.1
18 Chapter 2. Pipeline vfxim-docs, Release 0.3.1
2.2. Project Setup 19 vfxim-docs, Release 0.3.1
20 Chapter 2. Pipeline CHAPTER 3
Maintenance
As with any long standing project, this documentation needs maintenance every once in a while. This maintenance is done by curators who add, edit and, if necessary, delete articles. The following sections describe how said maintenance is done and the conventions surrounding it.
3.1 Curator Information
This documentation is hosted through Read the Docs, an industry-standard way of creating documentation for software or in-house guides. Some examples of companies using RTD are: • Shotgun • OpenColorIO • Alembic RTD documentation pages are written in a format called ReStructuredText. ReST is a markup language which means that some characters like an asterisk (#) or an underscore (_) have a different meaning. You may have seen a similiar markup language like HTML or Markdown in use on websites or GitHub repositories. It takes time to get the hang of writing in ReST, but with the help of this cheatsheet you’ll get the gist of it quickly. It is recommended to use an IDE that supports syntax highlighting for ReST so it will tell you when you correctly type directives. This Visual Studio Code extension takes care of that for you. This documentation is hosted through RTD, but the actual working code resides in a GitHub repository. The website automatically builds itself whenever a commit is pushed to one of the branches of the repository. It is highly recom- mended to get the hang of Git through your IDE and/or the commandline to accurately curate the documentation.
Tip: If you need a primer on how to use GitHub and Git, this might be a good place to start.
In order to work on this documentation, you should have a working version of poetry, the Python dependency manager that installs all necessary software. You can install poetry through pip. If you do not have pip installed, you should first check if you have a working version of Python. Install poetry through pip:
21 vfxim-docs, Release 0.3.1
pip install poetry
3.2 Maintenance Process
The process for adding or editing the current documentation is as follows: • The curator forks the main repository or creates a new branch for the edits in mind1. • The curator edits or adds articles, pages and sections according to the Conventions. • The curator generates translations and/or manually translates the article. • The curator commits all changes. • The curator creates a pull request with another curator as reviewer so the edits can be double checked before merged into the entire documentation.
3.3 Maintenance Guide
Note: Please note that this guide is meant for simple edits or the addition of just one page. If really big edits are to be done it would be recommended to checkout the other files first to see how their ReStructuredText is formatted.
First, fork the repository or create a branch1 from the main repository. After that, clone the repository:
git clone
git checkout -b
poetry install
Next, start editing the articles you’d like to edit or copy the template.rst file to a section inside \docs to create a new page. Make sure to follow the Conventions. Next, the localization files need to be updated. First, build the current set of .rst files from the current directory2:
poetry run sphinx-build -b gettext . _build/gettext
Next, update the English and Dutch localization files:
poetry run sphinx-intl update -p _build/gettext -l en poetry run sphinx-intl update -p _build/gettext -l nl
In order to keep the documentation nicely synced between English and Dutch it’s recommended that you go into the locale\nl\LC_MESSAGES folder and translate the page you have edited. Next, stage and commit all changes: 1 Creating a new branch is only possible if the curator is added as a collaborator in GitHub or the project ownership is handed off to him/her. 2 It is important that you have a basic knowledge of the command line and know how to change the current directory.
22 Chapter 3. Maintenance vfxim-docs, Release 0.3.1
git add -A # Stage all changes git commit # Commit all changes to the directory
Next, you need to push the committed changes to the remote repository:
git push --origin
If you don’t use a GUI tool to manage your Git directory you’ll probably run into a password prompt right about here. Though the commandline is a very useful and powerful feature, it’s a lot easier to use VS Code or Git GUI to manage your commits. Finally, create a pull request and assign a reviewer. If the reviewer accepts all changes, the website will automatically update the build.
Note: Because it is normal to not operate on the current stable release of anything, it is possible to see the final result in a working version. This version is nothing more than a branch in Github, but that branch needs to be activated through readthedocs.org.
3.4 Conventions
The template.rst will allow you to follow the conventions as closely as possible, but here’s a small list of things to think about when writing articles for the documentation: • Always start the page with a title. • A page should always end with a .. sectionauthor: Your Name directive to differentiate who has written what on the website. • Use admonitions and other formatting tools often and precisely. It’s better to be too explainfull than having a vague documentation. Section author: Bo Kamphues
3.4. Conventions 23 vfxim-docs, Release 0.3.1
24 Chapter 3. Maintenance CHAPTER 4
L2021
4.1 Rendering with Arnold in the Shotgun Pipeline
This article will guide you through the process of creating renders with Arnold in the Shotgun pipeline.
4.1.1 Preparing scene and creating ASS files
In order to properly render through the farm and Shotgun pipeline you will need to prepare your scene file. Start by placing a SGTK Arnold node in your /out network.
The SGTK Arnold node removes the standard output file options and automatically fills in any path. To render using the farm you need to enable the creation of .ass files. Go to the archive tab and click Export ASS file.
The path should automatically be filled by the pipeline. Make sure Render Frame Range is selected if you would like to render a sequence and then click Render to disk.
25 vfxim-docs, Release 0.3.1
The .ass file creation will now commence locally on your computer. As soon as it’s done, you can submit this render through the Arnold (ASS) submitter in Deadline.
4.1.2 Submitting render to Deadline
To submit the .ass files sequence to Deadline, first, open up the Deadline Monitor. Inside the monitor click Submit -> 3D -> Arnold (ASS).
In the opened job submitter, first name the job properly to the task at hand. All the priority and pool settings are set correctly by default. You will need to select the first frame of the .ass file sequence. Once you have selected the first frame it will automatically correct the frame range variable. If it doesn’t automatically change the variable, fill it in manually. (See screenshot below for reference).
26 Chapter 4. L2021 vfxim-docs, Release 0.3.1
Click submit to start rendering and see the magic happen!
4.1. Rendering with Arnold in the Shotgun Pipeline 27 vfxim-docs, Release 0.3.1
Warning: It’s important to note that you should always check the first few frames rendered on the farm. There’s a multitude of errors that can pop up that you’ll need to fix manually. From locally referenced files to workers in the farm needing to be blacklisted because of inconclusive OS images.
4.1.3 Publishing finished renders
When the render has finished in the Deadline Monitor you are ready to publish your .exr image sequence. Back in Houdini, click on the Shotgun tab -> Publish. The Shotgun Publisher should automatically pick up all the rendered files. If it doesn’t, check to make sure the rendered files are actually present on the server. If you have selected any AOV’s you should see them as children from the main .exr file. Create a screenshot for every Beauty/AOV and click publish. Congrats, you’re done! You should now be able to import the .exr sequence in Nuke.
28 Chapter 4. L2021 vfxim-docs, Release 0.3.1
4.2 Extra’s
4.2.1 AOV’s
Should you want to include an AOV inside your render, the process is as follows: • Add the AOV like you normally would inside Arnold. • Click ‘render as separate file’ if you don’t want to merge the AOV inside the beauty render. • The pipeline will automatically take care of the paths supplied.
Warning: One thing the Arnold engine + pipeline does NOT understand is the splitting of multiple light groups pér AOV into different EXR sequences. For these AOV sets it’s best to include them inside the beauty.
Warning: Adding a Cryptomatte AOV is not as simple as adding the AOV from the selection box. See this Arnold documentation page on how to properly add cryptomatte AOV’s. One important note to add that the Arnold documentation does not include is that you should disable the options Strip Object Namespace & Strip Material Namespace when rendering in Houdini.
Section author: Bo Kamphues Section author: Bo Kamphues
4.2. Extra’s 29 vfxim-docs, Release 0.3.1
30 Chapter 4. L2021 CHAPTER 5
L2022
Section author: Bo Kamphues Section author: Bo Kamphues
31