Deadline User Manual Release 5.2.49424 Thinkbox Software November 25, 2014 CONTENTS 1 Setup and Installation 3 1.1 Supported Software...........................................3 1.2 System Requirements.......................................... 13 1.3 Render Farm Considerations....................................... 16 1.4 Installation Guide............................................ 18 1.5 Licensing Guide............................................. 30 1.6 Upgrading or Downgrading....................................... 30 1.7 Sharing The Repository......................................... 31 1.8 Migrating The Repository........................................ 39 2 Getting Started 41 2.1 How Deadline Works........................................... 41 2.2 Job Submission.............................................. 46 2.3 Job Monitoring.............................................. 57 2.4 Modifying Job Properties........................................ 60 2.5 Monitor Customization.......................................... 66 2.6 Deadline FAQ.............................................. 72 3 Client Applications 79 3.1 Deadline Launcher............................................ 79 3.2 Deadline Monitor............................................. 83 3.3 Deadline Job Monitor.......................................... 98 3.4 Deadline Slave.............................................. 100 3.5 Deadline Pulse.............................................. 103 3.6 Deadline Command........................................... 109 3.7 Deadline Screen Saver.......................................... 112 3.8 Deadline Mobile............................................. 113 4 Repository Configuration 119 4.1 Repository Options............................................ 119 4.2 Network Performance Guide....................................... 145 4.3 Job Scheduling.............................................. 149 4.4 Failure Detection............................................. 151 4.5 Slave Settings.............................................. 153 4.6 Pools and Groups............................................. 154 4.7 Limits and Job Machine Limits..................................... 159 4.8 User Management............................................ 163 4.9 Notifications............................................... 165 4.10 Remote Control and Access....................................... 167 4.11 Cross Platform Rendering........................................ 169 i 5 Advanced Features 173 5.1 Auto Configuration............................................ 173 5.2 Multiple Slaves On One Machine.................................... 175 5.3 Render Jobs As Job’s User (Linux and Mac OSX)........................... 177 5.4 Power Management........................................... 178 5.5 Repository Statistics........................................... 186 5.6 Pulse Web Service............................................ 190 5.7 Satellite Mode.............................................. 193 5.8 Job Transferring............................................. 195 6 Scripting 197 6.1 Scripting Overview............................................ 197 6.2 Plug-in Scripting............................................. 238 6.3 Event Plug-in Scripting......................................... 256 6.4 Monitor Scripting............................................ 267 6.5 Job Scripting............................................... 274 6.6 Web Service Scripting.......................................... 276 7 Event Plug-ins 283 7.1 Draft Event Plug-in Guide........................................ 283 7.2 Shotgun Event Plug-in Guide...................................... 284 8 Application Plug-ins 297 8.1 3ds Command Plug-in Guide...................................... 297 8.2 3ds Max Plug-in Guide.......................................... 304 8.3 After Effects Plug-in Guide....................................... 333 8.4 Anime Studio Plug-in Guide....................................... 341 8.5 Arnold Standalone Plug-in Guide.................................... 343 8.6 Blender Plug-in Guide.......................................... 345 8.7 Cinema 4D Plug-in Guide........................................ 350 8.8 Cleaner XL Plug-in Guide........................................ 353 8.9 Combustion Plug-in Guide........................................ 355 8.10 Command Script Plug-in Guide..................................... 358 8.11 Composite/Toxik Plug-in Guide..................................... 360 8.12 DJV Plug-in Guide............................................ 365 8.13 Draft Plug-in Guide........................................... 367 8.14 FFmpeg Plug-in Guide.......................................... 368 8.15 Frame Fixer Plug-in Guide........................................ 370 8.16 fryrender Plug-in Guide......................................... 373 8.17 Fusion Plug-in Guide........................................... 375 8.18 Gelato Plug-in Guide........................................... 380 8.19 Generation Plug-in Guide........................................ 382 8.20 Houdini Plug-in Guide.......................................... 384 8.21 Indigo Plug-in Guide........................................... 387 8.22 Lightwave Plug-in Guide......................................... 389 8.23 LuxRender Plug-in Guide........................................ 397 8.24 Mantra Standalone Plug-in Guide.................................... 399 8.25 Maxwell Plug-in Guide......................................... 401 8.26 Maya Plug-in Guide........................................... 404 8.27 Mental Ray Standalone Plug-in Guide.................................. 414 8.28 Messiah Plug-in Guide.......................................... 416 8.29 MetaFuze Plug-in Guide......................................... 419 8.30 MetaRender Plug-in Guide........................................ 421 8.31 modo Plug-in Guide........................................... 424 ii 8.32 Naiad Plug-in Guide........................................... 427 8.33 Nuke Plug-in Guide........................................... 429 8.34 Particle Illusion Plug-in Guide...................................... 432 8.35 POV-Ray Plug-in Guide......................................... 434 8.36 PRMan (Renderman Pro Server) Plug-in Guide............................. 436 8.37 Python/IronPython Plug-in Guide.................................... 438 8.38 Quicktime Generation Plug-in Guide.................................. 440 8.39 RealFlow Plug-in Guide......................................... 445 8.40 REDLine Plug-in Guide......................................... 450 8.41 Renderman (RIB) Plug-in Guide..................................... 452 8.42 Rendition Plug-in Guide......................................... 454 8.43 Rhino Plug-in Guide........................................... 456 8.44 RVIO Plug-in Guide........................................... 459 8.45 Sequence Publisher Plug-in Guide.................................... 461 8.46 Shake Plug-in Guide........................................... 463 8.47 Softimage/XSI Plug-in Guide...................................... 465 8.48 Terragen Plug-in Guide......................................... 472 8.49 Tile Assembler Plug-in Guide...................................... 474 8.50 VNS and WCS Plug-in Guide...................................... 475 8.51 VRay Standalone Plug-in Guide..................................... 480 8.52 Vrimg2Exr Plug-in Guide........................................ 482 8.53 Vue Plug-in Guide............................................ 484 8.54 xNormal Plug-in Guide......................................... 488 iii iv Deadline User Manual, Release 5.2.49424 • search CONTENTS 1 Deadline User Manual, Release 5.2.49424 2 CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE SETUP AND INSTALLATION 1.1 Supported Software Deadline offers extensive out of the box third party rendering package support as well as a Scripting SDK for custom plug-in development. The following chart details which 2D and 3D rendering packages (and associated renderers) are supported by Deadline and to what degree (out of 5 stars): 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design Brazil r/s finalRender / finalToon Krakatoa Maxwell Mental Ray RenderPipe VRay Autodesk Splutterfish Cebas Thinkbox Next Limit Mental Images ARTVPS Chaos Group 3ds Max Plug-in Guide 3ds Command Plug-in Guide 3 Deadline User Manual, Release 5.2.49424 3ds VIZ Autodesk 3ds Command Plug-in Guide After Effects Adobe After Effects Plug-in Guide Anime Studio Smith Micro Software Anime Studio Plug-in Guide Arnold Standalone Solid Angle Arnold Standalone Plug-in Guide Blender Blender Foundation Blender Plug-in Guide Cinema 4D Maxon 4 Chapter 1. Setup and Installation Deadline User Manual, Release 5.2.49424 Cinema 4D Plug-in Guide Cleaner XL Autodesk Cleaner XL Plug-in Guide Combustion Autodesk Combustion Plug-in Guide Command Script Command Script Plug-in Guide Composite/Toxik Autodesk Composite/Toxik Plug-in Guide DJV Darby Johnston DJV Plug-in Guide Draft Thinkbox Draft Plug-in Guide FFmpeg FFmpeg 1.1. Supported Software 5 Deadline User Manual, Release 5.2.49424 FFmpeg Plug-in Guide Frame Fixer Technolumiere Ltd Frame Fixer Plug-in Guide fryrender RandomControl fryrender Plug-in Guide Fusion Eyeon Fusion Plug-in Guide Gelato NVIDIA Gelato Plug-in Guide Generation Eyeon Generation Plug-in Guide Houdini Side Effects Houdini Plug-in Guide Indigo 6 Chapter 1. Setup and Installation Deadline User Manual, Release 5.2.49424 Nicholas Chapman Indigo Plug-in Guide Lightwave FPrime