command line render error

[slinki]

Hi guys

I'm trying to render a scene file and getting the following error.


Starting "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya2009\bin\mayabatch.exe"
mental ray for Maya 10.0
mental ray: version 3.7.1.26, Jul 30 2008, revision 26576
Error: line 1: File not found.:
Error: Cannot load scene "067_010_fl_v001.19_FG.ma". Please check the
scene name.
// Maya exited with status 209

I'm working off our server that's mapped to drive Z:
Anyone have any ideas why I can't render.

Here is the what I type into cmd.

Z:\WIL\SHOTS\067_010_fl\3D\MAYA\scenes\Royston>Render -rt 8 -r mr -v 5
-s 200 -e 550 -b 1 067_010_fl_v001.19_FG.ma

Thanks in advance.

[slinki]

Ok, I think I solved the problem.
Here is my solution that seems to work. I hope this helps
someone else out there.

SOLUTION:
right-click My Computer then go to properties.
click Advanced tab then click Environment Variables
select PATH variable in User variables for X ( X = Username)
then click Edit.
copy the path of your Maya installation (C:\Program Files\Autodesk
\Maya2009\bin;) and paste. DO NOT OVERWRITE EXISTING PATHS!!!
Make sure that the path also exist in the "path" System variable - if
it's not there do the same as above.
then click OK and OK again to exit System Properties.

When you render from cmd window navigate to project path. In my case
the following:

Z:\WIL\SHOTS\067_010_fl\3D\MAYA\scenes\Royston

then type the following lines: Render -rt 8 -r mr -v 5 -s 200 -e 550 -
b 1 "Z:\WIL\SHOTS\067_010_fl\3D\MAYA\scenes
\Royston067_010_fl_v001.19_FG.ma"

you have to put the whole path to your scene file in comma's => ( " )
for it to work as above.

-rt 8 (8 = CPU's)
-r mr (mr = mental ray)
-v 5 (5 = verbose warnings - can check the docs for all the others)
-s 200 (200 = start frame)
-e 550 (550 = end frame)
-b 1 (render by frame)

This worked for me hope is helps you.

[slinki]

Sorry for the few spelling errors.

the lines to type to render should read like this:

Render -rt 8 -r mr -v 5 -s 200 -e 550 -b 1 "Z:\WIL\SHOTS\067_010_fl\3D
\MAYA\scenes
\Royston\067_010_fl_v001.19_FG.ma"

forgot to put 'backslash before scene name.

[Anthony Rosbottom]

Thanks I'm sure I'll need this in 6months time. And now I can search my gmail for it :)

--
Cheers,

Anthony Rosbottom
www.anthonyrosbottom.com

[matt estela]

Haven't rendered from the command line in a while, but you should be able to use '-proj' to specify the project folder, and then specify only the scene name at the end.  Eg

Render -proj /jobs/this/that/car_ad/maya_project -s 1 -e 100 myScene.ma

That said, if you plan to be doing a lot of batch rendering, it might be worth installing a render manager. Even if you're just rendering to one machine, it'll save you time and hassle in the long run. I know deadline lets you work with 2 machines for free, and i'm sure there are other free/cheap options around.

-matt

[Steve Davy]

Totally agree.

If you're going to be doing even moderate amounts of rendering, don't bother typing in arcane strings which simply invite errors, get a render app.

I've always been a Smedge man myself, and so far as I know they also still support two free licenses.

---

From: ma...@tokeru.com
Date: Tue, 10 Aug 2010 23:17:31 +1000
Subject: Re: [maya_he3d] Re: command line render error
To: maya...@googlegroups.com

[royston michaels]

Thanks for all the reply's.
I do have a render manager - Deadline for the render farm here at the
office.
The only reason why I'm rendering with command line locally is that
I'm
rendering 2k sequences and the farm crashes. The render nodes on the
farm only have 4gb RAM and 4 cores whereas my machine has 12gb RAM
and 8 cores.

If you guys have any suggestions please let me know.

[matt estela]

we'd make various machine groups for deadline (1gb machines, 4gb, workstations, laptops etc), then just limit jobs to various machines if certain passes were too heavy.

[royston michaels]

the only problem is that we have 31 machines that are all the same
spec.
we've split them up into commercials and film groups so that the 2
departments
don't hog the farm. I'm in the process of upgrading the RAM to 8 per
machine but that's going to take a bit of time due to cost.

[matt estela]

if you have admin rights to deadline you can make as many groups as you want... make one just for your workstation if thats what you need, worked for me. :)

[Matt Bernadat]

you can call the .exe in the batch file as well:

"C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya2010\bin\render.exe" -r mr -v 4 -s 26 -
e 29 -proj "U:\CHERNOKID\PROD\RENDER\" file.ma in case you don't have
admin rights to change the path.


Some dude wrote a little app that looks useful for batch creation (the
poor man's renderfarm)

http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=7&t=907110

[royston michaels]

WOW, that's a great little program.
Will give it a go.
Thanks for the link.

[Steve Davy]

Have you tried playing with your BSP settings?

Might not help, but worth a shot.

> Date: Wed, 11 Aug 2010 01:08:07 -0700
> Subject: [maya_he3d] Re: command line render error
> From: royston....@gmail.com
> To: maya...@googlegroups.com

[royston michaels]

Hi Steve, yes I have tweaked the BSP settings for heavy scenes.