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View Full Version : Command Line Render - specifying version of Maya when multiple installed?

Cameo
06-07-2006, 04:37 PM
We have some legacy contracts which still require Maya4 whereas our current work is done in Maya 7.

I have a fair bit of rendering coming up requiring Maya 4 so I wanted to set up a batch file which I
could use to fire off a load of command line renders.

Does anyone know how to specify use of the Maya 4 Renderer? The default seems to be the Maya 7 renderer
and that causes some problems in some of the characters in use.


This is the string I tried

render -renderer C:\AW\Maya4.0\bin\mayabatch.exe -n 0 -s 1 -e 100 -pad 3 -cam renderCamera shot01c.mb


But when I hit return I get the following error;

Cannot open renderer description file "C:\Program Files\Alias\Maya7.0\bin\rendererDesc\C:\AW\Maya4.0\bin\mayabatch.exeRenderer.xml"


So by the looks of things it's still trying to interpret the command with Maya 7.

Does anyone know any way around this or have any suggestions of what to try?

Worse case I can render directly from Maya 4 overnight etc but would prefer to do it in a batch if possible.
mental
06-08-2006, 12:42 AM
I have not done this in quite a while but assuming that you're using some version of Windows...

Go into Control Panel [or right click on My Computer > Properties] > System > Advanced > Environmental Variables > System Variables

This is where my memory gets fuzzy...

Next to the 'Path' variable add the address to the Maya 4.0's bin folder ( for example: D:\Alias\Maya4.0\bin; ). Don't forget the semicolon after each path.

If this method is correct your previous command line should work.

+++++

If it doesn't work you will have to replace the Maya 7.0 path with the Maya 4.0 path.

With this method you will not have to specify the batch.exe's location in the command line.

+++++

There is probably a much cleaner way of doing this with a script or the help of a 3rd party render manager but this should be the quickest way to solve your problem.

-mental :surprised
victor
06-08-2006, 01:08 AM
render -renderer C:\AW\Maya4.0\bin\mayabatch.exe -n 0 -s 1 -e 100 -pad 3 -cam renderCamera shot01c.mbHmm... close, but not quite. ;)

Mental is correct. When you type render at the command line, the system is just checking the locations in your system PATH variable for a file named render.exe (or bat or com or whatever else is in the comspec variable), and using the first it finds.

But, there is an easier way than editing the PATH variable for just this occasion.

You should be able to type C:\AW\Maya4.0\bin\render instead of just render at the beginning of your command. That will explicitly locate the program instead of using the PATH variable.
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