Apple Qmaster 3 User manual

Apple Qmaster 3

User Manual

Copyright © 2009 Apple Inc. All rights reserved.

Your rights to the software are governed by the accompanying software license agreement. The owner or authorized user of a valid copy of Final Cut Studio or

Logic Studio software may reproduce this publication for the purpose of learning to use such software. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted for commercial purposes, such as selling copies of this publication or for providing paid for support services.

The Apple logo is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Use of the “keyboard” Apple logo (Shift-Option-K) for commercial purposes without the prior written consent of Apple may constitute trademark infringement and unfair competition in violation of federal and state laws.

Every effort has been made to ensure that the information in this manual is accurate. Apple is not responsible for printing or clerical errors.

Note: Because Apple frequently releases new versions and updates to its system software, applications, and

Internet sites, images shown in this manual may be slightly different from what you see on your screen.

Apple

1 Infinite Loop

Cupertino, CA 95014

408-996-1010 www.apple.com

Apple, the Apple logo, Final Cut, Final Cut Studio, Logic,

Logic Studio, QuickTime, and Shake are trademarks of

Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group.

Other company and product names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective companies. Mention of third-party products is for informational purposes only and constitutes neither an endorsement nor a recommendation. Apple assumes no responsibility with regard to the performance or use of these products.

Contents

Preface

Chapter 1

5

6

5

5

Welcome to Apple Qmaster

About Apple Qmaster

About the Apple Qmaster Documentation

Additional Resources

15

16

29

31

33

10

14

7

8

Using Apple Qmaster 3

The Apple Qmaster Distributed Processing System

The Apple Qmaster Interface

Installing Apple Qmaster, Shake, and Other Applications

Setting Up Rendering Services and Shared Storage

Submitting Batches for Apple Qmaster Processing

Using Nodes Without Apple Qmaster Installed

Setting Environment Variables in Apple Qmaster

Using the Command Line in Apple Qmaster

3

Welcome to Apple Qmaster

The Apple Qmaster system provides automated work distribution and processing for high-volume projects created with digital visual effects software packages such as Shake.

This preface covers the following:

•

About Apple Qmaster

(p. 5)

•


(p. 5)

•


(p. 6)

About Apple Qmaster

The Apple Qmaster application described in this document is the graphical “client interface” that you use to submit jobs for distributed rendering and processing.

Apple Qmaster can accept jobs from Shake, Autodesk Maya, and any UNIX command-line program. The Apple Qmaster application is one of several applications in the

Apple Qmaster distributed processing system. The complete system includes controls for configuring clusters of processing computers and for monitoring, pausing, resuming, or canceling work that has been submitted.


Apple Qmaster comes with various documents that will help you get started as well as provide detailed information about the application. To access these documents, open

Apple Qmaster and choose Help > Apple Qmaster Help.

• Apple Qmaster User Manual: This document describes the Apple Qmaster client application only. For information about how to create a complete network for

Apple Qmaster processing, as well as information about how the Apple Qmaster application works with the rest of the Apple Qmaster system, see the

Distributed Processing Setup Guide .

• Distributed Processing Setup Guide: This document explains how to set up and maintain an Apple Qmaster distributed processing network for use with Compressor or digital visual effects software packages such as Shake.

5

• Batch Monitor User Manual: This brief document describes how to use Batch Monitor to monitor the transcoding progress of batches and jobs.


Along with the documentation that comes with Apple Qmaster, there are a variety of other resources you can use to find out more about Apple Qmaster.

Compressor Website

For general information and updates, as well as the latest news on Compressor, go to:

• http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/compressor

For general information about using Apple Qmaster distributed processing with

Compressor, go to:

• http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/compressor/encoding.html

Apple Service and Support Websites

For software updates and answers to the most frequently asked questions for all Apple products, go to the general Apple Support webpage. You’ll also have access to product specifications, reference documentation, and Apple and third-party product technical articles.

• http://www.apple.com/support

For software updates, documentation, discussion forums, and answers to the most frequently asked questions for Compressor, go to:

• http://www.apple.com/support/compressor

For discussion forums for all Apple products from around the world, where you can search for an answer, post your question, or answer other users’ questions, go to:

• http://discussions.apple.com

6 Preface Welcome to Apple Qmaster

Using Apple Qmaster 3

1

The Apple Qmaster application is the client software you use to submit jobs and batches

(for Shake and related software) to the larger Apple Qmaster system, an automated work distribution and processing solution for high-volume projects.

This chapter covers the following:

•


(p. 8)

•


(p. 10)

•


(p. 14)

•


(p. 15)

•


(p. 16)

•


(p. 29)

•


(p. 31)

•


(p. 33)

7


Computers that submit batches to Apple Qmaster are called clients . An Apple Qmaster job is a processing task in the form of a Shake file, or other file or commands, that uses

UNIX commands to specify settings such as rendering instructions and file locations and destinations.

Network

Batch of processing jobs

Client computer

Jobs are submitted.

Apple Qmaster cluster

Processing is performed by cluster.

Processed files

Destination folder

Files are placed at specified destination.

Although a batch can include just one job, you will typically want to submit several jobs at once for processing. Similarly, several people can use the same Apple Qmaster system at the same time, with several client computers sending batches in the same time frame.

Batches are managed and distributed by the computer that is designated as the

Apple Qmaster cluster controller . For more information, see the

Distributed Processing Setup Guide , available in Apple Qmaster Help.

Clients

Batches are submitted for processing from the client computers. A client computer can be any computer that has Apple Qmaster installed and is on the same network as the cluster controller. Multiple client computers can be on the same network, using the same cluster to do the processing for various applications. See

Submitting Batches with the

Apple Qmaster Application

for details.

8 Chapter 1 Using Apple Qmaster 3

Clusters

When a client sends batches to the Apple Qmaster system, all the processing and subsequent moving of any output files is performed by a group of

Apple Qmaster–configured computers called a cluster . To set up Apple Qmaster services, you use the Apple Qadministrator application to create one or more clusters of service nodes, with one cluster controller included in each cluster. Each computer in the cluster is connected to the other computers in the cluster through a network connection. See the Distributed Processing Setup Guide , available in Apple Qmaster Help, for more information on cluster setup. In particular, see “Preparing a Network for Distributed

Processing.”

Note: See the Shake Support website ( http://www.apple.com/support/shake ) for an online guide to setting up a full-time “render farm,” incorporating an Xserve computer and cluster nodes.

Service Nodes

When you combine multiple nodes into a cluster, they function as one very powerful computer because all their resources are shared. You make a computer available as a service node by configuring it in the Apple Qmaster pane in System Preferences. The steps involved in using System Preferences to configure a service node are described in

“Creating and Administering Clusters” in the Distributed Processing Setup Guide , available in Apple Qmaster Help.

Cluster Controllers

The cluster controller software acts as the manager of a cluster. The cluster controller directs the distribution of batches within the cluster. It has the ability to determine the best use of the cluster resources based on work and availability variables. (See the

Distributed Processing Setup Guide , available in Apple Qmaster Help, for more details.) You make a computer available as a cluster controller by turning on the cluster controlling service in the Apple Qmaster pane in System Preferences. (See “Configuring Service Nodes and Cluster Controllers” in the Distributed Processing Setup Guide , available in Apple Qmaster

Help.)

Chapter 1 Using Apple Qmaster 3 9

10


The Apple Qmaster application described in this document is one part of the larger

distributed processing system described in The Apple Qmaster Distributed Processing

System . The Apple Qmaster application is the client software you use to submit jobs and

batches to the system. Both this application and the larger system are known by the same name (Apple Qmaster).

Batch name

Toolbar buttons

Submit To field

Batch table

Pop-up menus

The Apple Qmaster window contains a toolbar; a Batch Name field; a Submit To field; the

Batch table; buttons to add, remove, and submit jobs (dimmed until at least one job is in the Batch table); and pop-up menus to choose job types and batch priority.

Toolbar Buttons

The Apple Qmaster toolbar contains the following buttons.

• History: Opens the History drawer, where you can view a full log of all batches submitted from your computer, check the current status of all processing batches, and resubmit any batches listed in the log.

• Set Environment: Opens a dialog where you can add environment variables and preflight scripts.

• Notification: Opens a dialog where you can set (or reset) an email address to which the status of a batch completion or failure can be sent. Apple Qmaster does not currently support SMTP servers that require authentication. The following list shows the processing service type followed by the notification label used in the emails and logs:

• Local Compressor service: servicecontroller:com.apple.stomp.transcoder

Chapter 1 Using Apple Qmaster 3

• Distributed Compressor service: servicecontroller:com.apple.stomp.transcoderx

• Distributed Apple Qmaster service: servicecontroller:com.apple.qmaster.executor

• Batch Monitor: Opens Batch Monitor, which allows you to view the status of all batches being processed.

Batch Table

This is the large middle area of the Apple Qmaster window that lists the individual jobs in a batch.

The Batch table includes the following columns.

• Type: One of four job types: Shake, Maya, Generic Render, Shell (UNIX).

• Command: The actual command for the job.

• Working Directory: If relevant, the directory from which you want the command to be executed.

Text Fields and Pop-Up Menus

Around its periphery, the Apple Qmaster window includes other important interface elements for creating and submitting jobs and batches.

• “Batch name” field: This is where you can enter the name of a particular batch. (This is the name that appears in Batch Monitor.)

• Submit To pop-up menu: Use this pop-up menu to choose an available cluster to process the current batch.

• Command pop-up menu: Use this pop-up menu to create commands.

You can choose one of the following types of jobs.

• Generic Render: For more information, see

Submitting Batches with the Generic

Render Command

.


• Maya: For more information, see

Submitting Maya Batches .

• Shake: For more information, see

Submitting Shake Batches

.

• Shell: For more information, see

Using Apple Qmaster to Submit UNIX Commands

.

• Add button: Use the Add (+) button to enter a job (with the selected job type) in the

Batch table.

Add button

• Remove button: Use the Remove (–) button to delete the selected job from the Batch table.

Remove button

• Duplicate button: Use the Duplicate button to duplicate the selected job in the Batch table.

Duplicate button

• Serialize Jobs: Select this checkbox to execute jobs in exactly the order in which they appear in the batch list. For example, if you have a Shake script that requires the output of a Maya script, you can ensure that the Shake script does not execute until the Maya script is completed.

• Priority: Use this pop-up menu to set the relative priority (urgency) for a batch. This pop-up menu allows you to set the priority level (High, Medium, or Low) of a batch, relative to other batches. It defaults to Medium. High-priority batches get processed before medium-priority and low-priority batches.


• Delay: Use these text fields to set a delay in hours or minutes for any job in the batch.

Click in either text field (left field = hours, right field = minutes) to enter the corresponding value. Click the arrows to step through minutes in increments of 5 at a time, or, if the Hour text field is selected, in increments of 1 hour at a time.

• Submit: Click the Submit button to process the batch using the parameters set in the

Apple Qmaster window.

Apple Qmaster Preferences

You can use the Apple Qmaster Preferences window to adjust how Apple Qmaster works with remote computers.

Note: This is the preferences window for Apple Qmaster.app, the client application. It should not be confused with the Apple Qmaster pane in System Preferences, which you use to configure an entire Apple Qmaster distributed processing system.

About the Apple Qmaster Preferences Window

The Apple Qmaster Preferences window includes the following items.

Remote Computer Settings

• “Enter IP addresses or ranges for manually selected computers” table: This table displays information about remote host computers.

• Add/Remove button: Use the button to add or remove information about remote host computers.


Remote Computer Address Dialog

This dialog is displayed when you click the Add/Remove button in the main Preferences dialog. Use this dialog to enter IP addresses or ranges for manually selected computers.

• Host/Host IP Address Range buttons: These buttons control whether this dialog is in IP

Address mode (in which you enter a specific address) or IP Address Range mode (in which you enter a range of addresses).

• Host: Use this mode to enter a host name and IP address for a specific remote computer.

• Host IP Address Range: Use this mode to enter a name and set of range numbers

(Range From, Range To) for a range of remote IP addresses.

Setting Apple Qmaster Preferences

Follow the instructions below to set Apple Qmaster preferences.

To manually enter IP addresses or ranges for remote service host computers

1 Click Add (+).

The host address dialog appears.

14

2 In the host address dialog, do one of the following:

• Select Host, complete the Host Name and IP Address fields, and click Add Host.

• Select “Host IP address range,” complete the Range fields, and click Add Range.

The hosts or host ranges appear in the Host table in the main Preferences dialog.

Important: Any changes you make to the Compressor preference settings take effect only when you click OK. If you make changes but decide not to use them, click Cancel.


Each rendering application has a slightly different installation procedure. See the

Distributed Processing Setup Guide , available in Apple Qmaster Help, for information on installing the Apple Qmaster suite of applications.


To use Apple Qmaster with Shake, or other frame-based rendering applications, you must follow these installation and licensing guidelines.

• To submit batches for Shake: A copy of Shake must be installed on every node in the cluster. For command-line rendering on Mac OS X, a license is not needed.

• To submit batches for Maya: Install and license a copy of Maya on every node in the cluster.

• To submit batches for other frame-based rendering applications: Install a copy of the rendering application on every node in the cluster. For example, you must install a copy of After Effects 6.5 on every node in the cluster. It’s important that you install aerender, the command-line renderer for After Effects. After Effects requires a product key and serial number before installation.

Note: In all three of the above cases, you will need to install any third-party plug-ins, fonts, and so on, that your projects require on each node in the cluster.


Here are some additional tips on setting up an Apple Qmaster “render farm.”

Changing the Number of Rendering Service Instances

By default, Apple Qmaster enables one rendering service per processor. On a dual-processor system, you will have two rendering services enabled by default. So that means out of the box, two copies of Shake will be running at the same time on a dual-processor system. It may be necessary to disable a rendering service. For more information on changing the number of rendering services, see the


Note: If you are using Shake, you can always change the number of processors Shake uses at submission time by using

-cpus x

, where x is the number of threads to use.

Shared Volumes

All the nodes in the cluster must have a common volume to work from; otherwise they will not know where to find assets needed for any given batch. There are many ways to set up file sharing. For more information, see the Mac OS X documentation on file sharing and the Mac OS X Server documentation.

Dedicated NFS Servers

You can set up a dedicated NFS server. For more information, see the Mac OS X Server documentation.


16

Shared Volume Media Management with Shake

It may be necessary to relink your assets once you move your project to the shared volume.

This varies depending on the types of files, plug-ins, fonts, and environmental requirements. Things that commonly need to be changed are the FileIn and FileOut paths, and env variables such as

NR_INCLUDE_PATH and

NR_FONT_PATH

.

UNC should be disabled, as these paths are typically not resolvable to nodes in the cluster when arbitrary host names are used.

To disable UNC and enable Apple Qmaster from within the Shake application

1 Go to:

~/nreal/include/startup

2 Create a file called: qmaster.h

3 Add the following: script.uncFileNames = 0; sys.useRenderQueue = "Qmaster";

4 Press Return several times after the last line.

5 Save your work.


Jobs are submitted in the form of a batch, and a batch can include one or more jobs.

Batches can be submitted from any computer that:

• Has Apple Qmaster software installed

• Is on the same network as the cluster to which you are submitting the batch

Submitting Batches with the Apple Qmaster Application

Apple Qmaster includes a plug-in for Shake that automates and customizes the process by which Shake batches are submitted with Apple Qmaster. Because of this, the process for submitting Shake batches is more automated than is the process for submitting batches for other applications that do not have such plug-ins. A plug-in is included for

Autodesk Maya, as well as a generic Render Command plug-in for other frame-based rendering applications, and a Shell Command plug-in that works with any application that can be executed from the UNIX command line.

The plug-ins automatically set some default parameters for the job. They also provide a dialog for you to adjust these parameters to your needs and to add more command-line options to each job.

• To submit batches for Shake: See

Submitting Shake Batches

.

• To submit batches for Maya: See

Submitting Maya Batches .

• To submit batches for other frame-based rendering applications: See

Submitting Batches with the Generic Render Command .


• To submit batches for any application that can be executed from the UNIX command line: See

Using Apple Qmaster to Submit UNIX Commands .

Submitting Shake Batches

Using Apple Qmaster, you can quickly create and submit a batch of Shake jobs.

Note: You can also submit Shake batches as described in

Using Apple Qmaster to Submit

UNIX Commands

, but the following method is the easiest way to submit Shake batches with Apple Qmaster.

To submit Shake batches with Apple Qmaster

1 Open Apple Qmaster.

2 Enter a name for the batch in the “Batch name” field. (This is the name that appears in

Batch Monitor after you submit the batch.)

3 Do one of the following:

• Drag the Shake (.shk) file to the Batch table (the middle area of the Apple Qmaster window).

• Choose Shake from the pop-up menu, then click the Add (+) button to add a job.

4 In the dialog that appears, do the following: a In the Script field, enter the location of the Shake file if it isn’t already shown. (If you dragged the file to the window, the file location is already there.)

Note: The Shake field shows the default location of Shake on your computer. If it is not correct, be sure to update it.

b If you wish, edit the available values and settings to customize the command. For more information, see

About the Shake Plug-in Dialog .


Each setting corresponds to a commonly used Shake command, with the exception of the Minimum setting. See the Shake documentation for further information about the

Shake settings in this dialog. See

About the Shake Plug-in Dialog

for more information about the the Minimum setting.

With the exception of the Minimum setting, each setting in the dialog corresponds to a commonly used

Shake command or option. Refer to the

Shake documentation for more information.

c If you wish, add other command-line options to the Options field.

You can further customize the batch instructions by adding command-line options here.

The full command is displayed here.

d Click OK when you have finished with this dialog. The Shake job appears in the window.

The job appears in the window.


5 To add more jobs to this batch, repeat steps 3 and 4.

6 As needed, make any final changes to the batch, such as either of the following.

• To edit a command in the list: Double-click the job. The command dialog in step 4 appears.

• To delete a job from this batch (before you submit the batch): Select the job you want to delete and click the Remove (–) button.

7 As needed, set the following options for this batch.

• Submit To: Choose a cluster to process this batch.

• Working Directory: If relevant, enter the working directory (from which you want the command to be executed).

• Priority: Choose the priority level from the pop-up menu. The higher the priority, the sooner and faster this batch will be processed relative to other batches.

• Delay: Specify how long you would like the system to wait before processing this batch.

8 Click Submit to send the batch out for processing.

Any output files for the batch are placed in the destination specified in the script file or command.

Note: If you are using Apple Qmaster to render Shake jobs as QuickTime movie output, every service node in the Apple Qmaster cluster must have Mac OS X v10.4 or later.

Saving Time with Apple Qmaster

The Apple Qmaster interface includes some additional features that you may find convenient.

• Duplicating jobs: To duplicate a job, select it and click the Duplicate button, which is next to the Remove (–) button. This is especially useful if you want to submit similar jobs. You can make copies of the same job and then edit values in Apple Qmaster as needed.

• History: By clicking the History button, you can view the dates and names of batches that have been sent previously from Apple Qmaster, and you can drag them to the batch list in the Apple Qmaster window to add a copy of them to a batch you are creating. To drag a job or batch from the History table in Apple Qmaster, select the first column of the job or batch, then drag. The History drawer also has a Progress column that indicates the current status of all processing batches. It is updated every

5 seconds.

• Saving a batch: To save a copy of a batch you have created with Apple Qmaster, in case you may need to resubmit it, choose File > Save As.


About the Shake Plug-in Dialog

The Shake Plug-In dialog contains the following settings.

With the exception of the Minimum setting, each setting in the dialog corresponds to a commonly used

Shake command or option. Refer to the

Shake documentation for more information.

Basic Shake Plug-in Dialog Details

• Shake field: The Shake field shows the location of the Shake application on your computer.

• Script field: The Script field shows the location of the Shake project file. (You can also drag the file to the Batch window to have the file location entered automatically.)

• “Ignore script failures” checkbox: This checkbox allows you to determine whether

Apple Qmaster should continue rendering all the frames of the script in the event that

Shake returns a non-zero UNIX command result. (In Apple Qmaster 2 and previous versions, a job would always fail if any segment returned non-zero.) By default, this checkbox is not selected. Select the checkbox if Apple Qmaster should ignore non-zero

UNIX command results.

• Start field: Sets the start frame for the job. Refer to the Shake documentation for more information.

• End field: Sets the end frame for the job. Refer to the Shake documentation for more information.

• Steps field: Refer to the Shake documentation for more information.


• Minimum field: You can change the value in the Minimum field to change the minimum number of frames in each Apple Qmaster segment. For example, with a minimum value of 10 (the default), Apple Qmaster would divide a 100-frame job into at least 10 segments of 10 frames each. If you changed the minimum value to 5, Apple Qmaster would divide a 100-frame job into at least 20 segments of 5 frames each. (When you set a minimum, keep in mind that although smaller segments allow a job to be distributed to more nodes at once, smaller segments can also mean that more processing effort is spent on opening and closing Shake on each node.)

Proxies Details

• Use checkbox: This checkbox activates the Proxies feature. Refer to the Shake documentation for more information.

• Proxy buttons: Although the four default proxy settings are identical in both Shake and

Apple Qmaster, they have slightly different names in each application. The list below indicates the corresponding names. The Apple Qmaster name is in italics, followed by the corresponding Shake name:

• P1: Base

• P2: P1

• P3: P2

• P4: P3

Refer to the Shake documentation for more information.

• Scale pop-up menu: Refer to the Shake documentation for more information.

• Proxy Ratio pop-up menu: Refer to the Shake documentation for more information.

Motion Blur Details

• Motion Blur pop-up menu: The Motion Blur pop-up menu contains several options for configuring motion blur settings.

• Default for script: Retains custom motion blur settings from the original Shake script.

• Off: Turns off motion blur.

• On: Turns on motion blur.

• Shutter checkbox: Refer to the Shake documentation for more information.

• Shutter slider and field: Refer to the Shake documentation for more information.


Additional Shake Plug-in Dialog Details

• Monitor pop-up menu: Though the Monitor pop-up menu corresponds to a Shake command option, it requires some explanation in the context of this dialog. The pop-up menu lets you choose whether or not to display each frame as it renders. If you don’t want to see the frames as they render, choose None. To see the frames as they render, choose a display from the Monitor pop-up menu, then specify the FileOut node in the

Options field. For example: -node nodename . (If the script has only one FileOut node, there is no need to specify it.)

• Options field: You can customize the batch instructions by adding command-line options here.

• Command: The full command is displayed here.

Submitting Maya Batches

There is a special dialog within Apple Qmaster for specifying commands for the distributed processing of Maya files. Apple Qmaster can utilize separate clusters for Shake and Maya, or draw from a single pool of processing resources for both applications.

To submit a batch of Maya files for processing

1 In the Apple Qmaster window, choose Maya from the Command pop-up menu, then click the Add (+) button to add a job.

2 In the dialog that appears, enter the relevant information in the required and optional fields.

22


Some fields and settings in this dialog are optional, but the following are required:

• The Maya field displays the default location for the Maya application—make sure it is correct.

• Use the Choose buttons to navigate to and choose the location of the Maya project and scene files for this job.


• In the Frames section, enter a Start and End frame for the job.

The available settings correspond to commonly used Maya command options. You can also type additional command options in the Options field. See the Maya documentation for more information about all the Maya command settings.

3 Click OK when you have finished creating the full command.

4 To add more jobs to this batch, repeat steps 1 through 3.

5 As needed, set the following options for the batch in the Apple Qmaster window:


• Working Directory: If relevant, enter the working directory (from which you want the command to be executed) in the Working Directory column.



Important: By default, Apple Qmaster ignores Maya plug-in error messages. If you use

Maya plug-ins, you can change this by removing or renaming

/Library/Application\

Support/Apple\

Qmaster/MayaCommandPlugin.commandPlugin/Contents/Resources/mayascript

.

Advanced users can customize MayaScript to suit their environment and workflow.

Media Management in Maya Projects

Most Maya assets are contained in the project directory. If your project uses external files, you will need to relink them when the project is moved to the shared volume.

It may be necessary to retarget your assets once you move your project to the shared volume. This varies depending on the types of files and plug-ins used. If you are handing this project to a cluster administrator, you should save the file in Maya ASCII (.ma) as well.

This way, it can be edited to fix path problems without intimate knowledge of using

Maya.

Mental Ray for Maya Submissions and Other Options

To use the Mental Ray for Maya renderer, add

-r mr

to the Options field. You must have a licensed copy of Maya on each node in the cluster to use the Mental Ray renderer.

Apple Qmaster does not use Maya Satellite, so in this regard, there is no difference in

Maya Complete versus Maya Unlimited, except for the plug-ins that ship with Unlimited.

If the node in question has only one processor, the number of satellite processors does not apply to Apple Qmaster.


Another option is

-rt

. This specifies the number of rendering threads. By default, the number of rendering threads is 2. You might want to change this value depending on the type of computers in your cluster. In a homogeneous cluster environment, say of

Mac Pro or Power Mac G5 quad systems, you would change this value to 4, as there are four processors per node, and some Maya operations might be faster with more threads.

This option is passed to all the nodes in the cluster. So, if you have nodes that vary in the number of processors, you will have to be careful with the number of threads you use.

Too many threads can result in lower performance for those nodes.

If you want to selectively enable the number of threads a node uses, you must use a wrapper.

To force Apple Qmaster to heed Maya plug-in warnings

µ

Remove or rename the following file:

/Library/Application\ Support/Apple\

Qmaster/MayaCommandPlugin.commandPlugin/Contents/Resources/mayascript

Submitting Batches with the Generic Render Command

You can use the Generic Render command in Apple Qmaster for the distributed processing of projects from other frame-based rendering applications (such as After Effects and

LightWave). The plug-in dialog allows you to adjust parameters and to add more command-line options to each job.

To submit a batch of files for processing using the Generic Render command

1 In the Apple Qmaster window, choose Generic Render from the Command pop-up menu, then click the Add (+) button to add a job.


2 In the dialog that appears, enter the relevant information in the required and optional fields.


Some fields and settings in this dialog are optional, but the following are required:

• The Executable field requires the location of the frame-based rendering application—make sure it is correct.

• Use the Choose buttons to navigate to and choose the location of the project and scene files for this job.

• In the Frames section, enter a Start and End frame for the job.

3 In the Command Template section, do one of the following:

• Use the Default Template as is, or adjust it by adding additional command elements from the pop-up menu.

• Click the Add (+) button to create an additional template, and adjust it by adding additional command elements from the pop-up menu.

Note: You can change the order of the command elements by dragging them left or right.

4 If necessary, add command-line instructions in the Options field. Any text entered here will be appended at the end of the command.


26

5 Verify the full command in the Command text box and click OK.

You can further customize the batch instructions by adding command-line options here.


6 To add more jobs to this batch, repeat steps 1 through 5.

7 As needed, set the following options for the batch in the Apple Qmaster window:


• Working Directory: If relevant, enter the working directory (from which you want the command to be executed) in the Working Directory column.



Important: If you output from the Generic Render plug-in to single files containing all the frames, such as a QuickTime movie, all the nodes of a cluster may try to write to the same file at the same time. To avoid this problem, choose a different output file format or use a different render command.

Generic Render Command and Non-Zero Exit Status

The “Treat non-zero exit status as failure” checkbox in the Generic Render dialog allows you to use Apple Qmaster with rendering applications that return non-zero results that are not intended to indicate failure. By default, this checkbox is selected. If your rendering application issues non-zero results that are not intended to indicate failure, deselect the checkbox.

Submitting After Effects Batches with the Generic Render Command

The following template is a good starting point for using the Generic Render plug-in to render After Effects projects:

[EXECUTABLE] -project [INPUT] -comp "Comp 1" -RStemplate "Multi-Machine

Settings" -OMtemplate "Multi-Machine Sequence" -s [START FRAME] -e [END

FRAME]-output [ITEM]/test[####].psd

Where:

[EXECUTABLE] = /Applications/Adobe\ After\ Effects\ 6.5/aerender

[INPUT] = /SHARED_VOLUME/Projects/AEProjs/Wine_Country/QMproject.aep


[START FRAME] = 0

[END FRAME] = 544

[STEPS] = Not Used

[ITEM] = /SHARED_VOLUME/Projects/AEProjs/Wine_Country/output

In the example above, “

Comp 1

” is the name of the composition in your After Effects project and “ test[####].psd

” is the output filename. Since you cannot select an output filename in the template’s Item field before the output has been rendered, first select the output directory, then add the filename to the Item field.

Note: In the example,

/SHARED_VOLUME/Projects/ is the shared volume. If you created the project on a computer that is not using the shared volume, copy the project to the shared volume, open After Effects, and relink any missing media.

Here are additional tips for using the Generic Render plug-in to render After Effects projects:

• After Effects makes good use of multiprocessor systems, but on projects that are not processor-bound, two rendering services per node give you better results.

• After Effects custom template information is stored in

Users/ username /Library/Preferences/Adobe After Effects 6.5 Prefs/. If you would like to use custom Render Setting and Output Module templates in an Apple Qmaster cluster, copy this file to the same location on each node in the cluster. Then you can specify your templates when using the

-RStemplate or

-OMtemplate options.

The above example includes many additions to the shipping After Effects template. In order to render After Effects in a distributed environment, you must render an image sequence. User-specific sections must be edited every time. These include the comp name (

Comp 1

), output filename ( test[####].psd

), and possibly output module and render settings.

After Effects provides Render Setting and Output Module templates specifically for this environment. You can use custom After Effects render and output templates if you wish, but the output must be an image sequence. After Effects stores its custom template information in ~/Library/Preferences/Adobe After Effects 6.5 Prefs/. If you would like to use your custom Render Setting and Output Module templates in the cluster, copy this file to the same location on each node in the cluster. Then you can specify your templates when using the

-RStemplate or

-OMtemplate options.

Optionally, you can use Notification and Set Environment before you submit. Notification is email notification: Enter an email address and SMTP server, and you will be notified about the completion of your batch and its status. Use Set Environment to define variables on a per-batch basis. For more information, see

Setting Environment Variables in

Apple Qmaster .


Note: Apple Qmaster does not currently support SMTP servers that require authentication.

Using Apple Qmaster to Submit UNIX Commands

You can use Apple Qmaster for distributed processing of any UNIX commands, including any application that can be operated from the command line. Apple Qmaster provides a convenient way to issue commands, shortening the amount of typing you need to do by providing an interface for the global parts of the command.

To distribute UNIX command batches with Apple Qmaster

1 Open Apple Qmaster.

2 Enter a name for the batch in the “Batch name” field. (This is the name that appears in

Batch Monitor.)

3 Choose Shell from the Command pop-up menu.

28

Choose Shell from this pop-up menu.

4 For each job you want to add to the batch, click the Add (+) button, then type the UNIX command in the Command column.

The UNIX command might specify, for example, the application, an output destination, and a couple of command-line options.

Type the command in the Command column.


Note: If you need to delete a job from this batch (before you submit the batch), select the job you want to delete and click the Remove (–) button.

5 As needed, set the following options for this batch.


• Working Directory: If relevant, enter the working directory (from which you want the command to be executed).


• Delay: Specify how long you would like the system to wait before processing this batch.

6 Click Submit to submit the batch for processing.


You can create a cluster containing one or more computers that do not have

Apple Qmaster installed. To do this, you configure an intermediary service node that executes Apple Qmaster commands on other computers, called extended nodes . The intermediary service node runs UNIX Apple Qmaster commands on the extended nodes via the SSH (secure shell) UNIX program, so that the extended nodes can process

Apple Qmaster batches without having Apple Qmaster installed. This type of cluster is called an extended node cluster .

Will Your Cluster Include Only Extended Nodes or Be Mixed?

If all the nodes in the cluster will be extended nodes (nodes that do not have

Apple Qmaster installed), the cluster needs one intermediary node that also acts as the cluster controller. There is no need to use the Apple Qadministrator application at all if you are creating a cluster that contains only an intermediary node and extended nodes.

All the configuration can be done in the Apple Qmaster pane in System Preferences, as

described in Configuring an Intermediary Node for an Extended Node Cluster

.

However, if you want a cluster that contains both regular service nodes and extended nodes, configure an intermediary node (as described in

Configuring an Intermediary Node for an Extended Node Cluster ), and then add it to a regular cluster that already has a

cluster controller. (There can be only one cluster controller per cluster.)

Configuring an Intermediary Node for an Extended Node Cluster

Before you begin, make sure that:

• The computer that will be the intermediary service node has Apple Qmaster installed

• The computers that will be the extended nodes have a UNIX-based operating system and have SSH enabled


To configure an intermediary service node to run Apple Qmaster commands on extended nodes

1 Open the Apple Qmaster pane in System Preferences.

2 If this intermediary node will be part of a mixed cluster, with a different computer acting as the cluster controller, skip this step and go to step 3. If you want this intermediary node to be the cluster controller for this cluster, do the following: a In the “Share this computer as” section, select one of the following buttons:

• “Services and QuickCluster controller”

• “Services and cluster controller”

For more information on creating cluster controllers, see the


b Enter a name in the “Identify this QuickCluster as” field. This is the name you will see in the Cluster list in Apple Qadministrator, and in the cluster pop-up menus in

Batch Monitor and Apple Qmaster.

3 Make sure the Managed checkbox for the Rendering service is selected in the Services section, and that its checkbox in the Share column is selected.

4 Click the “Options for selected service” button in the Services pane.

Note: The “Options for selected service” button is not available if the Rendering service is already on. If the service is on, click the Stop Sharing button so that you can access the

“Options for selected service” button.

5 In the dialog that appears, add an instance for each extended node you want this intermediary node to send commands to: a Choose SSH from the Add (+) pop-up menu.


b Edit the Host name, Username, and (if applicable) Password columns so that they describe each computer you want to use as an extended node, then click OK.

Edit the Host name,

Username, and Password columns to specify the extended nodes you are adding.

6 In the Apple Qmaster preferences pane, click Start Sharing.

If you configured this intermediary node as the cluster controller, your work is done and the extended node cluster is ready to start receiving and processing batches submitted by Apple Qmaster.

If, instead, you want the extended nodes to be part of a cluster that includes regular service nodes, use Apple Qadministrator to add this intermediary node to that cluster.

You add an intermediary node in the same way you add other service nodes, as described in the Distributed Processing Setup Guide , available in Apple Qmaster Help.


You may want to set or change an environment variable for submitting certain jobs.

When you set an environment variable within Apple Qmaster, the new setting takes effect immediately. This gives you an easy way to do things such as setting common directory paths or plug-in-specific environment variables for Apple Qmaster jobs.


About Environment Variables and Preflight Scripts

You can streamline your workflow with environment variables and preflight scripts.

What’s an Environment Variable?

Environment variables are settings within a shell, from which commands are issued that affect the way a program operates. People who regularly execute commands from a

Terminal shell, or write shell scripts, are usually familiar with environment variables.

For example, the environment variable called PATH tells the shell where to look for commands that are entered. The PATH that is specified becomes the search path that is used when locating a program. It is set for you automatically, but you will want to add to it. For instance, if your user name is jane and there is a directory named groupbin

(in your home directory) that contains programs you want to run from a shell, the environment variable name would be PATH and the value of that name would be

~jane/groupbin.

What’s a Preflight Script?

A preflight script is a script you can run on each node of a cluster prior to actually processing the batch. These scripts are sent with every distributed segment of a job.

To set environment variables in Apple Qmaster

1 Select the command for which you want to set an environment variable.

2 Click the Set Environment button.

3 In the dialog that appears, you can add preflight scripts and environment variables or edit or remove an existing one.

32

Click the Add (+) button, then enter a variable name and value.

• To add a variable: Click the Add (+) button, then select and edit Untitled Variable in both the Name and Value columns.

• To remove a variable: Select it, then click the Remove (–) button.


4 Click OK.

Your environment variables take effect immediately, and are retained only for the selected command.


If you are accustomed to doing your work from Terminal shells, and you need or prefer to run Apple Qmaster from the command line with minimal use of application interfaces, this section is for you.

Note: On any given Final Cut Studio system or network, the Compressor and

Apple Qmaster versions (numbers) and the version of QuickTime must all match. For example, Compressor 3.0.5 will work only with the 3.0.5 version of Apple Qmaster, and no other version. In this example, the correct version of QuickTime is QuickTime 7.5.5 or later. Non-matching configurations are not supported.

Installing Apple Qmaster from the Command Line

Follow these steps to install Apple Qmaster software on each computer you want to use for distributed processing. (All computers must be on the same subnet.)

To install Apple Qmaster software from the command line

1 Copy the standalone installer package (AppleQmasterNode.mpkg) to the remote system.

Note: Do not alter the file hierarchy of the packages.

2 Log in to the remote system.

3 Enter the following command: sudo installer -pkg AppleQmasterNode.mpkg -target /

Apple Qmaster processes start automatically after installation.

4 Repeat these steps for each computer in your distributed processing network.

Tip: You can also install Apple Qmaster using Apple Remote Desktop. Just select a node, click Install Package, and select the standalone installer package

(AppleQmasterNode.mpkg). The copy and installation process is done automatically.

Shell Commands for Configuring Service Nodes and Cluster Controllers

As an alternative to using the Apple Qmaster pane in System Preferences, you can use the command qmasterprefs

, with command-line options for enabling and disabling service node and cluster-controlling services.

In the command-line descriptions below, angle brackets < > indicate a mandatory argument in a command, and brackets [ ] indicate an optional argument.


34

Synopsis

Below is a synopsis of the command for enabling and disabling Apple Qmaster services on a computer. The qmasterprefs command is located in /usr/sbin.

qmasterprefs [options] [-cluster <on | off> [options]] [-service <name> <on

| off> [options]]

Command Options

This table provides information about each of the enabling and disabling service-node and cluster-controlling services on a computer.

Preference command option

-help

-list

-resetCluster

[cancelJobs]

-allowBonjourDiscovery

<on | off>

Description

Displays information about supported options for qmasterprefs .

Lists the current qmasterprefs settings.

Restarts cluster processes.

cancelJobs deletes batches in the queue.

Enables or disables Bonjour advertisements.

-startSharing

[servicesOnly | servicesAndCluster | servicesAndQuickCluster]

Sets sharing state. (Similar to the Apple Qmaster pane in System

Preferences.)

-stopSharing

-restart

-reset

-launchContentAgent <on

| off>

Stops Apple Qmaster services on local computer.

Restarts all Apple Qmaster services.

Resets Apple Qmaster services to default configuration.

Automatically launches content agent at startup.

-log [0-5] [truncate on

| off]

Sets logging level. Default is 3. Off is 0. Sets whether logs are overwritten when services are restarted.

-statusMenu <on | off>

-cluster <on | off>

[options]

Displays service node status indicator in menu bar.

Turns cluster-controlling services on or off. All [options] are:

[timeout min] [[quickcluster] servername name]

[maxactivetargets val] [maxactivesegments val]

[storagepath path] [privatestorage on|off]

[publishedstorage on|off]

[storagecleanupthreshold days] [unmanagedservices

on|off] [unmanagedmulticapturethreshold sec]

[networkinterface allinterfaces | <bsd name>]

[log [0-5] | [truncate on|off]]

-service “name” [on|off]

[options]

Turns service on or off. Valid names are Rendering or

"Compressor Processing" . All [options] are: [timeout min]

[sharing on|off ] [instances n] [autorestart on|off ] [unmanaged on|off ]

[log [0-5] [truncate on|off ]]


Note: For a complete list of shell command options, enter qmasterprefs -help

.

Example of the qmasterprefs Command

In the following example, the computer is set to be a cluster controller, bound to the primary network interface (en0), with logging set to verbose, with the logs not overwritten.

The

Rendering service is on, with 4 managed services and logging set to verbose, with the logs not overwritten. The

Compressor Processing service is configured with the same settings, with two instances.

qmasterprefs -sharingType servicesAndCluster -cluster on networkinterface en0 log 5 truncate off -service Rendering on sharing on instances 4 unmanaged

off log 5 truncate off -service "Compressor Processing" on sharing on instances 2 unmanaged off log 5 truncate off

To reset controller and service configurations

µ

Enter the following: qmasterprefs -reset

To reset all controller and service processes and cancel all batches in queue

µ

Enter the following: qmasterprefs -resetCluster cancelJobs

To stop sharing

µ

Enter the following: qmasterprefs -stopSharing

To start sharing

µ

Enter the following: qmasterprefs -startSharing

To change the cluster storage path to an Xsan volume

µ

Enter the following: qmasterprefs -cluster off storagepath /Volumes/XsanVol

To change the number of Compressor Processing services from 2 to 4

µ

Enter the following: qmasterprefs -service "Compressor Processing" off sharing on instances 4

To turn off the Rendering service

µ

Enter the following: qmasterprefs -service Rendering off

To turn on unmanaged services for Compressor Processing

µ

Enter the following: qmasterprefs -service “Compressor Processing” on unmanaged on


36

To configure a service-only node

µ

Enter the following: qmasterprefs -stopSharing -sharingType servicesOnly -startSharing

To create a QuickCluster

µ

Enter the following: qmasterprefs -stopSharing -sharingType servicesAndQuickCluster -startSharing

Shell Commands for Submitting Apple Qmaster Jobs

You can use the Apple Qmaster command,

Apple Qmaster

, with a number of command-line options for submitting jobs.


Synopsis

Below is a synopsis of the command for submitting a job to a cluster. The

Apple Qmaster command is located in /Applications/Apple Qmaster.app/Contents/MacOS/.

Apple Qmaster [-clustername <name>] [-clusterid <user name:password@IP address:port number>][-command <command type> -options <XML command>

[-wd<working directory>] [-timeout <seconds>] [-show] [-batchname <name>]

[-help]

Once the job is submitted successfully, this command displays the batch ID (identifier) and job ID (identifier) in the shell.

Command Options

This table provides information about each of the command options for submitting jobs.

Submission command option

-clustername <name>

-batchname <name>

-clusterid <user name:password@IP address:port number>

Description

Use to specify the name of the cluster to which you want to send the job. Using the cluster name, Apple Qmaster looks for the cluster on the network in order to use it.

Use to specify a name for the batch so that you can easily recognize it in Batch Monitor.

Optionally, you can use -clusterid to enter the cluster ID and port number instead of using -clustername . (When you enter the cluster ID and port, less time is required to find the cluster on the network.)

Or, if you used -clustername and the cluster requires a password, use -clusterid to specify the user name and password. (You need to include the IP address:port number as well whenever you use -clusterid .)

Use Apple Qmaster -show to see a cluster’s IP address and port number.



-command <command type>

-options <XML command>

-wd <working directory>

-timeout <seconds>

-show

-help

Description

Specifies the kind of command you are entering: Shell, Shake,

Maya, or other command, depending on the application you want to use for distributed processing.

Specifies the command with XML code. Enter the XML code after

-options , with the necessary qualifiers for entering it in a shell.

See

Example of Shake Command XML

, next, for an example.

If no -option is entered, the values from the application’s preferences file, in ~/Library/Preferences/, are used (which are the values of the most recent job submitted).

Use to specify the working directory path (from which the command should be executed). The default working directory is

/Applications/Shake.

Use to specify the number of seconds before Apple Qmaster can quit when looking for a cluster. The default value is 0, which puts no limit on the timeout and allows Apple Qmaster to browse the network for as long as it needs to find the cluster.

Shows the ID information for the cluster specified with

-clustername or -clusterid , or for all clusters if no cluster is specified.

Displays information about supported options for Apple Qmaster .

Example of Shake Command XML

The code below is an example of XML code for submitting a Shake command.

/Applications/Apple\ Qmaster.app/Contents/MacOS/Apple\ Qmaster -clustername

elvis -command "Shake" -options "<command executable="/Applications/Shake/shake.app/Contents/MacOS/shake" script="/Volumes/Data/scripts/applestyle.shk" start="1" end="1000" stepsOf="1" minCount="10" otherOptions="" previewNode="" previewWidth="0" shutterOn="yes" motion="yes" proxyFlags="0" proxyScale="1.000000" proxyRatio="1000.000000" shutter="1.000000"></command>"

Note: Apple Qmaster stores the XML code for the last command you entered in

~Library/Preferences/com.apple.AppleQmaster.plist. You can copy the command in XML form there, and customize it to use for a new job submission.

Shell Commands for Submitting Compressor Jobs

You can run the Compressor application from the command line using the

Compressor command, with a number of command-line options for submitting jobs.


Synopsis

Below is a synopsis of the command for submitting a job to a cluster. The

Compressor command is located in /Applications/Compressor.app/Contents/MacOS/.


38

Compressor [-clustername <name>][-clusterid

<username:password@ipaddress:portNumber>] [-batchfilepath <path>] [-batchname

<batchname>] [-priority <value>] [-jobpath <path>] [-settingpath <path>]

[-destinationpath <path>] [-info <xml>] [-timeout <seconds>] [-help] [-show]

In this example,

-jobpath

,

-settingpath

, and

-destinationpath can be repeated as many times as the number of jobs you want to submit.

Note: Not all the options are necessary. For example, you can specify the cluster either by its

-clustername or by its

-clusterid

. You do not need to specify both. If both are specified, only

-clusterid is used.

Additionally, if you specify

-batchfilepath

, then

-jobpath

,

-settingpath

, and

-destinationpath are not necessary because the previously saved batch file already contains information about the job, settings, and destination.

Example of

-batchfilepath

:

Compressor -clustername "This Computer" -batchfilepath

"/Volumes/Hermione/SavedCompressorBatches/FreeChampagne.compressor"

Once the job is submitted successfully, this command displays the batch ID (identifier) and job ID (identifier) in the shell, and you can monitor the progress of a batch in

Batch Monitor.

Command Options

This table provides information about each of the command options for submitting jobs.


-clustername <name>

-password <value>

-batchname <name>


-priority <value>

Description

Use to specify the name of the cluster to which you want to send the job. Using the cluster name, Compressor looks for the cluster on the network in order to use it.

User password for the cluster specified by ID or name.

Use to specify a name for the batch so that you can easily recognize it in Batch Monitor.

Optionally, you can use -clusterid to enter the cluster ID and port number instead of using -clustername . (When you enter the cluster ID and port, less time is required to find the cluster on the network.)


Use Compressor -show to see a cluster's IP address and port number.

Specifies the priority level for a job.



-jobpath <url>

-settingpath <url>

-destinationpath <url>

-info <xml>

-timeout <seconds>

-show

-help

Description

Specifies the location of the source file.

Specifies the location of the settings for the job.

Specifies the destination file URL for the job.

Gives detailed information for a batch or a job.

Use to specify the number of seconds before Compressor can quit when looking for a cluster. The default value is 0, which puts no limit on the timeout and allows Compressor to browse the network for as long as it needs to find the cluster.

Shows the ID information for the cluster specified with

-clustername or -clusterid , or for all clusters if no cluster is specified.

Displays information regarding the required parameters for the

Compressor command.

Example of Compressor Command XML

The code below is an example of XML code for submitting a Compressor command.

Notice that because it needs to be entered as one command line, every character after

-options that isn’t alphanumeric must be preceded with a backslash (\).

./Compressor -clusterid tcp://127.0.0.1:51737 -batchname myBatch -jobpath

/Volumes/Source/ShortClips/NTSC24p.mov -settingpath

/Users/stomper10/Library/Application\ Support/Compressor/PhotoJPEG.setting

-destinationpath /Users/machinename/Movies/myDestinationFilename.mov.

This command has the following elements:

• Cluster address is tcp://127.0.0.1:51737.

• Batch name is myBatch.

• Job path is /Volumes/Source/ShortClips/NTSC24p.mov.

• Setting path is /Users/stomper10/Library/Application

Support/Compressor/PhotoJPEG.setting.

• Destination path is /Users/machinename/Movies.

Shell Commands for Monitoring Batches

You can use the Batch Monitor command,

Batch Monitor

, with a number of command-line options for monitoring jobs.


Synopsis

Below is a synopsis of the command for monitoring batches. The

Batch Monitor

command is located in /Applications/Utilities/Batch Monitor.app/Contents/MacOS/.


40

Batch Monitor [-clustername <name>] [-clusterid <user name:password@IP address:port number>] [-jobid <identifier> -batchid <identifier>] [-timeout

<seconds>] [-query <seconds>] [-help]

To cancel a job or batch

µ

Use the following command:

Batch Monitor [-clustername <name>] [-clusterid <IP address> <port number>

<user name> <password>] -kill -jobid <identifier> -batchid <identifier>

Command Options

This table provides information about each of the command options for monitoring batches.

Monitoring command option

-clustername <name>

-password <value>


-jobid <identifier>

-batchid <identifier>

-timeout <seconds>

-query <seconds>

Description

Use to specify the name of the cluster to which the job was sent.

User password for the cluster specified by ID or name.

Optionally, you can use -clusterid to enter the cluster ID and port number instead of using -clustername .


Use Apple Qmaster -show or Compressor -show to see a cluster’s IP address and port number.

Use to specify the job you want to monitor.

When you use the -jobid option, you must also specify the

-batchid , in the form of the name that was given to the batch when it was submitted. (The -batchid and -jobid are displayed after a batch is submitted.)

If you do not use the -jobid option, all the jobs submitted to the specified cluster are listed.

Use to specify the number of seconds before Batch Monitor can quit when looking for a cluster. The default value is 0, which puts no limit on the timeout and allows Batch Monitor to browse the network for as long as it needs to find the cluster.

Use to specify how frequently, in seconds, the job status should be updated.

Cancels the specified job or batch.

-kill -jobid

<identifier> -batchid

<identifier>

-help Displays information about supported options for Batch Monitor .


Using Scripts to Run Apple Qmaster, Compressor, and Batch Monitor

To simplify your use of the command line, you can add command-line-friendly scripts to

/usr/bin. Each script sets an env variable for location and then executes the binary. Using the following scripts would be useful if you frequently use the command line for submissions or automated submissions. You do not need to specify the full path, and you can add frequently used env

variables and options to speed up the submission process. To run Apple Qmaster, Compressor, or Batch Monitor, you can simply open up a terminal and type qmaster

, compressor

, or batchmonitor

.

Apple Qmaster Script Example

#!/bin/csh -f

#

# set env var, QMASTER_LOCATION if not set

# if ${? QMASTER_LOCATION} == 0 then

pushd `dirname $0` >& /dev/null

setenv QMASTER_LOCATION /Applications/Apple\ Qmaster

popd >& /dev/null endif

#

# launch qmaster

# exec ${QMASTER_LOCATION}/Apple\ Qmaster.app/Contents/MacOS/Apple\ Qmaster

$argv:q

Compressor Script Example

#!/bin/csh -f

#

# set env var, COMPRESSOR_LOCATION if not set

# if ${?COMPRESSOR_LOCATION} == 0 then


setenv COMPRESSOR_LOCATION /Applications/Compressor.app/Contents/MacOS


#

# launch Compressor

# exec ${COMPRESSOR_LOCATION}/Compressor $argv:q


Batch Monitor Script Example

#!/bin/csh -f

#

# set env var, BATCHMONITOR_LOCATION if not set

# if ${?BATCHMONITOR_LOCATION} == 0 then


setenv BATCHMONITOR_LOCATION

"/Applications/Utilities/Batch Monitor.app/Contents/MacOS"


#

# launch Batch Monitor

# exec "${BATCHMONITOR_LOCATION}/Batch Monitor" $argv:q


Apple Qmaster 3 User manual

Apple Qmaster 3

User Manual

Contents

Welcome to Apple Qmaster

About Apple Qmaster

About the Apple Qmaster Documentation

Additional Resources

Using Apple Qmaster 3

The Apple Qmaster Distributed Processing System

Clients

Clusters

Service Nodes

Cluster Controllers

The Apple Qmaster Interface

Toolbar Buttons

Batch Table

Text Fields and Pop-Up Menus

Apple Qmaster Preferences

Installing Apple Qmaster, Shake, and Other Applications

Setting Up Rendering Services and Shared Storage

Changing the Number of Rendering Service Instances

Shared Volumes

Dedicated NFS Servers

Shared Volume Media Management with Shake

Submitting Batches for Apple Qmaster Processing

Submitting Batches with the Apple Qmaster Application

Submitting Shake Batches

Saving Time with Apple Qmaster

About the Shake Plug-in Dialog

Submitting Maya Batches

Submitting Batches with the Generic Render Command

Using Nodes Without Apple Qmaster Installed

Will Your Cluster Include Only Extended Nodes or Be Mixed?

Configuring an Intermediary Node for an Extended Node Cluster

Setting Environment Variables in Apple Qmaster

About Environment Variables and Preflight Scripts

Using the Command Line in Apple Qmaster

Installing Apple Qmaster from the Command Line

Shell Commands for Configuring Service Nodes and Cluster Controllers

Shell Commands for Submitting Apple Qmaster Jobs

Shell Commands for Submitting Compressor Jobs

Shell Commands for Monitoring Batches

Using Scripts to Run Apple Qmaster, Compressor, and Batch Monitor

Related manuals

Apple

Qmaster 4

Apple

Qmaster 3

Apple

Qmaster

Apple

Qmaster 2

Apple

Compressor 4

Apple

Share Monitor 4

Apple

Compressor 3

Apple

Batch Monitor

Apple

Qadministrator 4

Apple

Qmaster 3