tile_render_with_vray_linux

V-Ray Region Render Sample Job Bundle

This job bundle renders a V-Ray scene by dividing the image into configurable regions. It renders each region as a separate task, then merges them into a final image. Optionally creates a movie from rendered frames.

Features

• Parallel Region Rendering: Divides the image into a grid of regions (configurable rows and columns)
• Separate Tasks: Each region renders as an independent task that can run in parallel
• Automatic Merging: Merges all regions into the complete image using ImageMagick
• Optional Movie Creation: Creates an MP4 movie from rendered frames using ffmpeg
• Path Remapping: Automatically handles asset path translation between workstation and workers
• Standalone Scripts: Render and merge logic in separate script files for easy customization
• Automatic Asset Discovery: Pre-submission hook parses the vrscene file to find all referenced textures and files, adding them to job attachments automatically

How It Works

1. RenderRegions Step: Creates tasks for each region based on RegionColumns × RegionRows × Frames

   • Each task calculates its region bounds (left, top, right, bottom)
   • Renders only that region using V-Ray's -crop flag
   • Outputs to a separate file: output_f1_region_r0_c0.png, output_f1_region_r0_c1.png, etc.

2. MergeRegions Step: Combines all region files into the final image for each frame

   • Uses ImageMagick's convert command to stitch regions together
   • Creates the final output file: output.0001.png, output.0002.png, etc.

3. CreateMovieFile Step (optional): Creates a movie from the merged frames

   • Uses ffmpeg to encode frames into an MP4 video
   • Only runs if CreateMovie parameter is set to true

Bundle Structure

tile_render_with_vray_linux/
├── template.yaml                    # Job template definition
├── hooks.yaml                       # Pre-submission hook configuration
├── scripts/
│   ├── render_region.sh             # Renders a single region tile
│   ├── merge_regions.sh             # Merges region tiles into complete frame
│   ├── setup_vray_path_mapping.py   # Generates V-Ray path remapping args
│   └── discover_vrscene_assets.py   # Discovers textures/files in vrscene
└── README.md

Prerequisites

1. Build the V-Ray Conda Package

Follow the instructions in the V-Ray conda recipe README to build and publish the V-Ray conda package to your S3 channel.

2. Set Up the Queue Environment

Create a Conda queue environment that references your S3 channel and conda-forge (for imagemagick/ffmpeg):

aws deadline create-queue-environment \
   --farm-id <FARM_ID> \
   --queue-id <QUEUE_ID> \
   --priority 1 \
   --template-type YAML \
   --template file://queue_environments/conda_queue_env_improved_caching.yaml

Update the CondaChannels default in the queue environment to include both your S3 channel and conda-forge:

default: "s3://<job-attachments-bucket>/Conda/Default conda-forge"

3. Sample Scene Files

Exporting from 3ds Max

To export a .vrscene file from 3ds Max for use with this job bundle:

1. Open your scene in 3ds Max with V-Ray as the active renderer
2. Open the V-Ray Scene Exporter:
   • V-Ray 6+: Go to the top menu bar: V-Ray > .vrscene exporter
   • V-Ray 5 & Older: Right-click in any viewport and select .vrscene exporter from the Quad menu
3. Configure export settings:
   • Set the Export path
   • For animation, select the correct frame range (e.g., "Single File" or "File Per Frame")
4. Click Export

Refer to the Chaos V-Ray documentation for detailed export options.

Parameters

Render Parameters

• Vray Scene File: The .vrscene file to render
• Output Directory: Where to save rendered images (default: ./output)
• Output File Name: Name of the final merged image (default: output.png)
• Image Width: Width of the output image in pixels (default: 1920)
• Image Height: Height of the output image in pixels (default: 1080)
• Frames: Frame range to render (default: 1, supports ranges like 1-10 or 1,5,10)

Region Settings

• Region Columns: Number of columns to divide the image into (default: 2, range: 1-10)
• Region Rows: Number of rows to divide the image into (default: 2, range: 1-10)

Movie Settings

• Create Movie: Whether to create an MP4 from rendered frames (default: false)
• Movie Filename: Output movie filename (default: output.mp4)
• Frame Rate: Frame rate for the movie (default: 24)

Software Environment

• Conda Packages: Conda packages to install (default: vray imagemagick ffmpeg)

Job Submission

This bundle includes a pre-submission hook that automatically discovers textures and files referenced in the vrscene. You must enable bundle hooks before submitting:

deadline config set settings.allow_bundle_hooks true

Using the GUI:

deadline bundle gui-submit job_bundles/tile_render_with_vray_linux

Using the CLI:

deadline bundle submit job_bundles/tile_render_with_vray_linux \
    -p VraySceneFile="/path/to/scene.vrscene" \
    -p OutputDir="./output"

Automatic Asset Discovery

The pre-submission hook (scripts/discover_vrscene_assets.py) parses the vrscene file before submission and automatically adds all referenced files to the job attachments. It detects:

• Texture files referenced via file="..." parameters (e.g., in BitmapBuffer plugins)
• Mesh files referenced via file="..." parameters (e.g., in GeomMeshFile plugins)
• Included vrscene files via #include "..." directives

Relative paths in the vrscene are resolved relative to the vrscene file's directory. Files that cannot be found on disk are logged as warnings but do not block submission.

Path Remapping

This job bundle automatically handles path remapping for assets using the session's path mapping rules.

How It Works

1. The setup_vray_path_mapping.py script reads the session's path mapping rules from {{Session.PathMappingRulesFile}}
2. Generates V-Ray -remapPath arguments for each source→destination mapping
3. Saves the arguments to /tmp/vray_remap_paths.txt
4. The render script applies these arguments to the V-Ray command

Example

When you add files via Job Attachments, paths are automatically translated:

• Source path (your workstation): C:\Projects\MyProject\textures\
• Destination path (worker): /sessions/.../assetroot-.../textures/
• V-Ray argument: -remapPath='C:\Projects\MyProject\textures\=/sessions/.../assetroot-.../textures/'

Example Usage

For a 1920×1080 image with 2 columns and 2 rows:

• Creates 4 render tasks (2×2 grid) per frame
• Task (col=0, row=0): Renders region [0,0,960,540] (top-left)
• Task (col=1, row=0): Renders region [960,0,1920,540] (top-right)
• Task (col=0, row=1): Renders region [0,540,960,1080] (bottom-left)
• Task (col=1, row=1): Renders region [960,540,1920,1080] (bottom-right)
• Merge task combines all 4 regions into the complete image

Performance Considerations

• More regions = more parallelism but also more overhead
• For small images, fewer regions may be faster
• For large images or complex scenes, more regions can reduce total render time
• Consider your worker pool size when choosing region count

Customization

The scripts in the scripts/ folder can be modified to customize behavior:

• render_region.sh: Modify V-Ray command line options
• merge_regions.sh: Change merge behavior or add post-processing
• setup_vray_path_mapping.py: Customize path mapping logic

All V-Ray command line flags can be found in the Chaos V-Ray Standalone documentation.