The Houdini Submit Script

Index

Installing The Houdini Submit Script

    Before using the Submit Houdini script, you should first install it by making a copy of the script on your file server, so that this copy is accessible by all the machines on your network. This is usually done by your sysadmin, or the person who set up the rush software.

  1. Install the script on the file server.

    2. This should have already been set up by your sysadmin, or the person who installed the rush software:

  2. Make a desktop shortcut to the submit script.

    3. Be sure the shortcut points to a copy on a file server, and not to local files in c:\rush\examples (windows) or /usr/local/rush/examples (unix).

  3. Invoke the submit script.

    4. Should be as simple as clicking on your desktop shortcut.

    If you prefer using a terminal window, be sure to run the script with an absolute UNC path, eg: 

    	    perl //server/jobs/rushscripts/submit-houdini.pl
    If you don't run it with an absolute path, the frames will fail because rush didn't have the absolute path to the submit script.

  4. Verify the interface comes up.

    5. The interface should pop up. If it doesn't, verify (unix) the first line in the script's path points to the correct location of your perl binary, or (windows) the '.pl' extension is configured to correctly invoke perl.

    Click the help button (buttons with '?') for any field you want to know more about.

    When the GUI pops up, note there are various 'Advanced Options' available if you scroll the window down.

    The Houdini submit script can be used to submit houdini hip files for rendering. Or, you can write your own hip file text in the input window provided.

    It is assumed you are able to bring up the submit script from a desktop shortcut (which you can make by following these instructions for Mac OSX, Windows, or Linux)

  1. Enter the full path to a Houdini 'hip' file.

    2. This should be an absolute path to the hip file you want to render. This path must be able to resolve on all the machines you'll be rendering on.

    Under Windows, you should use UNC absolute pathnames, such as //server/jobs/HONDA/SC4A/houdini_files/myscene.hip

  2. Enter the frame range to render.

    3. This is the range of frames you want to render; normally two values separated by a dash, eg. '1-100'.

    You can also specify individual frames, multiple ranges, or cobinations of both, eg. '1 10 20-30 400-900', which would render frames 1, 10, 20 through 30, and 400 through 900.

    If you want to batch several frames together on each machine, set the 'Batch Frames' value to a number like 5 to do 5 frames at a time on each machine. Otherwise, leave this value at the default value of '1'.

  3. Enter any hscript commands necessary to do the render.

    4. These commands will be specific to your HIP file, but essentially you want to ensure:

    An example of hscript commands: 

        opparm /render/ball background ( off ) trange ( on ) f ( $ENV{BATCH_START} $ENV{BATCH_END} 1 )
    render -V ball

  4. Enter the cpus to use.

    5. In our case, lets use any 5 available cpus at the lowest priority: 

      
	    +any=5@1

  5. Advanced Options.

    6. Advanced Options are optional. To see them, use the scroll bar to scroll down to check their settings.

    Click the help button (buttons with '?') for any field you want to know more about.

  6. Hit 'Submit'.

    7. This should submit your job, and a window indicating the jobid should pop up, followed by an irush interface with the jobid already set to the new job.

    The next time you bring up the submit form, it will have all the values set from the last execution. Note that you can then save this as a form so you can easily recall it later.

    For more info on the irush interface, see the irush tutorial.

  7. Monitor the job.

    8. Hit 'Frames' in irush to watch the progress of your job.
    If some frames are running, or got done already, click on some, and hit 'Logs' to see the output of the perl commands you entered.

  8. Dump the job when you're done.

    9. When you're finished with the job, hit 'Dump' in irush.