camera - frame render - Simply Maya User Community

# 1 16-06-2003 , 01:23 PM

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camera - frame render

Dudes and Dudettes of simply maya. Is t possible to script the the following.

The script selects the first camera in the scene, goes to frame x and renders the frame and it puts the render output in a folder. Then it goes to the next camera, specific frame, render and place output in folder, and so on and on

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# 2 16-06-2003 , 01:53 PM

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Hmm .. preparing somewhat of a storyboarder right? user added image

Should be possible. I don´t know how, maybe Mark or K can tackle this.

adldesigner
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# 3 16-06-2003 , 02:32 PM

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yep, preparing a serious animation. Just to test myself on what I am capable of. And the best thing to do that is to make a project and .. Just do it.. hahaa..

I want to use multiple camera angles/shots and what I want to do is create a script so that it will render the appropriate sceneswhen i leave for work adn the render is done when I am back !

Saves alot of work.. I hope

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# 4 16-06-2003 , 04:04 PM

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I believe that this can be done with mel using an incremental loop.

..but like ADL said, Mike and/or Danny would be best to ask user added image

If you get this to work, lemme know, because then I would love to use/edit the loop to make a bullet-cam rig script for those who want it, as the loop would be similar user added image

Israel "Izzy" Long
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# 5 17-06-2003 , 01:00 AM

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You don't even need to use MEL for this one. You can do this with a Windows batch file that calls individual command line batch renders for each camera that you have.

What you need to do is set up your scene with the appropriate cameras and render settings. Make note of the camera names and the frames during which they should be active. Then, create your render directories. Next, using a text editor, type out individual batch render commands for each camera, specifying the camera name, the start and end frames for each camera, the project directory, the target directory for rendered images, and, of course, the Maya scene file. There should be one render command per line. Save the file as a .BAT file (e.g. "multicam.bat"). Finally, when you're ready to render, just run the .bat file from the Windows command prompt (navigate to the directory where the file is and type its name to run it). Walk away from the computer, get a drink, come back later to find your finished images.

Here is what a sample batch file might look like:

Code:

render -project d:/projects/test -renderDirectory images/camera1 -camera camera1 -startFrame 1 -endFrame 20 multicam.mb
render -project d:/projects/test -renderDirectory images/camera2 -camera camera2 -startFrame 21 -endFrame 40 multicam.mb
render -project d:/projects/test -renderDirectory images/camera3 -camera camera3 -startFrame 41 -endFrame 70 multicam.mb
render -project d:/projects/test -renderDirectory images/camera4 -camera camera4 -startFrame 71 -endFrame 100 multicam.mb

I used the long names for the batch render flags for clarity ("-project" can be "-proj", "-renderDirectory" can be "-rd"). You can look up Render Utilities in the help files for information on command line renders.

Edit: Also wanted to mention that this is how you would set up a render queue for multiple Maya scenes.

Danny Ngan
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Last edited by dannyngan; 17-06-2003 at 01:05 AM.

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# 6 17-06-2003 , 05:14 AM

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Danny, U da MAN!!

Israel "Izzy" Long
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# 7 17-06-2003 , 05:56 AM

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Originally posted by ragecgi
I believe that this can be done with mel using an incremental loop.

..but like ADL said, Mike and/or Danny would be best to ask

If you get this to work, lemme know, because then I would love to use/edit the loop to make a bullet-cam rig script for those who want it, as the loop would be similar

Originally Posted by

I was just going to say that it is going to be for a bulletime rig... There are alot of ways to do it, but theu all do that with one camera. I want to be able to have frames from different shots.. so I always do thinks the hard way user added image

Tnx dannyngan for the script. It looks easy... but hey.. when you knwo how everything is easy user added image

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# 8 17-06-2003 , 03:02 PM

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Dan! Excellent reply!

As per the bullettime rig, it can be achieved just as easily by playing around with the keyframed animation timeline. I wonder if it´s worth all the hassle mate.

In any case, time´s something each one decides what to do with ... if you´ve got some to burn, be my guest. :p

adldesigner
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# 9 17-06-2003 , 03:20 PM

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hehe, yeah, me too user added image

The script that I wanna make, will allow a user to draw a "bullet-time-camera-path" using any of the curve tools.

Then, with that path selected, run my script, and you will be presented with a few options like:

-camera density (i.e. 10 cameras? or 300 cameras? etc.)
-target aim (probably from a custom-named locator

All the while, retaining history so the user can adjust the curve if needed, and the cams will re-adjust themselves accordingly.

That's my plan anyway....

Gotta get Mark's book first tho user added image

Israel "Izzy" Long
Motion and Title Design for Broadcast-Film-DS
izzylong.com

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# 10 17-06-2003 , 03:48 PM

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what does Mark's Book say/do ?

The Important Thing is NOT to Stop Questioning.
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# 11 17-06-2003 , 06:41 PM

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Well, for me, in chapter 9, I'm interested in incremental looping.
That way I could take a variable input from a user for my "number-of-cameras" input.

Also, I'll need to figure out via mel how to duplicate objects along a given path.

...plus, I NEED to learn mel, as I am NOT a programmer at all, and I need to confront my fear of code user added image

Israel "Izzy" Long
Motion and Title Design for Broadcast-Film-DS
izzylong.com

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# 12 17-06-2003 , 08:52 PM

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... I also try to learn MEl but after a while I start fooling around and not doing anything serious. When it come to programming I can not stay focussed .. user added image

...I get bored

The Important Thing is NOT to Stop Questioning.
--- Albert Einstein ---
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# 13 17-06-2003 , 11:23 PM

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Originally posted by ragecgi
hehe, yeah, me too

The script that I wanna make, will allow a user to draw a "bullet-time-camera-path" using any of the curve tools.

Then, with that path selected, run my script, and you will be presented with a few options like:

-camera density (i.e. 10 cameras? or 300 cameras? etc.)
-target aim (probably from a custom-named locator

All the while, retaining history so the user can adjust the curve if needed, and the cams will re-adjust themselves accordingly.

That's my plan anyway....

Gotta get Mark's book first tho

Originally Posted by

I'm not sure what you're after here but wouldn't this be the same:
- Create the scene and animate in normal speed.
- Create->Cameras->Camera and aim. The camera will allways look at the aim object and this you could parent or contrain to whatever you want to follow. Then you could animate the camera itself with a Motion Path (which you can re-adjust if needed).
- Set the render globals
- Render from command prompt using the startFrame, endFrame and byFrame flags. With the byFrame flag you can control how many renders you want between startFrame and endFrame.

For example...
render -project yourProject -startFrame 10 -endFrame 19 -byFrame .25 yourScene.mb
...would give you 40 images between frames 10 and 19. In other words it would be four times slower in normal playback.

Bare in mind... I have not tested this so don't shoot me if it doesn't work user added image

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# 14 17-06-2003 , 11:27 PM

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And for the "storyboard" thingy I would suggest to take a look at a script called cameraMain at highend.

Creates a "cameraMain" camera which can be keyframed to assume the position/orientation/parameters of any number of other cameras. This allows you to have multiple cameras which you can cut between while looking through the cameraMain camera. We got this script from somewhere and then modified it.

Originally Posted by

Again... haven't tested myself.