RPManager Download

License Download
Software Download

RPManager 3.6 and 4.0 - downloads - R6/7/8/9(32+64bit)/2008(32+64 bit)

Without any license RPManager will install but be non-functional. If you have not previously purchased a license nor received an evaluation/personal license, enter your email address below, pick the license type and press the 'submit license request' button and the license installer should automatically begin downloading. This license is valid for RPManager and RPManagerLite for all available versions. If you have any problems with this process email licensing@rpmanager.com to request a license be emailed out to you.

License Download:

Request Evaluation/Personal license (the submit button below downloads a license ONLY - you will need to download the RPManager software separately and install first).

Enter Email Address:

Add me to the RPManager updates mailing list (checkbox disabled - email subscribe to 'Announcements' in the RPManager Forum instead - too many spam subscriptions)

Indicate license required:
Evaluation License (limited to 2 passes, unlimited duration/use evaluation license)
Personal License (limited to 2 passes, free for non-commercial use)

Note: you also need the software linked below.

If the above fails with a server error, re-submit with a blank email address and after the error message the Personal license will download.

The license that is downloadable above is an executable installer and should be run from windows explorer after you have installed RPManager or RPManagerLite. Within the installer you need to pick which version of RPManager it is installing for - RPManager or RPManagerLite. 3dsmax does not need to be closed when installing the license, nor restarted after the license is installed.

If you already have a license, download RPManager below for your max version:

Software Download:

Version 4

For 32/64 bit versions of 3dsmax9, and for 3dsmax2008 32/64. This build is recommended for max9/2008 whether 32 or 64 bit, but essential for 64 bit.

Download RPManager Version 4.026 - Release notes

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Version 3

For everything EXCEPT 64 bit version of R9/2008 ie anything on 32 bit XP. Can be used with 32 bit max9/2008, but 4.x is recommended for these.

Download RPManager Version 3.603 - Release notes

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NOTE Major change is support for brazil2 release

(Change logs at the bottom of this page)

NOTE: if you encounter script errors on 3dsmax startup after installing RPM, go to the main 3dsmax preferences, 'Maxscript' tab, and set the 'initial heap allocation' to something in the region of 64 megabytes or more. Restart 3dsmax for this change to take effect.
This has been fixed in the 4.x version of RPM - it sets it for you and will let you know if it has done this.

Download RPMMaterial Mental Ray Compatiblity Installer for 3dsmax7+ - NOTE this needs to be installed on slaves. If you use the 'Remove RPMMaterial during render' option this should not be needed unless you are using RPMMaterial as a standalone material.

OLD R9:
RPManager Version 4.023
RPManager Version 3.9095
RPManager Version 3.9093
RPManager Version 3.9085 - updated plugins and startup scripts for farm
RPManager Version 3.9072
RPManager Version 3.907 1
RPManager Version 3.907
RPManager Version 3.9063
RPManager Version 3.9059

Upgrading from 3.2x of RPManager to 3.5:

While the capture properties interface is identical, this version is not compatible with the older object properties system. Older files will be detected and converted to the new system, but you cannot go back the other way - once a file is in 3.5 land, it cannot go back to 3.2x, so save as a different version.

Changes from 3.2x:

The major visible change, and change that means a different workflow, is that the material capture is now very different. It is accomplished using a new material - RPMMateral. This new material is akin to a mulit-sub object material in that it holds multiple materials in slots, except that each slot represents the entire material that will be restored for a single pass.

You no longer capture materials by assigning to the object and capturing - when you add an object to a capture set that has the RPMMaterial assigned as a property, the object has the RPMManager material assigned. To control which pass has which material, you edit the slots in the RPMManager materials. Assigning a new material to the object will stop restoration.

The RPMMaterial has a few advantages over the old system, notibly that you can see at a glance what materials are assigned to each pass as they are all visible at once as small thumbnails, and you can instance materials across passes in the same RPMMaterial, and across multiple RPMMaterials, using the standard drag and drop and RC copy/paste material functionality. Assigning materials to multiple objects is no longer as straightforward, but there are scripts to facilitate this with little hassle. The benefits far outweigh the negatives of the system.

The RPMMaterial IS mental ray compatible, if you need this copy this file into your 3dsmaxroot/mentalray/shaders_autoload/include directory and restart 3dsmax. Slaves will need this too.

The major benefit from the rewrite is speed. The system is up to 100x faster on heavy scenes, and even in light scenes it is noticably faster. It uses less memory to restore, and is more stable as a result. Material restoration using the new RPMMaterial is much faster, and property restoration has been moved to a plugin helper so is much faster than the partially scripted solutions in the older version.

The plugin helpers are hidden from the user using the same technique as pflow objects, so they can be seen for merges, but do not appear in the trackview, select by name dialog, etc.

Network slaves will, with this version, require the RPManager plugins be installed.

The capture/restore system is fast enough now that the Auto Capture toggle is on by default.

More information, along with some screenshots to come.

NOTE Orange version numbers indicates the .NET R9 only version, red is the non-.NET version.

History:

4.026{
_FEATURES
Support for brazil2 release.
The Mental Ray compatibility shader is now auto installed, if the renderer is detected as mental ray and the file does not already exist. This is not needed if you use the 'Remove RPMMaterial for render' option, but if you want the Material Editor to display mental ray submaterials you will need it on the workstations.
NOTE: New startup script to be distributed to the farm if you use Mental Ray: RPMStartupFunctions.mse, into maxroot/scripts/startup/. It just enables the auto install of the compatibility shader, so if you don't need it then don't worry.
_BUGS
Visibility set manager would throw a .NET ui error when deleting visibility sets.
Xrefs RPM pass restoring could sometimes trigger a .NET UI error on load.
Maxscript Error when using 'save RPM data' in certain circumstances.
Xrefs were not being correctly saved/loaded when using the save and load RPM data
Occasionally RPM would display the wrong tab when opened.
}
4.023{
_FEATURES
Added support for vray 1.5 SP1 (they changed some property names...)
USB dongles are now supported, node and floating - contact rpmanager@, there will be an option to purchase dongles + shipping on the RPM site shortly.
Added server limit to command line Backburner submit.
Added which max version - 32bit or 63 bit - to the command line Backburner submit.
_TWEAKS
The render 'save file' checkbox is now available for per-pass setting, if you want to render a frame without saving the main pass (ie intended for render element). If this is off, the auto path generation will not generate paths for the main output.
_BUGS
With preview overrides on, render element windows would appear and then disappear after a render.
User strings for output rule setup ending with '\' would error RPM, these are removed automatically now.
Render element saving/loading overhauled and proceduralised - should support more by default now, and updated for Vray elements.
Bug fix to Load Render Element UI - clear selected button was not working, and if you tried to assign a sub-element of a render element saved set it would error (loading a sub-element has been disabled).
Invert button for main pass selection had a .net error making it useless.
Under certain circumstances object properties could be captured with RPM closed on the next time RPM was opened - it should only capture when active and a pass has been restored.
Object property inspector was always triggering a capture properties when opened - now only if a pass has been restored in the current RPM session.
Using the 'Close' button will trigger an object property capture. Using the X button to close RPM will not.
Backburner Server list was incredibly slow to update.
}
3.9095{
_BUGS
Per capture set override material was failing to be assigned.
Capture set list now uses F2 again for renaming
}
3.9093{
_FEATURES
New option in the Object Properties rollout - 'Control ALL RPMMaterials assigned to objects, regardless of being in a capture set'
This will do what it says, and if the RPMMaterial is all you want to control then this is much faster than including in a capture set.
It will add, remove, rename subpasses and re-order slots for RPMMaterials ASSIGNED to objects.
I now have the ability to generate time limited licenses.

_TWEAKS
Speed of dealing with the object property spreadsheet is significantly improved, from opening to editing, with large numbers of objects.
'Redefine visibility set with visible/selected' commands much faster (sloppy code)
For auto path generation (when the enable path gen on submit is on) add this to the ini file, in the default group:
[Defaults]
AutoBuildPathsOnPassNameChange=1
Submission feedback colors are more sensible - ie red == errors now.
New option in the RPM Preferences 'Aggressive Reference System Disabling' - disables the referenc system for more of the capture/restore process than with just the checkbox in the object properties globals (if the property global one is off this does nothing).
Can be much faster with heavy scenes. Note the max sdk lists this option as 'Use with extreme caution' - it affects the internal messaging system, which most of the time just slows things down when restoring properties.
If this is left on you won't even be able to move anything - so let me know if this does cause such problems.
'CameraName' is now an option in the auto path generation setup, to have the camera name assigned to a pass as part of the path.
Increased the initial (and minimum) heap assignment to 60 megs.

_BUGS
Some minor .NET UI fixes.
Deadline was incorrectly loading the task timeout if you manually loaded the defaults.
You could not select multiple passes in the pass list using control, also right clicking was setting the selection to just one.
Clicking a pass checkbox was triggering a capture/restore cycle.
Render effect motion blur was erroring the effect list - .NET fix.
The main pass list was ending up in label edit mode (where just clicking on a pass would start editing the name) when it shouldn't have.
Re-source xref pass names RC menu item in the Xref RPM property support would error if no passes in Xref scenes was set.
Merge object properties dialog no longer errors on open (.NET UI fix)
Clicking on a pass item and releasing on a different item could cause property restoration errors
}
3.9085{
_FEATURES
Amaretto (Frantic Films Gelato renderer support) added.
It is now possible to set default output types for render elements - ie always have the velocity element assigned as floating point .tif if you wanted.
This is done via a .ini file - but since the information is complicated (ie all output format info) it can be automatically created: to do this, when you set the output format (through RPM) of the render element, hold CONTROL when you click the final OK.
It is the control key that triggers it to capture the file extension and file output setup as it is set. A message appears when it has set the format.
You can check what it is doing by looking at the 'RElementOutputDefaults.ini' file in your 3dsmaxroot/scripts/ directory.
REMOVE an output default by holding CONTROL and SHIFT - a messagebox will indicate if it is has been removed.
Render elements now have their output formats saved and restored, before the format would either default or take it from the main passes setup if the same format. NOTE: you must render at least one frame locally once for each pass (so the elements are written in their correct format), otherwise the Render Element output formats refuse to stick during a network render. Once you have rendered a single frame once to all output formats, you will not need to do it again unless you change output formats.
Render elements now have their output paths visible and editable in the main 'Inspect/Edit Output paths', where you can set path and format.
If Render elements have paths (and so the format output settings) already defined, and auto build RE paths is enabled, they will not have their extension or the output setup redefined - only the path itself will be updated.
The auto pass name of 'Production_Setup' can be changed via .ini setting: in RenderPassManager.ini, something like
[Defaults]
autoPassSeedName=autoPassSeedNameFromIni
would cause the auto pass to be named "autoPassSeedNameFromIni"

_TWEAKS
More sorting for vis sets and layer in RC menus.
Layer sets now reorder their internal when you add a layer to a set - not the next time you open the layer sets editor.
RPMMaterial shows the pass index in the sub materials UI.
Frameinfo evaluates scripts on the currently rendering frame, not the frame you were on when you hit render (or frame zero for network renders)
Layer sets are shown in sorted order in the layers sets dialog, and the RC assign layer set submenu.
Added a duplicate layer set button to the layer sets dialog.
If 'enable auto path generation' is on, and you change the name of a pass, it will auto create the path immediately. If anyone wants this behavior optionally back the old say (since if you mistype it will create a directory with the error, then another when you correct) let me know.
Changed the default behavior to NOT instance material across passes as passes are created/duplicated. You can set this in the object properties prefs.
Changed default behavior to remove RPMMaterials for a render.
Redefining a visibility set with the current selection now isolates that newly redefined set.
RPManager will always try to create output directories from the slaves when it fires up to render a scene - so if you set your path as local, these paths will be created automatically on the fly (if possible, ie if same local volumes exist).

_BUGS
.NET Listview issue could occasionally cause pass to be incorrectly restored messing up captured object properties. (does not affect 3.5x version)
Deadline auto quicktime generation overhauled, it was out of date with the latest deadline
Manage vis sets was not allowing renaming of set - (.NET issue).
Object properties spreadsheet bug fix.
Adding objects to a capture set no longer spams the undo stack.
Object property spreadsheet UI fix (.NET )
Define object properties dialog shows bold again.
Define object properties dialog .NET wierdness worked around
Commandline submission from max64 was failing.
You could not RC on a pass to redefine the visibility set as currently visible - RPM was restoring the vis set before the option, so it did nothing.
Clearing a visibility set will no longer error.
}
3.907{
_TWEAKS
With the 'Layer vis controlled by layer head' preference enabled, layers in Xref scenes were being hidden/unhidden regardless of the 'Restore visibility in xref scenes' preference - now xref layers are ignored *if* the scene itself has no objects in a layer of the samename.
In this case you should not have the same layer names in xrefs and the master scene if you want to use them to separately control visibility.

_BUGS
Problems with the Network rollout for backburner.
Various xref support issues fixed.
Restoring passes would not always restore the correct xref data for a pass if the xref rollout was not visible.
}

3.9063{
_TWEAKS
New RPM macroscript - RPManager_Toggle, this simply closes RPM if called when RPM is already open, rather than the main one which gives RPM focus if it is already open (with shift to toggle).

_BUGS
Right Clicking on a horizontally scrolled listview was not returning the correct column, fixed. ie output path/format inspector.
Auto build paths with 'enable auto path generation' off was doing nothing.
}
3.603{
_FEATURES
Support for brazil2 release.
}
3.602{
_FEATURES
Added support for vray 1.5 SP1 (they changed some property names)
USB dongles are now supported, node and floating - contact rpmanager@, there will be an option to purchase dongles + shipping on the RPM site shortly.
Added server limit to command line Backburner submit.
_TWEAKS
The render 'save file' checkbox is now available for per-pass setting, if you want to render a frame without saving the main pass (ie intended for render element). If this is off, the auto path generation will not generate paths for the main output.
_BUGS
Under certain circumstances object properties could be captured with RPM closed on the next time RPM was opened - it should only capture when active and a pass has been restored.
Object property inspector was always triggering a capture properties when opened - now only if a pass has been restored in the current RPM session.
Using the 'Close' button will trigger an object property capture. Using the X button to close RPM will not.
}
3.594{
_BUGS
Per capture set override material was failing to be assigned.
Capture set list now uses F2 again for renaming
}
3.59118{
Same as for 3.9085 without Amaretto support, and without any .NET fixes (since ActiveX based)
}
3.59118{
_TWEAKS
With the 'Layer vis controlled by layer head' preference enabled, layers in Xref scenes were being hidden/unhidden regardless of the 'Restore visibility in xref scenes' preference - now xref layers are ignored *if* the scene itself has no objects in a layer of the samename.
In this case you should not have the same layer names in xrefs and the master scene if you want to use them to separately control visibility, or do not use the 'Restore layers by layer head' option.
Final render sp3 support - a few properties changed name or otherwise disappeared/appeared.
New RPM macroscript option - RPManager_Toggle, this simply closes RPM if called when RPM is already open, rather than the main one which gives RPM focus if it is already open (with shift to toggle).

_BUGS
Various xref support issues fixed.
Restoring passes would not always restore the correct xref data for a pass if the xref rollout was not visible.
}

3.59153{
_FEATURES
In the RPM preferences some 'Memory Tweaks' have been added. Primarily to be able to tweak the .NET version into stability (ie larger numbers). Garbage collects on pass change is not bad one to turn on, the collection is 'light' so it doesn't clear the undo stack.
When a camera has been deleted for a pass, the dialog that asks you to assign a new one now offers a 'Clear RPM Data' button - this will
remove all RPM data from the scene. Useful for when you have done a save selected, as the saved scene will still have some RPM data embedded in it,
and all you really want to do is remove it.
RPM can now optionally control the Hide by Category stuff of max - new controls at the bottom of the main pass params.
RPMMaterial, with a scripted material in a subslot, would continually try to render the scripted materials swatch while the material was selected in the Medit.
Cameras can be picked from xref scenes now - make sure the xref loads for the pass though.
Additional support for Brazil2 lights - 'Get props from selected object' in the 'Define Properties' dialog will now list the sub-properties of the lights main properties, allowing restoration of bz2 light params such as enabled, shadow on, color, multipler.

_TWEAKS

_BUGS
With 'Link UI Time Range' on and a manual range pass active, autobak or submitting and then changing the animation range would edit the global active range rather than the passes range.
Render element 'elements active', 'Display' and output to combustion settings controls were not being restored when the pass was changed.
Having multiple passes selected with the same renderer active, then changing away and back to the Renderer rollout would leave you with no renderer controls.
The 'G' button for vray15 environment map slots was not setting the map, just updating the UI (doh).
Fixed some errors with the Xref post load for restoring visibility sets in xref files when a visibility set was not assigned.
User overrides for the preview renderer properties was failing for some properties (anything with 'p' in it...)
Using link UI time with deadline could end up with passes submitted without the full range of frames set as the animation range.
Deadline submission was not correctly adding the renderer params - modifying a submission in deadline monitor could mess it up in deadline 2.5 and lower.
Filenumber base allows negative values.
Backburner Dependency was only assigning correctly to a pass if it was a commandline submission - now a pass can be set dependent on a non-commandline submission.
}

3.5904{
_FEATURES
Initial build with support for Release 9 of 3dsmax - 32 bit version only currently.
Bitmap proxy system for R9 is currently set to render with full resolution bitmaps by RPM when locally rendering or submitting - this enables you to preview render with proxy bitmaps, but submissions or local renders through RPM will use full res bitmaps. More control is planned.
Preference added to control whether objects in Xref scenes visibility is controlled per pass. If this is on:
Objects within Xref scenes are now hidden/unhidden by layer names, if layers or layer sets are used to control visibility.
Objects within Xref scenes are now hidden/unhidden by visibility set names.
Vray 1.5 support now has 'P' and 'G' buttons next to the environment map slots to put to and get maps from the medit, since drag and drop is not supported.
_TWEAKS
Object Property spreadsheet auto refreshes when changing passes and auto capture on change pass is enabled so it reflects and in-scene edits.
Object Property spreadsheet auto refreshes when passes are moved up/down.
Object Property spreadsheet no longer resets column sizes when refreshing
_BUGS
Moving more than 1 pass at at a time up or down the pass list would mess up RPMMaterial ordering.
Xref properties per pass restoration UI controls were not refreshing on scene open.
BIG BAD BUG: If new properties were added to a capture set, and the main pass list had been reordered, the captured RPM data would be scrambled.
}

3.5812 {
_TWEAKS
Vray 1.5 RC2 support now hides unneeded GI rollouts as well as the AA rollouts.
Vray Irradiance Map preset dropdown now sets the preset values.
_BUGS
Support for restoring RPManager captured properties within Xref scenes was working locally but not on a network render.
}

3.5808 -- IMPORTANT UPGRADE FOR DEADLINE 2.5 {
_FEATURES
Vray 1.5 support - procedurally created rollouts should expose all renderer parameters.
Added a 'Refresh all RPMMaterial slot names' menuitem to the Properties menu - this will rename all RPMMaterial
slots to the pass names.
Deadline submission now allows to you modify almost all renderer properties of a submitted job from within monitor - thanks to frantic for the code:)
_BUGS
Fixed commandline backburner submission for 3dsmax path containing spaces (ie R8+ default installation locations)
Setting bg color via script would take extra updates to register.
Xref restoration at server load time seemed to be hosed.
Pflow node adding to captured properties was erroring.
}

3.50833{
_TWEAKS
Editing the main output paths in the Common Params rollout no longer asks if RPM should auto create directories - it just does it.
This is to avoid issues where the query dialog could interfere with what you might have just clicked on in RPM.
}

3.50832 {
_TWEAKS
User settable preview settings can be saved/loaded as default for a renderer.
_BUGS
Turning off the 'restore object properties (viewports)' would mess up the auto capture, fixed.
_TWEAKS
Added user settable preview overridesm, via a string field.
Fast Rasteriser Samples takes the max AA setting for the preview overrides if override AA is enabled. Clamped at 1 as below 1 gets slower.
Shape objects (ie renderable splines) were not being captured for properties - fixed.
Velocity render element supported.
}
3.508 {
BUGS
Multi-selecting passes when layers or layer sets were assigned as visiblity sets could error the UI.
Weirdness with submission feedback dialog crashing after submit on some new dual core dual cpu intel boxes fixed.
Deadline support was using older apps - now tries to use deadline 2 apps, then deadline 1 apps.
RPMMaterial was crashing when using scripted materials (or at least my scripted materials). Fixed, though it no longer shows a preview swatch for the scripted material.
}
3.505 {
_TWEAKS
Spline objects that are flagged as non-renderable (object properties) are back to being hidden until I add a UI option for it.
_BUGS
Render Elements were incorrectly disabled for Mental Ray in a recent build.
}
3.504 {
_TWEAKS
Auto capture is now disabled when no passes in RPM have yet been restored for a session with a scene file, ie just after opening a scene for the first time. This should avoid a situation where the scene data can be captured in an out-of-synch state.
Deadline submission uses the same submit name (in the repository directory) as the max scene file you are submitting from.
_BUGS
Scene state support was broken.
}
3.502 {
_TWEAKS
Backburner submission no longer disconnects from manager due to occasionally hanging max after submitting a few passes. This should not be a problem since reconnecting reuses the same connection, so multiple connections from the same machine will not happen.
Spline objects that are flagged as non-renderable (object properties) are no longer hidden by the visibility set system, useful for rig controls. If anyone hates this, let me know.
_BUGS
Object capture could error under certain circumstances.
Workaround for setting .exr output with ',' set as decimal divider.
}
3.5{
_TWEAKS
Added a fusion 5 load selected passes in the main pass RC menu. For the moment there is a separate df4/fu5 entry, I'll combine these at some stage.
_BUGFIXES
Commandline submission could fail due to the max path (spaces), (drive windows is on):\temp\ is now used for temporary file creation.
Fixed the RC menu in the right list of the Render Element Merge dialog.
Adding defining RPMMaterial as the property to capture on a capture set containing target objects could error.
The remove RPMMaterial at rendertime, if the render failed half way for any reason, could leave your scene with the RPMMaterials removed. They are now put back on when RPM closes, opens or you save your scene.
Deadline 'Load Defaults' was broken.
Deadline load quicktimegen defaults was broken.
Deadline network rollout was erroring if pass set to pickup frames.
The auto add to visibility set callback could incorrectly add RPMPropertyHolders.
}
3.478{
_TWEAKS
RPM will now auto capture the current passes setup when you create a new pass/duplicate a pass (if only one pass selected): this means that if you tweak your settings on the current pass, you can just create a new pass without having to remember to capture the settings.

_BUGFIXES
Filtered Prefix was not submitting to Backburner with correct filtering for the Command Line Submission.
It was possible to add RPM object property helpers to an RPM object property capture set - which should not have been allowed. Now disallowed.
}
3.47789{
_FEATURES
Preview override indicator (those red lines at top/bottom of a preview) have been replaced with a Render Effect. See here for a description. It uses the default for this plugin (which you can set, uses an .ini file).

_TWEAKS
Added add/remove object(s) from capture sets to the capture set Right Click menu.
Fusion5 hooked up for building automatic comps. Requires Fusion5.01 or later. Menu items for Fu5 compositing added to the 'External' button in the quickcomp rollout as well as the Output menu.
Enlarged the scripts rollouts text entry areas

I've extended the prefix functionality a bit:
Firstly, in there for a while is the ability to set a default for the 'Prefix' paremeter in the RenderPassManager.ini file in the maxroot/scripts/RPManager/ directory. The key needs to be created, but in the

[Defaults]

section add:

PrefixDefault=whateveryouwanthere

Where this is useful, is if you set it to
#filteredscenename_3_1
the string used as the prefix is the max scene name, filtered using "_-.", and the
first 3 bits as well as the last of the filtered resultis used. ie
WE_CC_190_testing_tk101 would end up as a prefix of:
WE_CC_190_tk101
#filteredscenename_2_1 on the same thing is WE_CC_tk101
and
#filteredscenename_2_0 on the same thing is WE_CC

Render Elements enabled for Vray

_BUGFIXES
Setting QuickComp passes mode to anything would error
Adding an object already assigned to a capture set to a new set didn't always remove the object from the original set.
Working with the Object Properties off via the checkboxes in the global viewport settings could mess up your captured properties when you turned either back on - it now does a property restore immediately if relevant.
If render elements was captured for vray or brazil (could happen despite the UI being disabled) it could crash max after a render.
Preview only exposure was broken (having it on/off in the preview only)
Deadline support: Chunksize was being ignored
}
3.47786{
New .tif features supported in the output path inspector/editor, removing a script error if 16 bit int used.
An exr output callback was not being removed for R8, could cause problems with exr output.
}
3.47784{
Setting xref override materials was sometimes broken.
Multipass camera effects could break RPM if not a property of the camera.
Local Extension for auto path generation was resetting the output format setup.
Added 3dsmaxcmd as a submission option for Deadline (for those 8k vray buffers)
The RPMMaterial is now public - ie you can see it in the material list and assign it as you please.
Added option to save out all RPM passes as individual scenes (in the 'Passes' menu). The scenes are setup so that next time they are opened, the RPManager data is deleted (requires RPM to be installed on the machine opening it).
Xrefs now support restoring RPManager properties in the xrefs themselves. A new mapping dialog allows you to map the passes in the xrefs to the passes in the current scene.
If the restore render params checkbox is off, the rollout tabs display red to indicate the mode.
More work done on merging properties from other scenes - on (simple) test scenes it now works fine :) NEED TESTING. Also, you currently need to load the cameras from the xref.
The 'Object Properties Preferences' dialog has been enabled - here you can set whether the RPM sub materials are instanced or copied when new passes are added/duplicated,
whether objects with the same pre-assign material get an instanced RPMMaterial, or enable the 'Remove RPMaterial During Render' option.
Added a 'Remove RPMMaterial during render' option (this is in the globals UI and mirrored in the 'Object Properties Preferences' dialog: what this does is remove the RPMMaterial during a render (swaps the material for the submaterial), and puts them back afterwards (for local and network renders). What this means is that mental ray SSS and photon shaders will work correctly: they have issues being a submaterial. It does not fix the general submaterial
issue with MR shaders, but means that the RPMMaterial no longer will be a problem when combined with these.
Added a quick priority modification spinner to the render alert dialog, next to the 'Use preview overrides' button.
This will submit the passes with the modification added to the priority of all passes (spinner goes to negative). Still clamped at 0/1 and 100.
I often want to modify all my passes priorities, this gives a quick way. You enable it by checking the 'Priority mod' button. Always defaults
to off as with the Use Preview Overrides button.
Remote priority for deadline submits was defaulting to 100 unless it was manually changed during the session.
Bug fix for R7 (didn't affect R8 for some reason) - captured vray property buffer could corrupt on adding/removing properties.
OpenEXR setting with R7 was broken since they changed the type of data the openexr interface expects.
Accidentally (or otherwise) deleted RPMPropertyHelpers no longer error RPManager.
Added the ability to display RPManager propery holder nodes has been added. New submenu in the object properties menu.
##Why is this useful? You can use the UI of the node to reassign what it is capturing for.
So you can duplicate the node, set it to point at a different node, and then use ALT when clicking on the 'Add nodes to capture set' to simply add the property holder into the set without any re-capturing going on. NOTE though that it does no checking (yet) for if the captured
properties are appropriate for the pass. If there are not enough passes (say you merged the helper in from another scene with less passes) then data is not filled in, so use with caution - but should be useful nonetheless.
Work on remote submission for Deadline.
Layer sets editor sorts layer list.
Bug fixes and tweaks to generic submit.
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3.47706{
In 3dsmax8, light and light shadow color properties were not being captured at all.
Duplicating a pass would mess up pass color coding.
New checkbox for restore camera view was not hiding when the global groups was collapsed.
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3.47704{
Duplicating a pass could completely mess up the RPM material in some cases - bug fix, last fix was over-zealous.
Output Property Inspector was messing up which column was being edited if you scrolled sideways.
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3.47702{
- Added checkbox for controlling whether the active viewport is set to the pass camera - always for a preview/render/submission, but optional for general pass restoration.
- Deadline support for Max8.
- The new instanced RPMMaterial feature for newly captured objects could incorrectly assign RPMMaterials in certain cases.
- Renaming a pass no longer renames RPMMaterial slot with the global prefix in there too...
- Added task timeout to deadline submission properties
- Fixed loading/saving deadline defaults
- 2 new filters for the output path generation:
"Use First N Parts: Divide into parts using supplied characters, put together with same divider"
"Use Last N Parts: Divide into parts using supplied characters, put together with same divider"
(primarily to cater for shot names that may be either xx_00_000 or xx_000_000)
- Speedup in capturing properties for some scenes.
- EXR for splutterfish and 3dsmax8 plugins have slightly different property and .ini file support, required an RPM fix: RPM will now correctly restore default EXR plugin file format properties.
- Added a display material stamp option to the Object Property Spreadsheet - click a cell reporting a material name to display.
- Added support for MR motion blur offset to the renderer UI, and rapid motion blur preview overrides.
- If the backburner group list has a group name selected, RPM will requery the manager for the group members on submission - this is for studios that change group contents regularly.
- Duplicating a pass could completely mess up the RPM material in some cases.
- Generic submit added to the network rendering managers - should allow submission to just about any commandline driven system.
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3.47672 ( - note: this installer includes an updated RPMPropHolder.dlo plugin.
- UserPropBuffer (typically used for vray property capture/restore) as a property was incorrectly being inserted into the property list causing loss of captured data.
- Wireframe as a property was not capturing/restoring correctly
- Objects that instanced materials before being converted to an RPMMaterial maintain the instancing - the RPMMaterial itself is instanced across these materials. Previously the sub-materials maintained their instancing, but not the actual RPMMaterial.
- Redundant RPMPropertyHolders are now automatically deleted.
- Holding ALT to move passes to top/bottom of list was failing to reorder RPMMaterials correctly.
- Object Property Spreadsheet now colours true/1 green, false/0 red
- Reordered where the Object Property Spreadsheet appears in the Properties menu (now first item).
- Object Property Spreadsheet now only optionally shows capture set override materials.
- Object Property Spreadsheet now restores immediately (if current pass edited), so leaving the Auto Capture on is fine (workflow was irritating before).
- Reworked the copy/paste buffer of the Object Property Spreadsheet - middle click to copy now.
- Added material handing checkbutton to the Object Property Spreadsheet - you can choose whether materials from Medit or pasted are copies or instances.
- User prop buffer was being captured corruptly if over 255 characters on capture initial props.
- Copy/Paste in Object Property Spreadsheet now supports the UserPropBuffer.
- More effort is made to keep the Object Property Spreadsheet synched with the scene requiring less manual refreshing.
- Rearranged UI of the Object Property Spreadsheet.
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3.47671(
- Auto build paths button/menu item was incorrectly showing the auto build .mi file dialog.
- Max 8 compatibility fix for mental ray.
- move pass up/down not reodering materials correctly
- move pass up/down not reodering instanced RPMMaterials correctly
- Right Click in the Object Property Spreadsheet modifies the item you have clicked on, rather than what _was_ selected when you clicked.
- Setting the preview temp directory now no longer fails.
- Arrow keys used to change passes should now work - it was likely to mess up captures object properties quite badly.
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3.47661 (
- object visibility was not restoring correctly. Change needs testing.
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3.4766 (
- Occasional very slow restore (5+ seconds for few objects) fixed
- Object superclass now referenced from top of stack - ie base object splines with renderable set should now capture/restore correctly.
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3.4764 (
RPMMaterial slots were not being renamed when passes were being renamed
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