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Version 4 of RPManager

Download RPManager Version 4.537 - Release notes
Fix for Command line BB submission for 2011, windows 7 fixes for some dialogs text edit fields not showing text correctly (the create visibility set dialog and output path inspector), support for vray render region disabling on submit, misc fixes. This has important bugfixes over 4.536, please update from 4.536 to 4.537.

For 32/64 bit versions of 3dsmax9, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.

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.

Evaluation/Personal License Request:

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.

(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.

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:

4.537{
FEATURES_
If you have the vray region access plugin installed (available via the chaos group forums), RPM will automatically turn the region off when submitting network renders (since it fails on the farm), and restores the setting afterwards.
TWEAKS_
An underscore or period at the end of the stereo strings will be translated into the file name but not the path name, so you can maintain the ..._R.0001.exr type naming.
Creating a new pass when a pass is restored that has stereo camera setup, will create the new pass with the same stereo camera setup for the new pass.
Preview overrides for Vray motion blur and DOF now attempt to disable these for the Vray Physical Camera as well.
BUGS_
Command line BB submission was broken for 2011.
An invalid captured BG map would error on pass restore.
Render element UI could error when setting pass paths via script.
Stereo support wasn't repathing Vray auto pathed output correctly
Some edit text fields - ie the create name visibility set dialog's naming field - were not showing the text in windows 7.
Stereo preview could error if cancelled.
}
4.525{
FEATURES_
Vray 1.5 SP5 support
Deadline 4 support
BUGS_
Stereo preview could error if cancelled.
}
4.523{
FEATURES_
Multiple cameras per pass added for stereo support - up to 3 (left, right and center).
'VptBG to Env' checkbox in the preview overrrides, with this on your preview will have the render background set to the active viewport background ONLY if the env is not already set.
Named Selection Set Support for Visibility Sets, you can pick them as visibility sets.
Named Selection Set Collection Support for Visibility Sets (Similar to Layer Sets - named 'Collections' else it would be 'Named Selection Set Set').
Added a checkbox to auto setup the split channels property of Vray, if the main vray raw path is setup to auto create.
Preview overrides has a pixel aspect option now.
Preview mode has options for anaglyph image display, dropdown in the common params under the camera controls. Only cameras 2 and 3 are combined, camera 1 is assumed to be used as the center camera.
Select by pass color is now in the 'pass selection tools' submenu.
TWEAKS_
Support for the new EXR in the 2010 connection pack.
RPMCaptureProps.getMyPropDefinitions was ignoring the custominputarray: values passed
Helpers can now have properties captured/restored (ie PRS)
Vray SP4 support.
BUGS_
RPMUserAutoBeforeScript wasn't always being called before a network submission.
RPMMaterials controlled scene-wise were not having their passes updated correctly when deleting a pass.
Display prop holders could error for objects with no .pos property.
When opening an existing scene with RPM already open, which passes were checked was getting messed up.
Custom attribute errors on 64 bit max should now no longer occur.
Viewport preview out to individual AVI was using an incorrect output aspect.
Pixel aspect was being hosed in 2010 design on BB submit - use command line submit, that fixes it.
Vray split buffer is now created correctly when the path is set - this does create a small bitmap on disk as a side-effect.
Duplicating a vray pass and chosing to keep the materials instanced no longer breaks the link from the current material to the material editor.
Pass colouring was lost with many ops.
Some vray layout issues fixed.
Vray cache manager set generators to 'dont render final image' was doing all passes.
Warnings modified to support vray raw output.
Render element backburner splits supported.
Deadline 3 SP1 - the deadline tabs would not refresh properly after toggling away/back to the deadline UI in RPM.
Pass rename utility was 50% hosed. Why 50%? Pretty much only half worked...
}
4.212{
BUGS_
Adding an object to an existing capture set wasn't initialising the captured data correctly.
}
4.211{
BUGS_
In 2010 setting the viewport background no longer works, so I work around this for the Preview Passes tool.
Exr submitted to the farm wasn't setting the premultiplied alpha setting correctly.
Previews through the Preview Passes tool no longer have the 3dsmax viewport text in the frame (before it was dependent on output res as to if and what would appear)
After setting the manager to something other that Backburner, after setting it back to BB RPM wouldn't build the BB data properly any more unless you toggled the manager away/back.
If a default auto root path is set, it only applies the root path the first time a pass is created for a scene, not each time a pass is created (so if you manually set it, it doesn't override it).
Capture selected object properties button was not working if the auto-capture button was off.

TWEAKS_
Vray RT now supported - it was erroring before. No special support beyond just not erroring at the moment.
The viewport preview system now attempts to make sure that any viewport hardware shading/shadowing etc enabled (for relevant max versions) comes out in the preview too, these could be off under certain (common) circumstances. NOTE Seems to only 'get it' on the second go though, as a workaround set viewport 1 (top left) up with the hardware settings you want, until I get it sorted.
The vray renderer 'duplicate override material' query is only triggered IF there is an override material assigned now.
Backburner Submissions to 3dsmax design 2010 with command line submit active would be submitted as 3dsmax (non-design) jobs.
Deadline submissions with Xref cameras could fail to render from the correct camera.
Some more Deadline3x updates - job submission name is now set to the current submitting user, it could end up as the last person who submitted the passes.
Lots of Deadline31 updates.
Deadline 3.1 SP1 custom script is installed now (separate directory, re-pick the custom network manager).
}
4.205{
TWEAKS_
Vray previews could occasionally pause after finishing.
Deadline 3.1 custom submission script included with install
Tweak to try to give brazil more time to finish local rendering - the function seems to finish before the postrender callback is triggered.
If you find local brazil renders give an 'local render failed' at the end, try evaluating
rpmdata.ignoreLocalRenderErrors = true
this will pretend the render was flagged as complete.
Ini switch added to control default of the BB 'Global Submission Setup' for new scenes. To the
[Defaults]
section add
GlobalBBSetupEnabled=0
to turn this off for new scenes.
}
4.201{
_BUGS
Fix for BB submissions to 32/64 bit - was erroring in 2010.
}
4.2{
_FEATURES
3dsmax 2010 build.
_TWEAKS
If vray frame buffer is enabled, and the vray raw path is set, and the split path option is on, and the split has no path entered - RPM will set the split path output to match the raw output with '_RE' appended to the name.
Added a mode to save out selected passes in RPM to separate scenes.
Added two new saving modes - 'save all/selected passes immediate mode' which uses hold/fetch to clean the files immediately, not requiring a reopen of the scene to do the cleaning.
Duplicating passes with vray as the renderer, and material override set will offer to instance the material override. It'll ask for each one.
_BUGS
Vray holds an internal bitmap in the renderer for split output - this was erroring the new vray preview modifications
'Force enable vrimg saving' was defaulting to the opposite of the saved default value, if a default had been saved.
}
4.182{
_FEATURES
Vray 1.5 SP3 support
Previewing multiple times when using vray frame buffer no longer creates multiple vray VFB windows.
}
4.177{
_FEATURES
You can now save a default path for the 'Auto Root Path' and output type, via new menu items in the 'Output' menu - so if you have your auto output path generation setup for it, you might never need to set an output path again...
User Defined Custom Alerts have been added: if you define a global function with the name 'RPMUserWarningsfn' RPM calls it when populating the warning dialog.
ie if you have a script in your startup directory, with the contents:

global RPMUserWarningsfn
fn RPMUserWarningsfn =
(
--print "Individual pass submitted"
for i in 1 to rpmdata.getpasscount() do
(
-- warning function takes 3 script arguments for what ends up in the columns,
-- and one integer to control color
-- Example code:
local pname = rpmdata.getpassname i
RPMdata.addToWarnings "Custom warnings:" pname "Color1" 1 -- red
RPMdata.addToWarnings "Custom warnings:" pname "Color2" 2 -- blue
RPMdata.addToWarnings "Custom warnings:" pname "Color3" 3 -- green
RPMdata.addToWarnings "Custom warnings:" pname "Color4" 4 -- black
RPMdata.addToWarnings "Custom warnings:" pname "Color5" 5 -- black
RPMdata.addToWarnings "Custom warnings:" pname "Color6" 6 -- blue
RPMdata.addToWarnings "Custom warnings:" pname "Color7" 7 -- orange
)
)

This information is added to the RPM Alerts/Warnings dialog that comes up when you submit/render, allowing you to cancel. The idea being that you can use the function to test
whatever properties you need (ie using MXS access to check RPM data, checking whether textures are setup, or whatever you like) and report the info.
_TWEAKS
- 'Frames' submission to Backburner typically resets the start/end frame setting (which is ignored by the sequence string) but if you set it back to range you need to reset it.
This modification forces the start/end frame to be the start/end of the range when submitted, IF the submssion is a commandline submission, making it easier to set back to frames.
- AE .jsx comp exporter now uses double slashes in the path names.
_BUGS
Adding a new object to a capture set could fail to capture the initial property states correctly leaving some values as 'undefined'.
Clicking on a pass, but releasing the mouse either in the empty area of the pass list or outside the pass list entirely could mess up pass capturing - where one
passes settings could potentially be overwritten with another passes settings. Usually this would not happen since the mousedown/mouseup would trigger very close together,
but in a heavy scene the .NET control mouseup event can be delayed - until the mouse has moved elsewhere. This fix will will hopefully solve a very intermittent
pass capturing issue I've been looking for for a while.
The new grouphead restoration support for standard visibility sets was interfering with layer set restoration.
Merging object properties could error in certain circumstances.
Renaming Vis sets via the visibility set manager could rename the wrong set under certain circumstances.
'Capture selected object' button in the object properties rollout was broken.
}
4.171{
_FEATURES
Save/Load defaults for the basic preview override settings (enabled, checkbox states) - new button in the preview override globals.
Preview defaults are used for new scenes.
Deadline3 support, through the external submission system - enable via the RPManager preferences dialog, in the Network Manager group pick 'Custom submit' and use the 'Pick Custom submit UI loading path' button to navigate to the /Deadline3 subdirectory of the RPManager install location. Pick the .ms file in there.
_TWEAKS
Per pass restoration of object visibility within xref scenes now supports Visibility Sets, Layer assignment, Layer Sets and Maxscript Visibility per pass (only Visibility Sets were working before).
Redrawing of viewports has been tweaked to reduce the amount of heavier viewport redraws, along with an additional ini key to further reduce redraws. if you modify the RenderPassManager.ini file to include this:
[Performance]
NoForceRedraws=1
then less full redraws will occur - and scenes with xrefs (for example) should feel more responsive. This setting can make a large difference when using xref scenes. If you find redraws are not what they should be set it to 0.
The Vray renderer rollouts should redraw themselves when needed, rather than each time you change pass (when needed means if different passes need different rollouts visible - GI/AA engine).
The 'remove RPMMaterial for renders could be slow to preview/submit in certain scenes - scripted prodecure replaced with C++ functions.
Added a get data function, it is
RPMdata.RMGetValues (value index) (passindex) <optional: (quiet:false) >
(the quiet will suppress the 'pass index out of range' messagebox. If out of range it returns undefined.)
Saving and loading the Merge data is now off by default - you can enable the default in the preferences of RPM. If you want to load xref scenes and have RPM data restored within the xref for passes you will need to enable this.
Vray auto cache merging was failing with long paths and many caches - looks like a string length limit for imapviewer. Cache merging now done 1 at a time.
Vray cache manager - spaces in cache name would stop the 'explore path' option from working.
If a grouphead is added to a visibility set, the group members vis is controlled whether or not they too are in the set.
Added a 'Visible' filter to the Vis set inspector/editor to filter the list to only show currently visible objects.
_BUGS
Remove all RPM data could fail on multiple Frame Info effects.
Frame Info should now be removed when cancelling a preview (doh).
Extra data saved to support restoring visibility sets in Xref scenes could fail under certain conditions.
Dropdown at the bottom of the Renderer Setup tab was not showing vray correctly.
extra xref data integrity checking added, with warnings printed to the listener if data has had to be rebuilt.
Adding a new pass could mess up Xref data in certain circumstances
If no xrefs were selected in the Xref list the xref recolouring was not being triggered.
Merging RPM data from an existing scene could throw a maxscript error.
Merge xref via file merge was not deleting the xref itself for Preview/Local renders (fine for submissions).
Adding vis sets while the vis sets inspector/editor is open will no longer error when you then click in the vis set inspector/editor.
Mousing down on a pass then (moving the mouse and) mousing up in the empty area below the passes would error.
Some UI errors in the merge properties dialog fixed.
Using the output inspector/editor to edit .tga settings was showing the bit depth menu for all columns before showing the correct menu.
Preview overrides - if the exposure override checkbox was enabled, but not exposure plugin was loaded the preview overrides would likely only be half-applied (ie resolution set, but not AA).
RPM capture sets - capture/restore of lights and cameras animated position/scale/rotation was failing to restore correctly. This required updating RPMPropHolder.dlo.
}
4.157{
_FIXES
2009 SP1 introduced more dependencies for command line backburner submission, this build fixes the 'xml failed to write' error you would receive after installing 2009.
_FEATURES
Final Render: Final Render Render Element Properties are now available in the RPManager Render Element rollout.
_TWEAKS
Final Render: the 'Get Props for Selected Object' button below the Custom Properties tab will now list finalRenderProperties if relevant for the selected object - saves having to add the property names manually to the Custom list.
Preview Overrides, User Preview 'insert property' menu is now sorted by group for Vray (easy to sort vray, others will be more work).
Vray vrimg2exr settings now include commandline options. Dialog layout was tweaked to emphasise that the raw handling section at the bottom is separate from the cache handling section at the top.
Option to Merge xrefs on submit not as an xref->merge but as a file->merge. Note this mode does not support xref parent offsets, xref alternate material, or xref RPM properties (at this stage - partial support can be put in if somebody requests it).
Merge xrefs has been added to previewing and local renders. This system now uses hold/fetch so submitted scenes no longer are name "RMtemp.." or similar.
If no output exists RPM disables the save file setting in the output - should stop it throwing a useless 'overwrite file' warning when there is no file.
_BUGS
'Capture selected objects' operation was ridiculously slow with certain scenes.
Adding a pass was generating an undo item for a CA redefine.
Xrefs: rpm property restoration within xref scenes was not correctly restoring visibility sets on submission.
Fixed a pass merge error where the dataset is incomplete - if this is detected RPM now throws a message indicating that the file being merged should be re-saved.
Worked around a 64 bit max9/2008 issue where Custom Attributes attached to the rootnode was destabilisting 3dsmax - used in the sample Qube submission, The update will redefine data already attached to the trackviewnode/rootnode.
Better handling of mis-synched RPM Xref data, and 3dsmax scene Xref data.
Writing data for merging into other scenes could silently fail under some circumstances.
Visibility set restoration in Xref Scenes could break in some situations - specifically support for "_Everything_" and "_Nothing_" was broken and would interfere with other sets.
}
4.153{
_FEATURES
Viewport preview utility now has a resolution override as an option to the percent of frame: apart from the ease of absolute control this means you can output a different aspect without having to change your base settings. ie if your setup is 2048x1556, but your dailies need to be a vertically cropped 864x480 you can have the viewport preview tool output this without having to mess with the final output size (since it is different aspect percent is not enough).
_TWEAKS
Viewport Preview Utility - Non-sequential frames are now supported both for output and playback.
_BUGS
Viewport playback was not necessarily starting the next pass from its first frame.
Import selection sets was broken.
Resizing the viewport preview tool horizontally was not restricting the width correctly.
MXS call to rpmdata.setpassselection will now update the pass name bolding.
Escape to cancel a viewport preview could error on trying to write to a closed file.
Viewport preview playlist now accepts still images with no frame padding (ie filename.jpg, as opposed to filename0000.jpg)
Viewport preview playlist removes multiple external sequences correctly.
Vray cache manager was not dealing with the 'Animation' modes correctly, setting to 'Animation (render)' now allows you to link to a generators output (ie typically Animation (prepass) ).
}
4.151{
_BUGS
Qube submission had not been updated as it was meant to be in 4.15, so this is a small update. This version saves out a separate max file for each pass submitted - the Qube submission it was based on uses the current scene without saving the file, and this does not work so well for RPM (or anything really): currently the quick fix is to save the scene (with '_QubeTemp_DeleteWhenJobDone_' + random number appended) in the same place as the scene file, so it will only work reliably if your max scene is currently being saved to a network location. This will be updated in the future with options for where to save, but since the Qube submission script is external to RPM and fully editable by the end user you can modify it to save them whereever you like. The max scene file needs to exist until the Qube render job is complete, so at this stage you will need to manually clean them up after the job is done - ideally the Qube job itself would take care of this.
Viewport playback was not necessarily starting the next pass from its first frame.
}
4.15{
_FEATURES
Main pass list now has resizable columns, if needed you can scroll left to access items no longer visible. Double click on a column divider to auto-size to match the items in the column to the immediate left of the divider.
The small '+' and '-' buttons to resize the list were moved as a result, and are now below the list(irritatingly since they move when you resize).
To help alleviate the irritation I've fixed the dragging on the grey bar just below the global viewport and render params group, so you can once again drag this to resize the list.
The Playlist Manager (new feature in 4.1) has been updated to allow assignment of external sequences to the PlayList - extending RPM as a previs tool and is a natural extension of the feature for a multi-shot pipeline. Also added override start/end for the playback to accomodate flipping without handles.
Added a 'Rename Passes Utility...' option to the Passes menu. Allows renaming via prefix, postfix, and string replacement/stripping. Has multiple undo system so you can try settings until you get it right.
Added an 'Retime/Offset Pass Ranges Utility...' option to the Passes menu. Allows modifying time ranges en-masse, or slipping from a specified pivot point: for example where you want to insert or retime a pass representing a shot range and offset the timings of all shots coming after that.
Viewport preview tool now has the ability to manually set the output paths of the preview frames in the Playback.
Added a playback only option to the Viewport Preview Tool - calls playanimation for each pass, without outputting frames etc.
Viewport Preview can now dump to .avi, separate passes or one for all.
Added a 'Wildcard/Scripted' visibility set. Use mxs functions to control visibility per pass. Access from the Visibility Sets column RC menu, with a manager for the sets in the VisSets menu.

_TWEAKS
Viewport Preview - moved the root path for the vray auto path generation setup to the main UI, where the output controls are.
Parameters in the Capture Set Parameters definition dialog are now named to reflect the 3dsmax UI names, rather than the internal property names - ie 'Primary visibility' which is the property is now displayed as 'Visible to camera'.
Object property capture/restore of UserPropBuffer (used for vray object properties for example) was assigning and empty buffer with a carriage return, which was showing as a control character.
This didn't cause any problems, but I've removed the character. This plugin update is not required for the farm.
The vray frame buffer is now only automatically enabled if the 'force enable vrimg' checkbox is enabled, not just when you are auto generating your vray raw output paths.When previewing with Vray, vrimg or vray split buffers output is disabled to avoid overwriting actual output frames, as well as not producing extra (potentially large) frames in the preview directory.
Preview mode now scales the vray output resolution values - so if get resolution from max is off you will now get a reduced size render.
If the vray frame buffer is no needed (ie no valid vrimg output, no valid split buffers) it is disabled to avoid netrender errors - this is for the submitted pass only, not the working scene.
Viewport Playlist Manager has had the audio column removed - it will be put it back when it is hooked up.
Viewport Preview Frame Number stamping now takes a passes FileNumberBase into account.
Vastly improved the speed of resizing the main pass list using the grey dragging bar.

_BUGS
Cleaned up some escapeenable problems, so escaping out of a submit should no longer trigger an *interrupt
Installer was not overwriting the RPMbuildOutputPaths.ms file if installing over old builds, so all the recent goodness was being lost. It is user customisable, but from now you will need to back it up and replace as having it not update when it should is worse (and I'd be suprised if many actually customise this. Anyone?)
Added some checks for possible missing BB data.
Backburner command line submission works in 2009 again, some dependencies on 3dsmaxcmd had changed that I was not aware of earlier.
Setting pass colours via right click menu was not setting until RPM was re-opened
Viewport preview auto output setup was incorrectly testing the main enable auto output enabled and main output local extension (which was not used anyway).
Scene states were being captured when RPM opened and a pass restored.
Using per pass hide by category no longer spams the undo stack with hidebycategory items.
}
4.12{
_TWEAKS
Vray SP2 update - Render elements were not showing thier UI's. Also add a 'put to medit' and 'get from medit' to the two elements that have material/map property.
Viewport preview has a new (default) output option, "Use Standard 3dsmax Preview Directory (local), individual Sub-directories". This simply dumps the frames into the local preview location, nothing to set, but
if you want to get in depth with it then you have decent control over the pathing with the other options.
Viewport preview now returns you to the frame you started on, as well as deselecting all during the preview and reselecting afterwards to avoid selection brackets. Misc fixes otherwise.
Viewport preview remembers position. Setting defaults etc. will come.
Macroscript added for viewport preview so you can hotkey it, it also can be open independent of RPManager.

_BUGS
Viewport preview auto output could error if the enable auto paths checkbox was on but no root path was set.
}
4.1{
UPDATED PLUGINS
RPMdlx.dlx
RPMdc.dlx
RPM.gup (if you are using a USB dongle for licensing update this on all workstations. Not needed on slaves).
Unikey.dll

_FEATURES

Support for 3ds Max 2009

Vray SP2 UI update.

Custom Render Submission system: You can now create your own rollouts and submission function that RPManager will use. The rollouts will appear in the Network tab, allowing you to fully integrate your submission.
There are requirements for making the system work - ie RPM will call AddPass, DeletePass, SubmitJob, functions that all need to be in the right place expecting the right arguments. This information will be posted to the wiki shortly.
Included is a sample that is a legitimate additional submission system: Qube integration is via this custom render submission system.

To install the qube submission for testing:

/*********************/
/* In the RPM preferences, in the rendering manager dropdown, pick the 'Custom Submit' and
/* then use the button below to navigate to the 3dsmaxroot/scripts/RPManager/Qube/ directory and
/* pick the file in there.
/*
/* The rpm Network tab should then contain a UI defined by this external script. Can be multiple rollouts
/* for complex submission systems, RPM expects an array of rollouts to be passed to it, so can be one or many.
/*
/* This particular script assumes that qube is installed, with the qube-supplied submit working already in 3dsmax.
/*********************/

You can now control the naming of merged passes, in the merge dialog you can specify to leave if unique, and also a prefix and postfix to use.
It goes like this: if set as leave, it will leave if it can. If it is not unique, it adds the prefix and postfix. If that is not unique, it starts appending a 2 digit number.
If it set as append prefix/postfix it does this, and then it tests for unique. If not unique, it starts appending a 2 digit number.

Vray Cache Manager - new feature allowing setup and management of vray caches, including submitting multiframe incrementals as single frame jobs to a farm, auto path generation for cache output, and one-button merging these caches into a single cache, linking of 'generator' passes caches to 'receiver' passes cache settings.
Find it in the "Output" menu, near the bottom.
http://www.rpmanager.com/wiki/doku.php?id=renderers:vraycachemanager

Viewport Preview Pass Tool - this creates previews of all or some of the RPManager passes using the viewport display,with options for where the output ends up. Useful when doing previs and using RPManager to manage your cameras/etc, and you initially don't need rendered frames.
You can find it in the 'Passes' menu. Has options for frame stamping, custom framestamp bitmap, playing back in ramplayer/tvplayer/custom player. For more info on it check the wiki
http://www.rpmanager.com/wiki/doku.php?id=vppreview:viewport_preview_utility

_TWEAKS

The output test for backburner would fail on a top level output (who does that anyway?) Test changed.
Before/After scripts that error now print the error in the messagebox.
Hooked up the Mental Ray override material UI elements, which were disabled - when they were originally added MR had no access to the properties, but they have been since at least R9.
The 'G' button to get a material has been fixed. Somewhere. My notes are incomplete.
RPMData.GetPassChecked() and GetPassSelection() now return stored values if RPM closed .
In 2009 I can now check for the viewport lock button and disable it (finally)

_BUGS
Backburner: Submitting with 32/64 bit option could fail for older scenes.
Loading scenes could crash max if internal xref data was incomplete.
Xref dialog, the 'fit' '+' and '-' buttons work again and do not mess up the UI.
Brazil2 presets are now supported, via the Renderer column RC menu: this shows a list of the saves BZ2 presets, from the default location.
Copy Renderer no longer errors for brazil2.
Deleting a pass will now delete associated the BZ2 renderer storage.
Merge Properties rollout was completely full of .NET UI errors. Needs testing, but it actually worked for me after I had spent some time with it.
If 'Link UI time range' was on, with mixed 'range' and 'active range' pass ranges setup, the active range passes could end up submitted with an incorret range.
Editing vray dropdown params with multiple passes selected would not correctly show the UI parameter changed (though it was setting it OK)
Mouse down (click) off the bottom of the pass list and then Mouse up on the list would error.
Vis sets inspector was partially broken - clicking empty list would error, and you could set the first column to 'member' by right-clicking.
Capture Set Override materials were getting out of order when passes were deleted.
The 'P' put button for a capture set override material was only working the first time you pressed it.
If deadline data is incomplete RPM will not longer just error - it will fill the blanks in and submit, as anything undefined will be default data anyway.
Setting the animation range from 0 to 0 (or if start == end) in the time output setup would error on submit.
Additional checks added to make sure captured exposure controls will not lose their 'processBG' setting.
Removing all RPM data does a better job now, was leaving a callback and the rpm frame stamp behind
Renaming layer sets would mess up the list naming, requiring the layer sets editor be reopened.
Some bug fixes to Render Element save/load where output paths were saved with '\' which messes up as '\t' is seen as a tab, and the loading UI was not clearing the tree when loading a new dataset.
Bug fixes to Render Element loading where if auto path generation was enabled it would try to create the paths and run straight into a bug.
}
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.
}

Below is the non .NET build information:
3.607{
UPDATED PLUGINS
RPMdlx.dlx
RPMdc.dlx
RPM.gup (if you are using a USB dongle for licensing update this on all workstations. Not needed on slaves).
Unikey.dll

_FEATURES
Updated USB dongle support
Xref override materials and delayed xrefs were failing to restore on farm
License checking could error in some circumstances.
Capture Set Override materials were getting out of order when passes were deleted.
The 'P' put button for a capture set override material was only working the first time you pressed it.
}
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.
}
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.
}
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.
}
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.
}
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.
)

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.
)
3.47661 (
- object visibility was not restoring correctly. Change needs testing.
)
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.
)
3.4764 (
RPMMaterial slots were not being renamed when passes were being renamed
)