RealFlow Plug-in Guide

• 1 RealFlow Plug-in Guide
  • 1.1 Job Submission
    • 1.1.1 Submission Options
  • 1.2 Plugin Configuration
  • 1.3 Integrated Submission Script Setup
    • 1.3.1 RealFlow 5 and Later
    • 1.3.2 RealFlow 4
  • 1.4 FAQ
  • 1.5 Error Messages And Meanings

Job Submission

You can submit jobs from within RealFlow by installing the integrated submission script, or you can submit them from the Monitor. The instructions for installing the integrated submission script can be found further down this page.

To submit from within RealFlow, select Commands -> System Commands -> SubmitToDeadline.py. In RealFlow 4, select Scripts -> User Scripts -> Deadline -> Submit To Deadline.

Submission Options

The general Deadline options are explained in the Job Submission documentation, and the Shotgun options are explained in the Draft and Shotgun documentation. The RealFlow specific options are:

• Submit IDOC Jobs: Enable to submit separate IDOC jobs for each IDOC name specified. Separate multiple IDOC names with commas. For example: IDOC01,IDOC02,IDOC03
• Start Rendering At [Start Frame - 1]: Enable this option if RealFlow rendering should start at the frame preceding the Start Frame. For example, if you are rendering frames 1-100, but you need to pass 0-100 to RealFlow, then you should enable this option.
• Use One Machine Only: Forces the entire job to be rendered on one machine. If this is enabled, the Machine Limit, Task Chunk Size and Concurrent Tasks settings will be ignored.
• Version: The version of RealFlow to render with.
• Build: Force 32 bit or 64 bit rendering.
• Generate Mesh: This option will generate the mesh for a scene where particle cache files were created previosly.
• Rendering Threads: The number of threads to use during simulation.
• Use Particle Cache: If you have created particle cache files for a specific frame and you want to resume your simulation from that frame you have to use this option. The starting cached frame is the Start Frame entered above.

Plugin Configuration

You can configure the RealFlow plug-in settings from the Deadline Monitor. While in super user mode, select Tools -> Plugins Configuration and select the RealFlow plug-in from the list on the left. To get a description of each setting, simply hover the mouse cursor over a setting and a tool tip will be displayed.

Integrated Submission Script Setup

The following procedure describes how to install the integrated RealFlow submission script. This script allows for submitting RealFlow render jobs to Deadline directly from within the RealFlow editing GUI.

RealFlow 5 and Later

• Copy [Repository]\ClientSetup\RealFlow\SubmitToDeadline.py to [RealFlow Install Directory]\scripts.
• Launch RealFlow.
• Now you can select Commands -> System Commands -> SubmitToDeadline.py.

RealFlow 4

• Copy [Repository]\ClientSetup\RealFlow\SubmitToDeadline.py to [RealFlow Install Directory]\scripts.
• Launch RealFlow and select Scripts -> Add.

• In the Add Script dialog, for the Name enter Submit To Deadline, and for the Script enter the path to the SubmitToDeadline.py file that you just copied over. Then click the New Folder button and name the folder Deadline. Then select the Deadline folder and click OK.

• Now you can select Scripts -> User Scripts -> Deadline -> Submit To Deadline to launch the submission dialog.

FAQ

What versions of RealFlow are supported by Deadline?

RealFlow versions 3 and later are supported. The integrated submission script is only supported in RealFlow 4 and later. RealFlow 3 jobs can still be submitted from the Monitor.

Does rendering with RealFlow require a separate license?

Yes. You need separate command line licenses to render.

Can I render separate IDOCs from the same scene across different machines?

Yes. You can specify which IDOCs you want to render in the submitter, and a separate job will be submitted for each one.

Why is RealFlow looking for the particle cache on the local C: instead of on the network?

This is likely happening because you are choosing to submit the RealFlow file with the job. This means the file is copied locally to the slave machines, which is why they are looking for the cache locally. If you disable the option to submit the file with the job, the slave machines should be able to find the cache properly.

Error Messages And Meanings

This is a collection of known RealFlow error messages and their meanings, as well as possible solutions. We want to keep this list as up to date as possible, so if you run into an error message that isn't listed here, please email Deadline Support and let us know.

Exception during render: [RealFlow Error]: License file not found.

RealFlow requires a separate license for network rendering, and that licensing system needs to be setup before you can render through Deadline.