Xgen relative path and save issue

[Giovanikc]

Hey guys! I don't know if this is an expected behavior from xgen but when I send my scene to batch render in other machines xgen only render after you save the scene. I notice after it save, the xgProjectPath change to the location of the machine. The question is how can I fix this to render on a farm?  

 I have another question related to alembic caches for guide animations. Is that possible to change the paths to relative in xgen? I mean, I only can use my source images folder in maya to point these caches.

Thanks in advance!

[sean.heasley · Accepted solution]

Hi @Giovanikc

There's some general tips on using Xgen with a farm here that may help you.

• Make sure file paths in xgen are absolute as an example here is the path to the mask: $a=map(‘F:/assets/env_16/output/maya/xgen/collections/collection/description/paintmaps/rockPosAlpha’);#3dpaint,5.0\n$a\n 
• Change the collection path by going to collection > edit file path… and change to e.g ${XGEN_LOCATION}F:/assets/env_16/output/maya/xgen/collections/collection3/
• One big thing to remember is that xgen doesnt read backslashes (\) so keep for paths with forward slashes (/) like above.

For your caching issue I'm a bit confused. When I go to generate a cache it simply pops up with a file window and I can choose where I want to have it saved. Is this not the case for you?

[sean.heasley]

Hi @Giovanikc

Just wanted to check in to see how things were going. Are you still having this issue?

If your issue is resolved, please click Accept as Solution on the posts that helped you so others in the community can find them easily.

[Giovanikc]

I mean, for the alembic generate as patches for batch render I don't have an option to save in a custom location right? And if I need to change it's location, no batch render.

Thanks for your time @sean.heasley

Best

[sean.heasley]

Hi @Giovanikc

I talked with a co-worker a bit and your best bet for rendering on the farm is to have a copy of the scene file/project on the network drive and/or each machine so when you go to render on the farm Xgen is looking to the same location each time.

This should also mean when you generate as patches that it looks to the network drive and should be able to batch render on the farm.

If one or more of these posts helped answer your question, please click Accept as Solution on the posts that helped you so others in the community can find them easily.

Kudos are greatly appreciated. Everyone likes a thumbs up!

[sean.heasley]

Hi @Giovanikc

I'm just checking in again to see if you need more help with this. Did the suggestion I provided on Friday work for you?

If so, please click Accept as Solution on the posts that helped you so others in the community can find them easily.

[Michael_Todd]

XGen file paths are relative by default but are dependent on the project settings. If you set up a custom cache location in your project settings you can cache your files there and XGen will find them. You can also mix relative and absolute paths in the XGen file path setting. There's a sticky post on this forum that covers that.

Cheers

[Giovanikc]

Thank you @Michael_Todd and @sean.heasley

I think both of you was right, the real issue happened on the render farm. For some reason some of our folder containing the xgen wasn't copy to the scene when we start our render job. 

Thank you guys!