fix to 7.0 problem for renderfarm macs

[Carolyn Fusinato]

some stuff got editted out of my original post accdientily… it should say:

an After Effects Script file called watchfolder.jsx contains:
var MyFolder = new Folder(“[your watch folder]”);
app.watchFolder(MyFolder);

an After Effects Script file called end.jsx contains:
app.endWatchFolder();

an Applescript saved as an application which I call “Start Renderfarm”:

mount volume “[your networked volume]”
set the_file to “/Applications/Adobe After Effects 7.0 RE/Scripts/watchfolder.jsx”
set the_otherfile to “/Applications/Adobe After Effects 7.0 RE/Scripts/end.jsx”
set the new_file to POSIX file the_file
set the new_otherfile to POSIX file the_otherfile

ignoring application responses

tell application “Adobe After Effects 7.0”
DoScript new_file
end tell
end ignoring

delay 5

ignoring application responses
tell application “Adobe After Effects 7.0”
DoScript new_otherfile with override
DoScript new_file
end tell

end ignoring

[Carolyn Fusinato]

just an fyi,

I manage fonts by using the user font folder on a renderfarm account that I create on each machine. I connect all renderfarm machines’ user folders by using a buch of afp internet location shortcuts like: afp://renderfarm1:password@IP.Address/renderfarm1 & then syncing the font folders. To get the fonts to load, log out of the account and log back in on the individual machine or just restart a monitorless renderfarm computer.

We use two 500 Mhz G3s & a dual 1 gig G4 as permanent renderfarm machines and rotate any unused computers into the renderfarm when needed. Typically I’m using the two G3s & the G4, another dual 1 gig G4 and a dual 2Gig G5 to render on the renderfarm and I can take a project that would be a 45 minute render on my dual 2.5 Gig machine down to 5-6 minutes.

To then convert the targa sequence to any other format takes another minute.

Is it worth using a renderfarm to render?
H*CK YA!

-Carolyn

[Jeff Petersen]

Hi Carolyn,
i have had lots of difficulty setting up renderfarms on my macs. i have a very similar group of computers that you have. i’m going to study your post a little more, but do you think you could offer me some setup tips if i give you some more details (network settings, AE settings, workflow tips). i’m basically sitting on an ethernet network with a Quad G5, 3Dual G4s, and my G4 powerbook so far, but i have had No success setting this up. And i really really want to! I own AE prod 7.
thanks for any help,
Jeff Petersen
jpetersen@gccwired.com

[Carolyn Fusinato]

here’s another minor bug fix:

When you install AE 7.0 RE on a mac & you also have a professional version installed — you may have problems calling up AE 7.0 RE in your applescript. This is because even though the application’s name in finder is “Adobe After Effects 7.0 RE” if you “get info” on it, the name of the file in “Name & Extension” is actually “Adobe After Effects 7.0.app”. Manually change it to “Adobe After Effects 7.0 RE.app” and your mac will now be able to differentiate between the Prof. & the Rend. Eng. versions.

On computers that we rotate into the renderfarm when not in use we need to have both the Prof & the RE versions installed & that’s how I ran into this “gotcha”.

-Carolyn

http://www.fusinatodesign.com