How to use rrControl? 

Please check the section Usage.

Filter

The filter section should be almost self-explanatory.

You can filter the jobs by specific values.

Includes...

This edit line allows you to filter the list for jobs

• You may enter any word.
  rrControl searches for all jobs that contain this word in {jobID}, scene file, output path, custom vars, renderer, division, job type, layer, camera, AOV channel...
  Example:  "Beauty"
  
  
• You may enter multiple words.
  In this case jobs that contain all words are returned (AND mode by default).
  Example:  "Beauty ForeGround"
  
  
• You may exclude words
  If you prepend a minus sign - in front of a word, then all jobs that do not contain this word are returned.
  Example:  "Beauty ForeGround -Volume"
  
  
• You may enter a specific job data name that has to match.
  In this case the argument has to match exactly this specific rrJob data.
  Please see list below for supported rrJob fields
  Example:  "Beauty ForeGround SceneFile=forest.mb User=Michael"
  
  
• Multiple arguments, OR mode.
  If you prepend an "or" (or uppercase "OR") to the include filter, 
  then jobs that contain any of the words are returned.
  Note that this affects "specific" arguments as well.
  Example:  "or Beauty ForeGround"

Invert Checkbox:
The invert checkbox reverses the search.
It does not reverse the "specific" search arguments.

Supported rrJob data for "specific" search

• SceneFIle=
• CustomScene=
• CustomVersion=
• CustomSeq=
• CustomShot=
• CustomJobType=
• Division=
• User=
• Renderer=
• Custom.....=    (replace .... with your custom variable name)

Note that SceneFile is a special case:
It does not has to match 100% the full scene filepath, it has to match the end of the scene file/path name.

"SceneFile=forest.mb"  finds scenes with the name "forest.mb" and "dark_forest.mb".

If you do not want "dark_forest.mb", then please add a slash or backslash "/forest.mb" (for the folder).

As it searches end of the complete path, you can enter (a part of) the parent directory like "SceneFile=background/forest.mb" 

Python Editor

The Python Editor can be used to edit any Python file.

Tab/Space indentation:

As python requires special indentation, the editor tries to get the favored indentation when it loads a file.

It will keep your indentation and will auto-indent.

You can change from tab to space indentation at any time via the menu. The file will be converted.

If you use the TAB key on your keyboard it either inserts a tab or spaces depending on your python file.

Job Table

The job table shows you all jobs in RR.

You can filter the jobs via dropdown- and check-boxes in the upper left of rrControl.

If you filter the jobs, then rrControl will not update the jobs of other users/projects. (This reduces the network traffic a bit)

Visible columns

You can add/remove columns via the layout menu.

A Layout is not saved by default, you have to save it via the Layout menu

Job Status Colors

A job has a color which shows its status:

Multiple colors for a job

A job could be shown in multiple colors.

For example: the job could be still rendering, but you have disabled it.

Multiple colors for a job group

If your jobs are grouped for example by user, then a user can be shown in multiple colors.

As some jobs are waiting, some are rendering, some are disabled.

Error Icons

If there is an error known to RRender, then you see a small triangle in the job table.

To read the error message, please select the job.

In rrControl, please select the tab "Job log", then select "Errors" from the table.

On the rrWebsite you see the error messages in red in the "Log Section" of the job page.

       

Image Analysis Icons

After a job is rendered, the post-script "Sequence Check" loads the cache files created by the client and collects the errors flags from the error analysis.

If the clients do not have created cache files ("Local Render Out" was disabled for the job), then "Sequence Check" loads the original full res frames.

For a description of the Flags, see the help of rrViewer. 

Client Table

Visible columns

You can add/remove columns via the layout menu.

A layout is not saved by default, you have to save it via the Layout menu.

Status Colors

A Client has a colors which shows their status:

Overview

Job Info

This tab shows some information about the selected jobs.

See Pink?

If you have selected multiple jobs,

then the interface shows you differences between the selected jobs in pink.                                                                

Framebar

rrControl and rrWebsite show you a framebar of the job:

The framebar shows the frames as bars.

The colors represent: 

 Preview Images

RRender displays Preview Frames on the job page in rrControl and at the rrWebsite.

You should check these Preview Frames after some time to see if there is any problem rendering the scene.

Rendering some preview frames does not take that much time, but loosing a whole render job because something was missed...

Also see Preview Render

Statistics graph

Sometimes it can help to take a look at the Statistics of a job.

The most important graph is the blue line.

It shows you the frames rendered over time.

Job Settings

This section allows you to change all settings for a job.

Please see Usage/Job Settings for all available settings.

See Pink?

If you have selected multiple jobs,

then the interface shows you differences between the selected jobs in pink.                                                                

Job Log

Please check the section Usage as well.

Job Log

This log contains all kind of informations like when a job was send to which client, if someone has send a command for the job, ...

Errors

If you see an error triangle in the job table, then you should check the error messages of the job.

See Troubleshooting/Error Analysis.

Frames Rendered v7

This table shows the list of all frames and which client has rendered it.

As well as frame time, max CPU and max Memory usage.

This table is created by the rrClients.

After a rrClient has rendered a segment, it will add its frames with all informations to this table.

It will not update the table while it is rendering.

Please use rrViewer, for some render applications you will have a client name even while the client is rendering.

Logfile:

This date and time are the same date and time of the client render log file.

You can select the render log files on the left side.

Averaged?:

The client was not able to get exact information about each frame it got.

It had to calculate an average time for all frames it got.

The number after "av" shows you how many frames have been rendered in this segment.

Memory/CPU/Threads:

While a frame is rendering, the client takes stats like 

• the memory usage for the render application
• the CPU usage of the render application
• the CPU usage of every else on the system
• the number of client job threads that have been rendering while the frame was rendered

Currently the CPU values have no visual graph, they show a shortened % value.  

_ = 0%

0 = 0-9%

1 = 10%-19%

...

9 = 90-99%

# =100%

Client render log files

The output of the environment setup and the render application.

StdErr / rrErr:

A console application has two ways to print informations.

It can print into a StandardOut  and into a StandardError log buffer.

Everything that is printed into the StandardError by the application is marked with an StdErr:

These messages are no error messages that RR has recognized. These are messages that should be error messages as indented by the software developer.

Note:

Some render applications like Maya and Toon Boom Harmony have chosen the wrong type of output for messages.

They print everything into the StandardError log buffer.

Application Log

If you print anything with your Python script, then this information is shown in this tab.

Global Info

This section shows some stats and informations about RR.

License Usage

This table shows you the number of render licenses you have set for each render application for RR.

It shows the maximum number of licenses RR is allowed to use for rendering.

Then how many licenses RR actually uses.

And at last "Reduced Licenses" and buttons to free/return licenses for artists. See rrConfig/Render Licenses for more information.