Preparation for an animation

Scene preparation for an animation project – Frame mode

In animation mode, each frame will be assigned to a different node. The time limit you will enter in the Submit project form will be interpreted as the maximum time per frame (NOT the maximum time for the whole animation).

Here are the steps to follow:

1. Create your animation in the host application (3DS Max, C4D, etc.), and use the Indigo plugin or exporter / script to generate as many IGS files as there are frames in the animation. Copy all these IGS scenes with their related objects and textures in a new directory that you will use to store all your project’s files. Let’s call it PROJECTDIR (but you can give it the name you want, with only letters and numbers, no spaces or special characters). Here is an example of a simple 34 frames animation:

2. Compress all the files in PROJECTDIR in one archive with the .7z (7-Zip) format or the .zip format depending on the compacter you use. Please do not use another format.

3. Rename the compressed archive you just created with the extension “.vui”. For instance, if your archive is “MyAnim.zip”, rename it to “MyAnim.vui”. It is essential for the automated renderfarm to detect the file as an Indigo project.

The RANCH will know that your project is a still image if it finds only one main IGS scene in your .vui file. It will then allocate the same scene to all the render nodes in cooperative mode. If it finds several IGS files with a name beginning by “PACKED”, it will correctly recognize them as include files and not as scene files. If it finds at least 10 IGS scene files in your archive, it will process the project as an animation and allocate each IGS scene / frame to a different node.