DrQueue
Encyclopedia
DrQueue is an open source
software tool used to manage a render farm
. It provides distributed render
queueing
on a per-frame basis and management of these tasks. It is primarily used for animations used as visual effects in films and advertising.
A task in DrQueue is composed of multiple jobs all of which require a script which is distributed to the slave nodes of the cluster by the master. The master acts as a central server, where all tasks are stored. The slave software is run on each node in the cluster and it reports its status back to the master periodically.
drqman is the GUI
used to control jobs. Typical tasks are to reprioritize jobs, stop them, restart specific frames, change frames to be rendered and so on. It has direct control of Maya
, Mental Ray
, Blender
, XSI
, Lightwave
, Mantra (in Houdini)
, Turtle (Illuminate Labs), BMRT, Shake
, After Effects, Aqsis
, Nuke
, Terragen
, 3Delight
, and Pixie
There is also a small python
web service
called DrKeewee that allows you to check the status of the queue using a web browser
.
for python
as well as (in beta) bindings for Ruby
Script generators exist for,
, Mac OS X
, Irix
, FreeBSD
and Windows
with no restrictions on architecture
.
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
software tool used to manage a render farm
Render farm
A render farm is a computer cluster built to render computer-generated imagery , typically for film and television visual effects, using off-line batch processing. This is different from a render wall, which is a networked, tiled display used for real-time rendering...
. It provides distributed render
Rendering (computer graphics)
Rendering is the process of generating an image from a model , by means of computer programs. A scene file contains objects in a strictly defined language or data structure; it would contain geometry, viewpoint, texture, lighting, and shading information as a description of the virtual scene...
queueing
Batch queue
A batch queue, sometimes also known as job queue, is a system software data structuremaintained by job scheduler software.Users submit their programs that they want executed, "jobs", to the queue for batch processing....
on a per-frame basis and management of these tasks. It is primarily used for animations used as visual effects in films and advertising.
Overview
The application is composed of three main tools: master, slave and drqman.A task in DrQueue is composed of multiple jobs all of which require a script which is distributed to the slave nodes of the cluster by the master. The master acts as a central server, where all tasks are stored. The slave software is run on each node in the cluster and it reports its status back to the master periodically.
drqman is the GUI
Gui
Gui or guee is a generic term to refer to grilled dishes in Korean cuisine. These most commonly have meat or fish as their primary ingredient, but may in some cases also comprise grilled vegetables or other vegetarian ingredients. The term derives from the verb, "gupda" in Korean, which literally...
used to control jobs. Typical tasks are to reprioritize jobs, stop them, restart specific frames, change frames to be rendered and so on. It has direct control of Maya
Maya (software)
Autodesk Maya , commonly shortened to Maya, is 3D computer graphics software that runs on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS and Linux, originally developed by Alias Systems Corporation and currently owned and developed by Autodesk, Inc. It is used to create interactive 3D applications, including video...
, Mental Ray
Mental Ray
mental ray is a production-quality rendering application developed by mental images . mental images was bought in December 2007 by NVIDIA.As the name implies, it supports ray tracing to generate images....
, Blender
Blender (software)
Blender is a free and open-source 3D computer graphics software product used for creating animated films, visual effects, interactive 3D applications or video games. The current release version is 2.60, and was released on October 19, 2011...
, XSI
Softimage XSI
Autodesk Softimage, or simply Softimage is a 3D computer graphics application, owned by Autodesk, for producing 3D computer graphics, 3D modeling, and computer animation...
, Lightwave
LightWave
LightWave 3D is a high end computer graphics program developed by NewTek. The latest release of LightWave runs on Windows and Mac OS X.- Overview:...
, Mantra (in Houdini)
Houdini (software)
Houdini is a high-end 3D animation package developed by Side Effects Software which is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. It is a rewrite of the PRISMS ecosystem of standalone tools. Its chief distinction from other packages is that it has been designed as a purely procedural environment...
, Turtle (Illuminate Labs), BMRT, Shake
Shake (software)
Shake is a discontinued image compositing package used in the post-production industry. Shake was widely used in visual effects and digital compositing for film, HD and commercials. Shake exposes its node graph architecture graphically. It enables complex image processing sequences to be designed...
, After Effects, Aqsis
Aqsis
Aqsis is a free rendering suite compliant with the RenderMan standard. It is available under the GPL, with some parts under the LGPL. Its main author and project manager is Paul Gregory....
, Nuke
Nuke (software)
Nuke is a node-based compositor produced by The Foundry, and used for film and television post-production. Nuke is cross-platform, and is available for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux...
, Terragen
Terragen
Terragen is a scenery generator program for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X developed and published by Planetside Software. It can be used to create renderings and animations of landscapes.-History:...
, 3Delight
3Delight
3Delight is a proprietary, photorealistic, RenderMan-compliant offline renderer.It is developed by DNA Research, or DNA in short, a subsidiary of Taarna Studios.-Features:...
, and Pixie
Pixie (renderer)
Pixie is a free , photorealistic raytracing renderer for generating photorealistic images, developed by Okan Arikan in the Department of Computer Science at The University of Texas At Austin...
There is also a small python
Python (programming language)
Python is a general-purpose, high-level programming language whose design philosophy emphasizes code readability. Python claims to "[combine] remarkable power with very clear syntax", and its standard library is large and comprehensive...
web service
Web service
A Web service is a method of communication between two electronic devices over the web.The W3C defines a "Web service" as "a software system designed to support interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a network". It has an interface described in a machine-processable format...
called DrKeewee that allows you to check the status of the queue using a web browser
Web browser
A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
.
Script generators
Drqueue comes with a number of script generators for render applications as well as support for general batch processing applications. It also has bindingsLanguage binding
In computing, a binding from a programming language to a library or OS service is an API providing that service in the language.Many software libraries are written in systems programming languages such as C or C++...
for python
Python (programming language)
Python is a general-purpose, high-level programming language whose design philosophy emphasizes code readability. Python claims to "[combine] remarkable power with very clear syntax", and its standard library is large and comprehensive...
as well as (in beta) bindings for Ruby
Ruby (programming language)
Ruby is a dynamic, reflective, general-purpose object-oriented programming language that combines syntax inspired by Perl with Smalltalk-like features. Ruby originated in Japan during the mid-1990s and was first developed and designed by Yukihiro "Matz" Matsumoto...
Script generators exist for,
- BlenderBlender (software)Blender is a free and open-source 3D computer graphics software product used for creating animated films, visual effects, interactive 3D applications or video games. The current release version is 2.60, and was released on October 19, 2011...
- MayaMaya (software)Autodesk Maya , commonly shortened to Maya, is 3D computer graphics software that runs on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS and Linux, originally developed by Alias Systems Corporation and currently owned and developed by Autodesk, Inc. It is used to create interactive 3D applications, including video...
- 3ds Max (formerly 3D Studio MAX)
- StudioToolsStudioToolsAutodesk Alias is a family of computer-aided industrial design products starting with Alias Design as the entry-level conceptual design system, progressing to Alias Surface, and then to Alias Automotive as the top-of-the-line product with all of the options.Tools for sketching, modeling and...
Supported platforms
DrQueue supports any mix of LinuxLinux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
, Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
, Irix
IRIX
IRIX is a computer operating system developed by Silicon Graphics, Inc. to run natively on their 32- and 64-bit MIPS architecture workstations and servers. It was based on UNIX System V with BSD extensions. IRIX was the first operating system to include the XFS file system.The last major version...
, FreeBSD
FreeBSD
FreeBSD is a free Unix-like operating system descended from AT&T UNIX via BSD UNIX. Although for legal reasons FreeBSD cannot be called “UNIX”, as the direct descendant of BSD UNIX , FreeBSD’s internals and system APIs are UNIX-compliant...
and Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
with no restrictions on architecture
Computer architecture
In computer science and engineering, computer architecture is the practical art of selecting and interconnecting hardware components to create computers that meet functional, performance and cost goals and the formal modelling of those systems....
.
Production use of DrQueue
The following productions have used DrQueue,- Elephants DreamElephants DreamElephants Dream is a computer-generated short film that was produced almost completely using the free software 3D suite Blender . It premiered on March 24, 2006, after about 8 months of work...
- One Night with the KingOne Night with the KingOne Night with the King is a historical epic film that was released in 2006 in the United States. Based on the novel Hadassah: One Night with the King by Tommy Tenney and Mark Andrew Olsen, One Night with the King is a dramatization of the Old Testament Bible story of Esther, who risked her life by...
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's ChestPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's ChestPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is a 2006 adventure fantasy film and the second film of the Pirates of the Caribbean series, following Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl . It was directed by Gore Verbinski, written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, and produced by...
- Exorcist: The BeginningExorcist: The BeginningExorcist: The Beginning is a 2004 prequel to the 1973 film The Exorcist. This is the second version of the third Exorcist sequel. It was adapted by William Wisher Jr., Caleb Carr and Alexi Hawley, and directed by Renny Harlin...
- Bee SeasonBee Season (film)Bee Season is a 2005 American drama film adaptation of the 2000 novel of the same name by Myla Goldberg. The film was directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel and written by Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal. It stars Richard Gere and Juliette Binoche.-Plot:...
- Dark City
- Harsh TimesHarsh TimesHarsh Times is a 2006 American crime film set in South Los Angeles. The film stars Christian Bale and Freddy Rodriguez, and was written and directed by David Ayer, who wrote the script for the Academy Award-winning film Training Day. The film was distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and...
- Santa Clause 3
- Friday or another day ("Vendredi ou un autre jour")
- Donkey Xote (Spain)
- The Hairy Tooth Fairy ("Pérez, el ratoncito de tus sueños")
- NocturnaNocturna (film)Nocturna is a 2007 Spanish-French animated fantasy film directed by Adrià García and Víctor Maldonado. The film was produced by Filmax Animation.-Plot:...