What's New in SmedgeTM 2016
See What's New in Smedge 2016
What's New in SmedgeTM 2015
See What's New in Smedge 2015
What's New in SmedgeTM 2014
See What's New in Smedge 2014
What's New in SmedgeTM 2012
See What's New in Smedge 2012
What's New in SmedgeTM 2011
See What's New in Smedge 2011
What's New in SmedgeTM 2010
See What's New in Smedge 2010
Changes in older SmedgeTM 3 Versions
Version 2.4.2 January 5, 2009
+ Houdini support
+ Configure Engine window can save and use presets for quickly configuring Engines
+ Engines can now be configured to override Job CPU settings to always use 1 per CPU or 1 per Engine on that machine.
+ Bring back "Copy current to all" button in Configure Engine dialog
+ Herald can get the Engine information for a work event with $(WorkEngine) for the ID and $(WorkEngineName) for the Name
+ Job and Engine shells can now programmatically reset failure counts
+ Job Shell can now Usurp and Preempt Jobs programmatically
+ Submit can now modify existing jobs as well as submit new Jobs
+ Simpler common installation guide for all platforms
+ Combustion Module now supports sequence renumbering
+ Maya Module automatically configures the path to the Render executable
+ Max Module works more simply and no longer creates XML files
+ SmedgeGui removes whitespace when submitting license codes
+ Submit Job window "Apply" button becomes "Submit" if the job being edited finishes while the window is open
+ (API) $(RenumberStart) is always calculated(if the parameter exists for the Product) and set to the work start if not overridden
+ (API) Process objects can override exception logging level
- Ghost Engine appears in SmedgeGui when an Engine goes offline
- (Mac) Engine can get incorrect name "localhost" when started at boot time
- SmedgeGui can crash on auto-detection
- SmedgeGui can crash on History control context menu
- (Mac) Configure Connection dialog disappeared before it coudld be used
- Submit Job window "Submit Copy" operation did not set Job Creator correctly
- Herald did not expand $(Name) parameters in To field of Email notifications
- Lightwave Module did not enquote ConfigFile or ContentDir when generating commandline
- AfterEffects Module did not always detect filenames correctly
- Blender Module was not formatting command line correctly
- Max Single Frame job used wrong internally for $(Overlap) parameter
- Turtle for Maya rendering could cause crashes with incorrect detection of rendered image files
- (Linux) Fixed possible deadlock in low-level memory allocation system.
- Fixed possible memory access violations in low-level string management system
Version 2.4.1 September 23, 2008
+ Added some common Maya errors that can usually be safely ignored
- Virtual Modules were always skipping error text detection.
- Fixed daemon installer problem on OS-X
- Submit License dialog did not allow copy of Master ID on OS-X
- Fixed engine service installation problem on Windows
- Windows Uninstaller shortcut had wrong path name
Version 2.4.0 September 15, 2008
+ Ported to OS-X (Universal Binary, OS-X 10.4 and later)
+ Vue, Rendition, 3Delight, Gelato, Aqsis support
+ Filters for SmedgeGui lists
+ Ability to cancel a job without deleting it
+ Engine configuration dialog now modeless and more intuitive
+ Submit Job window better organized and easier to use, and now includes presets for render parameter overrides
+ Mental Ray for Maya now respects thread usage and verbosity requests
+ Virtual Modules can handle products that have one scene file per rendered frame
+ New parameters $(CurrentDate) and $(CurrentTime), which allow time/date formatting
+ New parameters $(UserDir), $(MachineDir), $(SmedgeDir), and $(SystemID)
+ Restriction to only allow users to control/modify their own jobs
+ Customizable Job finish disposition.
+ Improved path translations for detected image filenames
+ New SingleDistributor API for jobs that have exactly 1 worker
+ Dispatch.log formatting improved to make it easier to see what is going on
+ Maya module ignores common benign error strings by default
+ Updating a Job in SmedgeGui shouldn't change the Job's creator
+ Lots of small tweaks to improve performance and usability
+ Jobs can force the creation time to be preserved
+ Job CLI Shell can get Job's percent done
- Requeue work from Job History did not requeue all selected work
- Fixed possible communication errors from skipped messages
- Fixed possible extended selections if you used different tabs of the main window
- Fixed possible Engine crash when network hits cause a loss of the captured output file during work execution
- Detected Image filenames are always cleared when submitting new Jobs
- Combustion Module could overwrite the same frames with every packet
- Time and dates could be displayed incorrectly
- Job shell was not listing customized parameters correctly
- Fixed possible Master deadlock managing Jobs database
- Fixed possible access violation detecting file sizes
- Administrator Mode is not available when disconnected
- RenderJob reported values of $(IdleTimeout) and $(MinimumTime) incorrectly
- removed unnecessary dependency on libcurses for Submit
- Killing a Maya Job did not kill the child process on Linux
- Fixed possible problems with SmedgeEngine shutting down
- Empty password for resource remapping did not always validate correctly on Windows
- mental ray Standalone did not handle multiple .mi files in a single packet
- Fixed bug with Windows paths using / directory delimiters possibly losing the : in an absolute path name
- Fixed bugs in substring search algorithms returning incorrect results
- Fixed possible crash resulting from a buffer overrun formatting strings
- Lots of typos and other internal or display bugs fixed
Version 2.3.2 November 30, 2007
+ Blender module supports threading and image filename detection
- Maya Module crashes when -b value is set between 0 and 1
- Max Module -gammaValueOut missing colon in separator definition
- Removed depricated Maxwell.psx
Version 2.3.1 October 16, 2007
+ New 3D Studio Max compiled module to improve 3ds max support
+ New Maxwell Light Renderer Product
+ Vastly improved installer on Windows
+ RenderJob Products can automatically determine required drive mapping from scene file, if needed
+ Mapped Drive Manager to simplify mapping multiple network drives with multiple products on multiple Engines at once
+ Required Parameters now shown with bold label on Submit Job window
+ Ability to add arbitrary auto-detect handlers for any Product, even outside of the Module that defines that Product
+ SmedgeGui uses a checked list box for lists of enabled products
- Incoming messages ignored because of a decoding problem could cause unnecessary connection failures
- Improved mental ray auto-detect file processing speed
- SmedgeGui will show a warning message before allowing users to use the Configure Connection dialog
- RenderJob generated wrong image file format string from a negative frame
- Job History view could open the wong log file with multiple work attempts
- Startup failures could crash the app, making it harder to debug the actual problem
Version 2.3.0 September 25, 2007
+ mental ray Standalone product now supports INI file customization
+ XSI Product improved and new XSI to mental ray exporter Product
+ Maya Module now supports path translation on the output directory (-rd) option
+ Captured output files are saved with the scene file by default for easier accessibility
+ Smedge can compensate for clocks not being set consistently across the network
+ Extra parameter type parameters are now shown as a new tab in the Submit Job window
+ Improved error text detection system to have ability to ignore error lines with specified texts
+ Virtual Modules Success Text values are now overridable as an Advanced Job parameter
+ Job History shows average time per frame for packet sizes over 1 frame
+ Product information can include "\n" string to add new line characters to parameter help texts
+ Output window will always show the commandline and will update auotmatically if opening from a file while the work is still going
+ Option to have SmedgeGui load .SJ files directly into the system or into a Submit Job window
+ All products are enabled by default
+ Easier to understand failure messages
+ GUI Theme support on Windows
+ Submit Job window tries to preserve Product parameters when you change Products
- Fixed forward/backward version compatibility. This version will not be compatible with earlier versions, but later versions should remain compatible with this one
- Maya Module detects mental ray rendered images correctly
- Cinema 4D has incorrect commandline for multiple frames
- "Unlicensed" status does not always show up correctly in SmedgeGui
- -LogFileLevel command line switch being ignored
- Master distribution loop can die if a Job is deleted at the exact wrong moment
- SmedgeGui Lists don't all sort correctly
- Possible SmedgeGui crash opening Configure Master dialog if a Product has been removed since the last time it was opened
- Possible Master hang on shutdown
- Possible CheckFileSeqence crash
- Options files could store incorrect options when reverting to default values
- INI Files with multiple line entries removed too much whitespace, leading to strange spelling errors in help text
- Time span display with negative time spans could be displayed incorrectly
- (Linux) daemon startup script was not working correctly on Red Hat distributions
- (Linux) removed unneeded library dependencies in GUI component applications
Version 2.2.0 June 27, 2007
+ Auto-Delete Jobs after a period of time after they finish
+ (Windows) Engine Shell can run as a Service for faster interaction
+ Distributed Render Hosts field in Extra Parameters for finalRender for Maya
+ Commandline -StartService and -StopService now have optional -Wait flag to specify waiting for request to finish
+ Improvements in IniFile and OptionsFile APIs
- Master may not save Restrictions and Limits properly
- Master Service can stay at "Starting" for an extended period
- Master only saving one path translation.
- Possible Master crash when requested to send out-of-date data
- Engine immediate Disable not immediate
- Job History elements can get out of order
- Sync Debug Logging does not work
- CommandLine API bugs fixed
- (Windows) Thread names not set in the debugger
Version 2.1.2 June 12, 2007
- Negative frame range not working correctly
- Translations.ini file stored in wrong folder
- (Linux) Machine folder should honor SMEDGE_UMASK setting
- (Linux) Startup scripts use /bin/sh
Version 2.1.1 May 18, 2007
(Windows only)
- Smedge is not working on Windows 2000
Version 2.1.0 April 30,2007
+ Initial public release for Linux
+ Smedge communication is now forward and backward compatible
+ New "Save" command for Job Shell program
+ Job Shell commands can now work on more than one Job with a single command
+ You can now use SMEDGE_MODULES environment variable to add alternate locations for loading Smedge Modules
+ Default Job Creator is now the current user name, instead of the machine name.
+ Submit -FromFile can now override Paused status and Creator
+ "RealName" element allows you to specify case sensitive parameters in Virtual Modules
+ Command to start Herald from SmedgeGui
+ Improved performance
- "Load" and "Save" buttons are reversed in the Configure Engines dialog box
- "Round-Robin" dispatch system stopped working correctly
- Removed another possible cause of "zombie" work
- Fixed possible failures related to multiple threads initializing internal systems at the same time
Version 2.0.9 April 17, 2007
- Lightwave Module not showing up
Version 2.0.8 March 15, 2007
(Windows only)
- Cloned OS machines can cause system ID not to be unique
Version 2.0.7 March 9, 2007
(Windows only)
+ Unified Engine configuration dialog with load/save/default functionality
+ New Blender Module
+ Improved memory utilization
+ Nicer date formatting
- Fixed several possible Master crash sources related to the Work database design with new Work database system
- Cinema 4D and 3DS Max Modules were not passing the extra parameters to the actual commandline
- Engine Maximum CPUs value could get set to a different value than the actual number of CPUs on the machine
- Herald does not obtain the $(ImageName) or $(Note) parameters.
- BoolOverride type is not detecting if a value is at its default
- Fixed possible crashes in Memory systems, as well as improved memory system performance.
- Job History control could get duplicate elements for the same worker
- Loading a Job from a JobFile should not restore the Job's final status
- License expiration date is not being respected
Version 2.0.6 December 26, 2006
(Windows only)
+ Screensaver Engine Control for Windows
+ Global Stagger Start
+ Submit -Paused to allow you to submit jobs by commandline paused
+ Override the Log folder with the Environment variable SMEDGE_MACHINE_LOGS, or the commandline switch -LogFolder
+ All client apps can timeout if they don't contact the Master with a timout period specified -ConnectTimeout
+ Maya 8 Lightmap renderer support
+ Maya Module now supports ability to override default values by Product.
+ "Set to Local" buttons in Engine configuration dialog
+ New RenderJob Parameter $(ImageFileList) will get a space separated list of detected image files, in quotes if there is a space in the filename
+ Improved Master performance and memory usage dramatically
+ Job History control will now automatically sort, and will remember your last sorted column
- Master ignores distributor's acknowledgement of work outstanding at startup
- RenderMan for Maya crashes Engine detecting frames
- Submit -Pool does not work
- Submit needs to handle new event command parameters for all Jobs
- Submit can fail to connect to the Master
- Sorting History can crash SmedgeGui
- Administrator Mode password not working
- Herald not notifying about JobFirstStarted and WorkFinishedUnsuccessful events
- Changing available CPUs could cause Master to distribute way too much work to the changed engine
- SmedgeGui lists remain frozen if disconnect while getting connect data
- New elements in the HistoryCtrl are not formatted correctly
- Info panel position not correct restoring from maximized on 2nd monitor
- SmedgeGui lists remain frozen if disconnect while getting connect data
- PoolManager list format specifier was ignored
Version 2.0.5 October 1, 2006
Initial public release of version 2, cross compatible with Linux
Initial public beta of Linux Master, Engine, Modules, and commandline Shells
Version 1.8.2 May 9, 2006
+ ProcessSeqeunce products can now disable the check for the process return code
+ List controls in the GUI sort more accurately and secondarily sort based on the last sort column
+ Job History list can be sorted now
+ Total elapsed real time display in Job History panel
+ Estimated total CPU time dispaly in Job History panel
+ Disabled but working engines should show their status in the Gui
+ AfterEffects Module improved error text detection
+ Users can customize the list colors
+ new PoolManager commandline shell to get Pool information from scripts or commandline
- Master ignored disabled product settings
- Fixed possible access violation in MessageInStream::RepackBuffer
- Failed message reading could cause connection loss
- Jobs submitted at nearly the same time were not always ordered consistently
- Renumbering system could start with the wrong frame number
- Maya -reg flag was not working correctly, because Multi type parameters had the wrong default separator
- Resubmitting paused Jobs should create the new Jobs also paused
- Requeue from History Control did not requeue entire packets
- Job History estimated time could get progressively worse
- History Control 'View Output' always views only the first work's output
- History Control updates the time on only one active work unit
- Time displays in Job History panel go to days if needed
- Job command menus reordered to make pause/resume more accessible
- InfoPanel did not restore display settings correctly
- Negative durations don't always show '-'
- String::MakeUpper and MakeLower could crash if called on empty strings
Version 1.8.1 April 6, 2006
+ New Herald Shell for notification about Job and Work events, including messages, sounds, email, or commands
+ New Turtle Module
+ Lightwave and AfterEffects Modules are now configurable using an INI file
+ Maya Module handles -fnc extra commandline parameter
+ Creator is now listed in the Job list, and both creation time and creator are in the Job Info Panel
+ Increase/Decrease Priority Job commands now in Job List context menu also
- Submit does not always notice it was connected to the Master
- Info Panel labels are easier to read
- Submit Job Window can show wrong Priority value in the text field
- Maya Module -ard flag truncated floating point values.
Version 1.8.0 March 7, 2006
+ Drag and Drop .sj files onto SmedgeGui to submit them.
+ ImageNotEndText in Virtual Module file definition
+ SuccessText in Virtual Module file definition
+ SmedgeGui shows the machine name in the Title bar
+ ConfigureMaster commandline Shell to control Master options, limits, and restrictions
+ SmedgeMaster has -AllowMultiple to allow multiple Masters on the same machine (Make sure to set a database and port to avoid conflict)
+ Clients can specify a Master port by commandline
+ Exectuables should be more intelligently quoted, if needed
- Connections no longer drop too easily and reconnect badly under heavy loads
- Missing Modules cause GUI to crash on startup
- Turn off error check in Job Parameters did not always work
- DatagramListenerThread exception handler dumped logs often on UDP connection loss
- Fixed possible hung threads on shutdown in Master and Engine
- CheckFileSequence could crash during timed file scan
- View Frame process failure could kill the GUI
- Fixed Possible access violation on Engine trying to interrupt work
- Submit could die uncleanly if it did not connect to the Master
- UDP Master port now follows TCP Master port
- Fixed typos and cleaned up logging
Version 1.7.0 February 2, 2006
+ Add support for RenderMan for Maya
+ Requeue frames from the Job History window
+ Disable Idle Timeout (Set to 0 to disable the check)
+ Change the default overtime kill ratio check
- GUI Crashes on long history filling
- Process output always saved in "ParentName" folder
- Unknown Type options message crashes Master
- -InstallService -User not working with local user accounts
- Possible divide by zero in history control
Version 1.6.6 December 21, 2005
+ Disable AutoDetect in GUI
+ AfterEffects autodetects scene name and clears the Image Filename Format when Job parameters change
+ Internal change at formatting parameter names
- Resource reconnection is not loading username and password correctly from Engine options
- Maya (1-5) was not detecting filenames
Version 1.6.4, December 19, 2005
- Engines not saving information changes
- OutMessage could lead to hung threads in the Master
Version 1.6.2, December 16, 2005
+ Improved quoted file handling in all Modules
+ Maya (1-5) is now handled by the Maya.sx Module, giving project/name autodetection and frame file detection
+ AfterEffects "Output Format" parameter renamed from "Output Directory"
- Resources were not being restored from Engine Options
- ProcessJob default captured output log path corrected to use parent name instead of ID
Version 1.6.1, December 7, 2005
- Stop Permanently was not stopping permanently
- Cleaned up unnecessary logging in SmedgeGui
Version 1.6.0, December 5, 2005
+ Air Module
+ Job file includes Wait For and loads dependencies correctly
+ Integrate VNC with SmedgeGui
+ Add Job Event commandlines
+ Added Minimum Time check to ProcessJob
+ Job Shell can customize output format and data
+ Job Shell can resubmit Jobs
+ SmedgeGui can configure Master Product options
+ You can set the "Creator" string in SmedgeGui
+ SmedgeGui Manual now available
- Fixed SmedgeEngine dying if it can't find parent Job
- Maya Module handles files with spaces correctly
- Info Server (cpu and memory usage) did not always work
- Submit Job window size changed with multiple open windows
- Output Window position moved up and left each time it opened
- Engines get updated when existing Jobs are changed
- Empty log folders get cleaned up correctly
- SmedgeGui showed Range in Idle Time Limit sometimes
- Load Job loaded Jobs into the display but not the system
- Dispatch loop logging did not turn off correctly
- Internal memory usage improvements.
Version 1.5.0, October 20, 2005
+ Generic Script Module
+ Maya Module to handle Maya 7
+ MayaMan module
+ Failed process start is easier to detect with error text in Job History control
+ Engine clean up after captured output logs
+ Virtual Modules handle relative paths for detected frame files
+ New ParameterInfo type "Info"
+ New ParameterInfo type "Alternate"
+ Log files are now limited to 1MB
+ MentalRay standalone handles 1 file per frame
+ Parameter names can have attached commands
+ Engine commandline control Shell
+ Start process shown/hidden
+ Render By for Lightwave
+ IniFile sections and keys case-insensitive
+ JobHistory saves engine ID instead of name
- Services stop when a user logs off
- SmedgeGui product options not saving correctly
- CheckFileSequences has no product options ability
- Delete Job menu commands missing from Job Menu
- CheckFileSequences ViewFrame command not working
- AfterEffects output parameter not working
- Resources was only remapping a single drive
- CheckFileSequences does not reset Job status when you requeue
Version 1.0.2, September 7, 2005
+ Add -pad extra parameter for Maya/MR4M modules
+ Default window sizes are terrible
+ -StopService waits for service to actually stop
- Master seems to lose licenses on disconnect
- Realtime Engine info goes haywire
- CheckFileSequences now resets the Job status to Pending when submitting a Job
Version 1.0.1, August 14, 2005
+ Added mental ray standalone Module
+ Virtual Modules auto-detect Job Name as the scene filename
- Some license codes could not be extracted
- View Output command from History list crashes if the output file cannot be found
- SmedgeMaster can crash processing EngineOptionsMsg if type is not found
- Browse to Scene command crashes GUI if scene is empty
- File open failed if filename was surrounded in quotes
Version 1.0.0, August 1, 2005
Initial public release
