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Smedge2 Version History

Release Date: 9/16/2004 Version 37.3

New Features and Changes:

• Added support for Nuke
• New commandline options to manually fill in the rendered image folder and file format: -imageDir directory and -imageFmt format

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed Maya commandline rendering filename parsing for Maya 6.0.1
• HTML log files didn't output to the correct directory if a file of the same name already existed in the correct directory.
• After Effects -output flag no longer fails AE renders
• Fixed disabled close box bug in Job History and Check Frames windows
• Render directory field couldn't be enabled in MentalRay for Maya (6.0+) Set Parameters dialog box
• Hyperthread check setting was being looked for in the wrong part of the registry.
• Submit Packets wasn't transferring all job properties.
• MentalRay for Maya (5.0 or earlier) was not using the correct setting from the options.

Release Date: 7/05/2004 Version 36.1

New Features and Changes:

• Added suport for Jig

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed support for MentalRay for Maya (5.0 or earlier) that was broken with the new Maya 6.0 support

Release Date: 6/09/2004 Version 35

General Notes

We really are working on Smedge 3. I promise. In the mean time, though, here's another update.

New Features and Changes:

• Added support for 3ds max 6.0
• Added support for Houdini
• Added support for Alias
• Added support for the broken Maya 6.0
• Added Instant Messenger system
• Added commandine control over jobs
• Added ability to selectively save jobs from the queue in an .smr file
• You can now limit the number of packets of any product type globally.
• You can also now configure the Smedge Globals from any machine (subject to security restrictions!)
• Added Pause and Requeue job commands, both in the GUI and via the commandline
• Added ability to restart Smedge on a client and Super-Restart Smedge on your network
• Total CPU usage is shown in the Job History window
• Job type added to Job list and Last packet time added to Machine list
• Set Parameters boxes will remember their last settings.

Bug Fixes:

• Finished jobs will no longer be sent on synchronization, meaning they won't get accidentally requeued
• Finished jobs are also no longer included in server changes or crash recovery.
• Fixed XSI output parsing.
• Fixed potential bug in Watcher restarting a crashed Smedge
• Hyperthreading machines should now correctly identify a single physical processor.
• Fixed the System Tray icon display of client enabled state.
• All job history information (both HTML history and captured output files) use the job name, no matter the product
  Illegal characters in the job name are now substituted with the underscore (_) character
• Some little inconsistencies and typos corrected

Release Date: 10/01/2003 Version 34

General Notes

Another update of Smedge 2. More improvements in functionality and stability.

New Features and Changes:

• Added support for After Effects.
• Added support for Digital Fusion.
• Added the new Check Frames window.
• Added Batch job submission to submit a whole bunch of jobs with the same basic settings at the same time.
• Added maximum clients to render a job.
• Added kill if over a percentage of average packet time.
• Added even more functionality to the new Job History window.
• Smedge now has the option of keeping finished jobs in the interface so you can view their history even after they complete.
• You can manually reset the failure counts for a Job or for a Client. Useful if a temporary problem was fixed, and you don't want to resubmit the job.
• Added a Submit.exe program to allow commandine submission without possible side effects.
• Smedge now persists the job list on disk so it can recover your job queue even after a devastating crash.
• Smedge can now automatically prioritize your clients.

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed problem with detection of image filenames with Maya rendering fields.
• Fixed Mental Ray rendering of .MI files for each frame.
• Fixed machine list excessive updating.
• Massive improvements in list sorting: multi-threaded, interruptible shell sort algorithm now used.
• More thread locking bugs fixed.
• Improved effeciency and effectiveness of Lightwave module.
• Many small bug fixes and typos corrected.

Release Date: 6/09/2003 Version 33

General Notes:

OK, so I lied. This is a new release of Smedge 2 while we are continuing on Smedge 3. This is a much more stable Smedge, and includes lots of new functionality as well.

New Features and Changes:

• Added support for 3ds max through a SplutterFish plug-in. You can download the latest version here.
• Added direct support for MentalRay for Maya.
• The Job History window is now much more useful.
• Client settings are stored in an INI file instead of the registry.
• Any client can now correctly display and configure any other client's Smedge Options. There is also a new interface for simple and fast multiple client setup of the Smedge Options.
• Job list now shows the time and date job was added.
• Copy filename to clipboard.
• Debugging log files are now erased at startup, so they won't fill up your hard disk anymore!
• Removed dependency on unnecessary STLPort DLL.
• Increased failure limits from 3 to 5.

Bugfixes:

• Fixed TCP communication bug that lead to loss of connection under heavy network traffic loads.
• Fixed thread locking bugs that lead to possible hanging Smedge or loss of connection.
• Fixed occasional Smedge startup failure bug.
• Fixed occasional unending recursion problem searching for spawned processes.
• The lists now sort correctly! Yay!
• Added 2 day padding to license check to account for clocks that aren't set correctly.
• Eliminated occasional failures upon successful job completion.
• Cleaned up several logging messages for easier debugging and problem solving.
• Fixed small Output Window bugs.
• Fixed bugs with INI/SMR files that didn't fully load.

Release Date: 11/7/2002 Version 32

General Notes:

This will be the final Smedge 2.x release. I will keep it updated with incremental bug fixes while Smedge 3 is completed. Thank you all for making Smedge so successful.

New Features and Changes:

• Added ability to save the job list. Also, .SMR files can now have multiple jobs inside them.
• All products can have Environment variable files, and ENV variables are now correctly expanded for the spawned processes.
• New commandline option -kill will tell Smedge to close on the client from a commandline or script.
• Better handling of large numbers of jobs.
• Increased pool size limit to 65535 frames.
• Added common options for MentalRay.

Bugfixes:

• Fixed problem with command lines longer than 255 characters.
• Fixed reconnection issues after unexpected server loss.
• Fixed crash if startframe is greater than end frame.
• Fixed crash if necessary parameters not found in command line.
• Fixed error messages regarding email sending.
• Fixed formatting problems in debugging log file.
• Fixed elapsed time display in Watcher when things go wrong.
• Fixed display problem on Submit Job dialog for XSI & MentalRay.

Release Date: 5/7/2002 Version 31

General Notes:

An incredible new release. This is by far the most stable Smedge to date.

New Features and Changes:

• Added full support for Lightwave
• Added full support for MayaMan
• You can dedicate a server machine. There are two ways: create a file called server.txt in the Smedge folder with the server name (or IP address) and optionally the port:

  server:port

  or use the -server command line switch:
  

  Smedge -server server:port

• Smedge has a new crash recovery system. When the program dies uncleanly, it should get automatically restarted.
• Smedge has a new system for communicating saved output between clients while a packet is being rendered. The new system is much more stable and faster. Occasionally, however, the packet can end before all the information is transmitted, and it will appear truncated in the window. It is not truncated by the client, it's just the communication pipe being broken.
• You can now execute a script or program upon successful job completion.
• You can now control both the HTML Job history and Saved Captured Output folders, and independently control the disk cleanup of the two folders. Leaving the folders blank will use the default (%TEMP%\Smedge)
• Smedge uses a better port of the standard template library that should be faster, more effecient and crash less. This library is included as a DLL in the installation.
• You can control the threading for every job type now. The labels should be clearer as to what's going on.
• New command line options:

  -nosplash	Disables the startup splash screen
  -hide	Starts Smedge hidden (implies -nosplash)

Bugfixes:

• Smedge should work with Maya 4.5 in the default location. Note: This is a hack. It should make most programs work, but both Maya and Lightwave (and probably most of the other programs) do not handles spaces very well internally, so I strongly suggest not using paths with spaces for your scene files or shared disks. UNC paths with spaces will fail.
• I think I fixed the Environment files for SoftImage based products. Please keep me informed of continued problems with this feature.
• Image file names no longer get the extra non-alphanumeric character at then end.
• If the image file does not yet exist on disk, Smedge displays an informative message to that effect instead of leaving the user guessing.
• There should be fewer of those jobs over 100%, but the problem hasn't been eliminated completely yet, unfortunately.
• A bunch of possible crash locations fixed.
• Cleaned up a bunch of error and log messages to be clearer and help solve problems faster.

Release Date: 3/14/2002 Version 30

General Notes:

New Features and Changes:

• You can now control the port Smedge uses to locate the server. You can set every client if you need to use a specific port, or you can divide your network into totally unrelated groups by using a different port for each. Smedge determines the port by looking in the following order:
  1. A commandline switch -port port_number
  2. The registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Überware\Smedge\Options\Port, a DWORD value.
  3. The registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Überware\Smedge\Host\Port, a DWORD value.
  4. The default (4566)
• There is a new system for adding extra parameters from the command line. Now, anything after the -extra until the end of your command line will be ignored by Smedge and placed directly into the extra parameters area. For example:

  Smedge -gui -s MyScene.mb -n 1 100 3 -extra -cam heroCam -im filename -rd "c:\Project\images\test"

  Make sure you put any switches for Smedge before the -extra flag.

Bugfixes:

• Fixed possibility for a permanent disconnected state after certain server restarts due to network failures.
• Fixed permanent disconnect after deleting a job with running packets.
• Fixed aborting packets occasional crash.
• Fixed default renumbering of frames in Maya renders where the -b flag is set to a value less than 1.
• Fixed a display problem where clients showed the wrong number of processors in use in certain situations.
• Fixed the local licensing. Now, if you turn off the broadcast license, you can license a machine independently of all other machines. It will not broadcast its license, and it will check out only from its local license.
• Fixed drag and drop onto main window, which wasn't working. Drag and drop onto Submit Job dialogs has always and still works.
• Multiple window positioning is a little nicer now.

Release Date: 1/15/2002 Version 29

General Notes:

Update for the Windows client. The Unix based clients are in-progress, but may take a little while. That's some hard stuff...

New Features and Changes:

• Added Rayz 2 support. Note: Smedge currently cannot capture the output from Rayz. I am working with the Rayz programmers to overcome this problem.
• You can now set the priority class of processes launched by Smedge on Windows. You are currently limited to Idle and Normal. Changing this option will only affect future processes, not any that are already running. Use this option with caution.
• New startup procedure should reduce network traffic and chances of multiple servers.
• Maya renders now handle the frame renumbering flags correctly (-SE and -BE).
• You can disable the warning when Smedge closes.
• Added option for Smedge to start minimized. If you have Smedge to hide on minimize, it does the right thing.

Bugfixes:

• The XSI command line should now properly support XSI 2.0.
• The Submit Job dialog for SoftImage now uses just the file, not the whole path. I think it should work better this way, but I need feedback from SoftImage users about this.
• Shake renders weren't displaying the frame in the packet, though the frame was being updated in the system.
• A few possible failure conditions were not being properly checked when checking for packet failures.
• An empty extra parameters field no longer logs an error message when you submit a job. There was no actual error.
• Processors In Use display could be off if the interface update thread happened to execute before the actual execution began.
• Changing client setup via the client pane of the main window now correctly changes the clients (bug introduced in 26 or 27).

Release Date: 10/30/2001 Version 28

General Notes:

If 27 had the right idea, 28 has the right implementation of that idea.
This is the Smedge that will Rock your World.

New Features and Changes:

• Added SoftImage XSI support.
• A whole new way of monitoring processes was implemented, which should be much more effecient. Smedge should be better able to handle scenes with large amounts of output and scenes that render really fast.
• Clients now have a priority associated with them. If multiple clients ask for work at the same time (within about a second of each other), clients with the higher priority numbers will get work first.
• Clients now can have a note attached to them. This note displays in the main window and as a line across the bottom of the Client Settings dialog box.
• There's a new window to view all available saved job history and saved captured output files.
• The Extra Parameters automatic field button has changed. The Set Parameters button brings up the Common Options dialog box to allow you to set options interactively. The Elipses button next to the field allows you to select a text file with pre-formatted command line options. This text file can be formatted any way you want: carriage returns will be ignored, and lines starting with the '#' character (comment lines) will be ignored.
• New option to select a directory to saved captured output

Bugfixes:

• Watching output should be more effecient, and won't duplicate output when another client watches the same packet.
• Instead of tabs for pools, there's now a combo box, so you can have more pools than would fit across the screen.
• Job History window open could hang interface when packets were updated.
• Aborted or failed packets may not have displayed in the interface when they restarted (display only problem).
• List sorting should be correct now.
• Improved MentalRay scene detection. No longer do you need base.#.mi files: now you can use any padded format. MentalRay can also now have packets of more than 1 frame.
• Some clarifications on command language.
• Sound should play only one time with default settings. I'm sooooo sorry about that!!!!

Release Date: 9/20/2001 Version 27

General Notes:

This is a big one! It should be the most stable Smedge yet. Of course, introducing so many core changes may lead to new issues, so please keep me informed if you come across anything. I hope you like the new interface.

New Features and Changes:

• New Failure recovery system:
  1. if a packet fails on a machine 3 times, that machine will not try to render that packet anymore
  2. if 3 packets from a job fail on a machine, that machine will not render that job anymore
  3. if 3 jobs have packets that fail on a machine, that machine will not render that type of job anymore
  4. if a packet fails on 3 different machines, it will marked "failed" and won't start again
  Note: a job will never be killed, no matter how many packets fail from that job.
• Maya, Shake, and Air now report a packet as failed if Smedge determines that not every frame rendered, even if the executable reports successful completion.
• New, simpler interface: Active Packets are on top, all Jobs are in the middle, and Clients on the bottom. Jobs' colors change depending on the job status. You can change the colors in the View menu. Jobs have more information displayed in the list. Pools appear as tabs in the Client pane.
• Added the -extra extra_parameters command line switch. Enclose your set of command line parameters in quotes.
• Jobs can now have notes attached. The note will appear in the job pane of the interface.
• Shake now displays the frame within the packet also. Abort Packet and Kill and Re-Queue Packet do the right thing.
• Smedge now maintains a cache of client names, so the Pool manager will display names correctly even after a client has disconnected.

Bugfixes:

• Fixed possible interface hanging problems due to thread conflicts.
• Removed Packet "Bogus starts" and fixed possible re-issue of finished packets.
• Fixed possible server death sending output.
• Fixed license broadcasting.
• Server now receives list of pools upon new server startup.
• Generic Script submit dialog left in the large field mode will now correctly fill in the field with the last script typed.
• Fixed possible packet miscalculation (display only problem).
• Fixed possible client in-use miscalculation (display only problem).
• Historical status now correctly displays aborts and failures.
• Minor typos in menus corrected.

Release Date: 8/22/2001 Version 26

General Notes:

Überware is now a member of the Alias|Wavefront Conductors Program! This should make the porting to Irix, Linux and OS-X a more likely possibility in the coming months.

New Features and Changes:

• Packets display which frame is currently being rendered (Maya and Air only currently). Additionally, selecting Abort Packet or Kill and Re-Queue Packet will do the right thing: start with the frame in the packet that was being worked on when the action was selected.
• Jobs now know where they came from, and clients can be limited to only touching jobs that they created. See the Security manual pages for more information.
• Two choices for the style of the generic scripts Submit Job dialog. Press the ">>" button for the big box and the "<<" button for the two small boxes.
• Clients now default to Pool Exclusive. You can set pool exclusivity in the Client Options dialog box.
• The select directory dialog can now create folders. Browse to where you want the folder, then type the new folder name in to the field at the top and you will be asked if you want to create that folder.
• Added Parameters dialog box for imgcvt jobs.

Bugfixes:

• Possible crash on packet completion fixed.
• Possible crash on hunting for child processes fixed.
• Line feed characters missing in output window fixed.
• Jobs that are not waiting for another job sometimes showed in red anyway.
• Failure to send email notification on job completion no longer hangs the whole client until you dismiss the dialog.
• Disconnected clients can no longer submit jobs to nowhere through the repeat dialog.
• Closed a few holes in the control security.

Release Date: 8/1/2001 Version 25

General Notes:

The silver edition! Just in time for the MTV 20th anniversary!

New Features and Changes:

• Added support for imgcvt.
• Added -pool pool_name command line switch. If your pool name has a space in it, enclose it in quote marks. If the pool you type is unknown, the "Whole System" pool will be used.
• You can now submit .smr files directly without opening a Submit Job dialog box. if the .smr file has a line "Submit=1" that line will override the command line and show the dialog. Otherwise, the default action is to submit the job directly unless the -gui flag is present.
• Paused jobs (priority 0) are now displayed in gray and Waiting jobs (waiting for another job) are displayed in red.
• On first execution, Smedge looks for AIRHOME environment variable and enables the Air renderer if it exists.

Bugfixes:

• Generic scripts no longer complain about not finding the file
• Fixed redraw problem in Active Jobs pane
• Pool manager simple security now works for edit and delete also
• Fixed typo so that DeleteJob security option now works

Release Date: 7/20/2001 Version 24

General Notes:

Because of the virtual memory issue, I strongly recommend you upgrade to this version. If you have 2.24.3, download this new version 2.24.5

New Features and Changes:

• Added support for the Air renderer.
• You can configure how long Smedge should wait to kill an idle process. Add a registry key KillTime in the options section with the number of seconds before the kill. The default is 5 minutes (300 seconds). Set this to zero to disable killing.
• Smedge no longer overwrites HTML log files when saving the job history to disk. If a file would have the same name, a number is now appended (e.g. MyScene.mb.html, MyScene-1.mb.html MyScene-2.mb.html, etc...). Smedge still uses the scene name, not the job name, but this could be changed or made into an option if there's enough desire for it.
• HTML log files are now also counted in the disk space constraint. In previous versions, only captured output log files were counted, so you could have theoretically filled your disk up with HTML log files. Files will still be deleted based on their date: oldest fist.
• Products that don't have a project setting now have a start directory setting.
• Added menu options and keyboard shortcuts for changing the "Active Packets"/"All Clients" tab on the main window.

Bugfixes:

• Fixed virtual memory leak in work units.
• Optimized shell code for fewer "Bogus" work units.
• Fixed memory fault on existing Job Settings dialog OK (introduced in number 23).
• No longer crashes on TCP connection failure at startup.
• Fixed disappearing Repeat dialog and corrected non-modal repeat behavior.
• Now saves time restriction flag correctly.
• Smedge no longer regenerates your license every time you start. This is more of an effeciency thing

Release Date: 6/27/2001 Version 23

General Notes:

More little things. I'm going to add some more renderers next, but this may take a little time.

New Features and Changes:

• Ability to submit only certain packets from a job from the Submit Job dialog. Click Only Packets...
• Ability to Kill a packet and immediately re-submit it as a new job. (Requires both kill and submit permissions.)
• A job can require that another job has finished before starting. This requirement can be changed after the job has already been submitted (in the Job Settings dialog). This behavior can be limited through the security options.
• You can have text appended to the job name based on the client at the time the job is submitted. Handy for ID purposes

Bugfixes:

• Maya render type has better fractional frame support. A Packet end frame is now the calculated end frame + 0.995. This should allow you to add a -b flag with a fractional frame step.
• Fixed display problem with the Submit Job dialog and large fonts.
• Fixed occasional server thread crash during ServerAnnouncement broadcasts.

Release Date: 6/18/2001 Version 22

General Notes:

Second public release. I've started incorportating some of your requests. Keep them coming and I'll do what I can.

New Features and Changes:

• Added security registry settings for limiting functionality. See Security in the Smedge2 manual.
• Added option to force smedge to startup disabled.
• Added option to disable license broadcasting.
• Added option to not check for updates.
• Vastly improved help and on-line manual (though there's still a ways to go)
• Title bar now says your local machine name. Handy for render-farms, when several render boxes share a monitor.

Bugfixes:

• If a child process hangs, Smedge automatically kills it after five minutes of inactivity, like it was supposed to. Note that ALL products (including generic script) have this behavior.
• Fixed submiting generic scripts without -gui option not bringing up dialog box
• Maya renders with a project ending in a slash will now render correctly
• Fixed startup crash after a crash
• Clarified wording in some places

Release Date: 5/28/2001 Version 21

General Notes:

This version is the first general release. It comes with a single machine license by default and totally replaces Smedge 1.x.

New Features and Changes:

• Licensed for 1 client by default.
• View button to get a license when a client is not directly connected to the net.

Bugfixes:

• Minor licensing bugs fixed.
• Minor help fixes.