Prepare Project (button): Prepares the project before sending it to the farm (collects assets, the scene, and renames paths).
Upload Project to RANCH (button): Opens the “Upload with RANCHSync” window, allowing you to upload and start rendering on the RANCH.
📜 Log Window
Once the project is prepared, the log window appears. This is the most important element in RANCHecker, as it displays essential information about your project’s status.
Each line (4 types) corresponds to specific information:
📄 Info (green): Informational message. Everything is working correctly. No action required.
💡 Advice (yellow): A suggestion to optimize your scene settings. This is not an error, but a recommendation to improve your project. You can ignore it if you’re confident in your settings.
⚠️ Warning (orange): Indicates that a change is needed in your scene or a parameter might be incorrect. Read carefully and correct if necessary.
❌ Error (red): Your scene contains an error or a missing option. Errors must be resolved before submitting the project. If you can’t fix it, contact us—we’ll be happy to help!
⚙️Advanced Settings
The “Advanced Settings” window opens by clicking on “Need Help?” → “Open Advanced Settings”. By default, some settings are not enabled or filled in.
Archive Folder: Changes the directory where VU3 archive files are stored. Use a drive with sufficient space (e.g., D:\ or E:\).
Export Folder: Changes the export directory for prepared files. Avoid the system drive (C:\) if space is limited.
MultiBand Prepass Def.: Reduces the prepass size for still images with V-Ray. Useful for complex scenes.
Log Line Height: Adjusts the height of lines in the log window. Increase for better readability.
No Log Grid Lines: Removes grid lines in the log window. Enable for a cleaner display.
Dummy For Missing: Creates a dummy file for missing assets. Useful to avoid rendering errors.
Clean Displace: Cleans Displace modifiers (not recommended). May cause visual artifacts.
Exclude Laubwerk Assets: Excludes Laubwerk assets (default paths are supported). Enable if using custom assets.
Do Not Use RANCHSync: Disables RANCHSync and uses the website to manage projects (not recommended). RANCHSync is more reliable for large projects.
Packer Alternative: Uses an alternative packer if the main one fails. Enable only if errors occur.
Pack On The Fly: Archives assets without copying them to the export folder. Saves time and disk space.
High Compression: Enables high compression for VU3 archive files. Useful for large projects.
Test Archive: Checks the integrity of the VU3 archive before submission. Use if you suspect corruption.
Test Bitmaps: Checks bitmap files for potential corruption. Useful if textures appear damaged.
Test Objects: Checks certain object properties in the scene. Helps detect problematic geometries.
Ignore Region: Always removes render regions to avoid issues. Some regions may cause errors.
Do Not Reload: Prevents RANCHecker from reloading the scene at the end of preparation. Saves time, but check the log for errors.
Custom Project Name: Allows setting a custom project name (max 18 characters). A window will open after clicking “Prepare Project”. Useful for specific project names.
Always Use MultiCam: Forces the use of MultiCam (instead of MultiBand). Enable if you never use strip rendering.
Folder Name: Sets the folder name for your assets. Use a clear and descriptive name.
Login: FTP login credentials. Provided by Ranch Computing.
Password: FTP password. Keep it secure.
Network Path: Useful for very large projects (10 GB to hundreds of GB). Allows rendering from network storage.
