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Furs

You will find on this page, the processes to render your furs with XGen and Yeti

XGen

Using Xgen in your scene requires a few steps to render your fur properly.
Before sending your scene on the farm which contains XGen features, please make sure to:

  1. Create the .abc files by clicking on “Export Patches for Batch Render” in the XGen tab> file.
    If your simulation is animated, enter the desired frame range.

You can now create the .vua archive with our plugin RANCHecker V5.

To avoid any trouble while using the job name parameter, please save your scene with 20 characters maximum, before exporting patches for batch render.

  1. Check if the .vua archive contains:
    • All the files collectionName.xgen in the scenes folder
    • All the files collectionName.abc in the scenes folder
    • The correct scene name
    • The “xgen” folder at the root of the .vua file, with all your collections and files inside

If something is missing accidentally, you can still add the assets manually inside the .vua archive, at the correct location.

  1. Check paths

Check if all the paths inside the .xgen files have been changed automatically to match the farm render path.

The xgProjectPath parameter must indicate the following path: C:/Maya/CurrentJob/
and the texture map XGen mask must indicate: ${PROJECT}sourceimages/…/the file path inside the .vua/…/yourfile.iff

XGen Interactive

Xgen Interactive Groom works on the farm without the previous steps because they do not need external files (except for masks and textures).

Only Splines caches and Xgen nodes caches require manual adjustment.
It is better use a copy of the farm path for the caches: C:\Maya\Currentjob\cache\alembic\

Method 1 (caches in Currentjob)

  • Import the alembics caches being in Currentjob in your scene
  • Save then create the archive with RANCHecker
  • Check VUA content and upload it.

Method 2 (caches in another location)

  • Import your alembic caches in your scene
  • Modify caches paths by C:\Maya\CurrentJob\cache\alembic\nomDuCache.abc
  • Save then create archive with RANCHecker and DO NOT click on “Submit”
  • Open the .vua that you just created, create a folder “cache” and put your caches inside
  • Upload archive through web interface.

Yeti

Workflow

For the moment, using Yeti on the RANCH farm require manual modifications from users to work properly on the farm
Please do the following steps to be sure that your Fur will be rendered properly.

  • Create a folder C:\Maya\Currentjob\cache and drop your .fur file inside.
  • In your scene, change the path of your fur to the previous folder (pgYetiMaya > I/O > Input) and set “Input Mode” to “cache”
  • RANCHeck your scene and DO NOT click on “Submit” button
  • Open the .vua with an archive manager(for example 7zip) and drag and drop your cache folder
  • Upload the archive on the RANCH through the web interface

Special Case

Renderman :

You have the possibility to avoid using a cache for your fur.

Arnold :

If you want to render without caches with Arnold, be sure to have write in Render Settings > “Common” tab > “Render Options” the command line pgYetiPreRender in the 3 following fields:
“Pre render Mel”, “Pre render layer Mel” and “Pre render frame Mel”.

Compatibility

RANCHecker V5 tool keeps improving and soon will automatically collect caches.

For the moment, the VUA created with RANCHecker 5 are only compatible with Arnold, Redshift and Renderman.
For Vray, please contact us at contact@ranchcomputing.com, so we can provide you the best solution for your needs.