Apple Qmaster 3 User Manual

Apple Qmaster 3

User Manual

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Welcome to Apple Qmaster5Preface

About Apple Qmaster5 About the Apple Qmaster Documentation5 Additional Resources6

Using Apple Qmaster 37Chapter 1

The Apple Qmaster Distributed Processing System8 The Apple Qmaster Interface10 Installing Apple Qmaster, Shake, and Other Applications14 Setting Up Rendering Services and Shared Storage15 Submitting Batches for Apple Qmaster Processing16 Using Nodes Without Apple Qmaster Installed29 Setting Environment Variables in Apple Qmaster31 Using the Command Line in Apple Qmaster33

Welcome to Apple Qmaster

The Apple Qmaster system provides automated work distribution and processing for high-volume projects created with digital visual effects software packages such as Shake.

This preface covers the following:

• About Apple Qmaster (p. 5)

• About the Apple Qmaster Documentation (p. 5)

• Additional Resources (p. 6)

About Apple Qmaster

The Apple Qmaster application described in this document is the graphical “client interface” that you use to submit jobs for distributed rendering and processing. Apple Qmaster can accept jobs from Shake, Autodesk Maya, and any UNIX command-line program. The Apple Qmaster application is one of several applications in the Apple Qmaster distributed processing system. The complete system includes controls for configuring clusters of processing computers and for monitoring, pausing, resuming, or canceling work that has been submitted.

Preface

About the Apple Qmaster Documentation

Apple Qmaster comes with various documents that will help you get started as well as provide detailed information about the application. To access these documents, open Apple Qmaster and choose Help > Apple Qmaster Help.

• Apple Qmaster User Manual: This document describes the Apple Qmaster client application only. For information about how to create a complete network for Apple Qmaster processing, as well as information about how the Apple Qmaster application works with the rest of the Apple Qmaster system, see the Distributed Processing Setup Guide.

• Distributed Processing Setup Guide: This document explains how to set up and maintain an Apple Qmaster distributed processing network for use with Compressor or digital visual effects software packages such as Shake.

• Batch Monitor User Manual: This brief document describes how to use Batch Monitor to monitor the transcoding progress of batches and jobs.

Additional Resources

Along with the documentation that comes with Apple Qmaster, there are a variety of other resources you can use to find out more about Apple Qmaster.

Compressor Website

For general information and updates, as well as the latest news on Compressor, go to:

• http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/compressor

For general information about using Apple Qmaster distributed processing with Compressor, go to:

• http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/compressor/encoding.html

Apple Service and Support Websites

For software updates and answers to the most frequently asked questions for all Apple products, go to the general Apple Support webpage. You’ll also have access to product specifications, reference documentation, and Apple and third-party product technical articles.

• http://www.apple.com/support

For software updates, documentation, discussion forums, and answers to the most frequently asked questions for Compressor, go to:

• http://www.apple.com/support/compressor

For discussion forumsfor all Apple products from around the world, where you can search for an answer, post your question, or answer other users’ questions, go to:

• http://discussions.apple.com

6 Preface Welcome to Apple Qmaster

Using Apple Qmaster 3

The Apple Qmaster application is the client software you use to submit jobs and batches (for Shake and related software) to the larger Apple Qmaster system, an automated work distribution and processing solution for high-volume projects.

This chapter covers the following:

• The Apple Qmaster Distributed Processing System (p. 8)

• The Apple Qmaster Interface (p. 10)

• Installing Apple Qmaster, Shake, and Other Applications (p. 14)

• Setting Up Rendering Services and Shared Storage (p. 15)

• Submitting Batches for Apple Qmaster Processing (p. 16)

• Using Nodes Without Apple Qmaster Installed (p. 29)

• Setting Environment Variables in Apple Qmaster (p. 31)

• Using the Command Line in Apple Qmaster (p. 33)

The Apple Qmaster Distributed Processing System

Batch of

processing jobs

Client computer

Jobs are submitted.

Destination folder Files are placed at

specified destination.

Processed

files

Apple Qmaster cluster

Processing is

performed by cluster.

Network

Computers that submit batches to Apple Qmaster are called clients. An Apple Qmaster job is a processing task in the form of a Shake file, or other file or commands, that uses

UNIX commands to specify settings such as rendering instructions and file locations and destinations.

Although a batch can include just one job, you will typically want to submit several jobs at once for processing. Similarly, several people can use the same Apple Qmaster system at the same time, with several client computers sending batches in the same time frame. Batches are managed and distributed by the computer that is designated as the Apple Qmaster cluster controller. For more information, see the Distributed Processing Setup Guide, available in Apple Qmaster Help.

8 Chapter 1 Using Apple Qmaster 3

Clients

Batches are submitted for processing from the client computers. A client computer can be any computer that has Apple Qmaster installed and is on the same network as the cluster controller. Multiple client computers can be on the same network, using the same cluster to do the processing for various applications. See Submitting Batches with the

Apple Qmaster Application for details.

Clusters

When a client sends batches to the Apple Qmaster system, all the processing and subsequent moving of any output files is performed by a group of Apple Qmaster–configured computers called a cluster. To set up Apple Qmaster services, you use the Apple Qadministrator application to create one or more clusters of service nodes, with one cluster controller included in each cluster. Each computer in the cluster is connected to the other computers in the cluster through a network connection. See the Distributed Processing Setup Guide, available in Apple Qmaster Help, for more information on cluster setup. In particular, see “Preparing a Network for Distributed Processing.”

Note: See the Shake Support website (http://www.apple.com/support/shake) for an online guide to setting up a full-time “render farm,” incorporating an Xserve computer and cluster nodes.

Service Nodes

When you combine multiple nodes into a cluster, they function as one very powerful computer because all their resources are shared. You make a computer available as a service node by configuring it in the Apple Qmaster pane in System Preferences. The steps involved in using System Preferences to configure a service node are described in “Creating and Administering Clusters” in the Distributed Processing Setup Guide, available in Apple Qmaster Help.

Cluster Controllers

The cluster controller software acts as the manager of a cluster. The cluster controller directs the distribution of batches within the cluster. It has the ability to determine the best use of the cluster resources based on work and availability variables. (See the Distributed Processing Setup Guide, available in Apple Qmaster Help, for more details.) You make a computer available as a cluster controller by turning on the cluster controlling service in the Apple Qmaster pane in System Preferences. (See “Configuring Service Nodes and Cluster Controllers” in the Distributed Processing Setup Guide, available in Apple Qmaster Help.)

9Chapter 1 Using Apple Qmaster 3

The Apple Qmaster Interface

Pop-up menus

Batch table

Batch name

Toolbar buttons

Submit To field

The Apple Qmaster application described in this document is one part of the larger distributed processing system described in The Apple Qmaster Distributed Processing

System. The Apple Qmaster application is the client software you use to submit jobs and

batches to the system. Both this application and the larger system are known by the same name (Apple Qmaster).

The Apple Qmaster window contains a toolbar; a Batch Name field; a Submit To field; the Batch table; buttons to add, remove, and submit jobs (dimmed until at least one job is in the Batch table); and pop-up menus to choose job types and batch priority.

Toolbar Buttons

The Apple Qmaster toolbar contains the following buttons.

• History: Opens the History drawer, where you can view a full log of all batches submitted from your computer, check the current status of all processing batches, and resubmit

10 Chapter 1 Using Apple Qmaster 3

any batches listed in the log.

• Set Environment: Opens a dialog whereyou can add environment variables and preflight scripts.

• Notification: Opens a dialog where you can set (or reset) an email address to which the status of a batch completion or failure can be sent. Apple Qmaster does not currently support SMTP servers that require authentication. The following list shows the processing service type followed by the notification label used in the emails and logs:

• Local Compressor service: servicecontroller:com.apple.stomp.transcoder

• Distributed Compressor service: servicecontroller:com.apple.stomp.transcoderx

• Distributed Apple Qmaster service: servicecontroller:com.apple.qmaster.executor

• Batch Monitor: Opens Batch Monitor, which allows you to view the status of all batches being processed.

Batch Table

This is the large middle area of the Apple Qmaster window that lists the individual jobs in a batch.

The Batch table includes the following columns.

• Type: One of four job types: Shake, Maya, Generic Render, Shell (UNIX).

• Command: The actual command for the job.

• Working Directory: If relevant, the directory from which you want the command to be executed.

Text Fields and Pop-Up Menus

Around its periphery, the Apple Qmaster window includes other important interface elements for creating and submitting jobs and batches.

• “Batch name” field: This is where you can enter the name of a particular batch. (This is the name that appears in Batch Monitor.)

• Submit To pop-up menu: Usethis pop-up menu to choose an available cluster to process the current batch.

• Command pop-up menu: Use this pop-up menu to create commands.

You can choose one of the following types of jobs.

• Generic Render: For more information, see Submitting Batches with the Generic

Render Command.

11Chapter 1 Using Apple Qmaster 3

• Maya: For more information, see Submitting Maya Batches.

Add button

Remove button

Duplicate button

• Shake: For more information, see Submitting Shake Batches.

• Shell: For more information, see Using Apple Qmaster to Submit UNIX Commands.

• Add button: Use the Add (+) button to enter a job (with the selected job type) in the Batch table.

• Remove button: Use the Remove (–) button to delete the selected job from the Batch table.

• Duplicate button: Use the Duplicate button to duplicate the selected job in the Batch table.

• Serialize Jobs: Select this checkbox to execute jobs in exactly the order in which they appear in the batch list. For example, if you have a Shake script that requires the output of a Maya script, you can ensure that the Shake script does not execute until the Maya script is completed.

• Priority: Use this pop-up menu to set the relative priority (urgency) for a batch. This pop-up menu allows you to set the priority level (High, Medium, or Low) of a batch, relative to other batches. It defaults to Medium. High-priority batches get processed before medium-priority and low-priority batches.

12 Chapter 1 Using Apple Qmaster 3

• Delay: Use these text fields to set a delay in hours or minutes for any job in the batch. Click in either text field (left field = hours, right field = minutes) to enter the corresponding value. Click the arrows to step through minutes in increments of 5 at a time, or, if the Hour text field is selected, in increments of 1 hour at a time.

• Submit: Click the Submit button to process the batch using the parameters set in the Apple Qmaster window.

Apple Qmaster Preferences

You can use the Apple Qmaster Preferences window to adjust how Apple Qmaster works with remote computers.

Note: This is the preferences window for Apple Qmaster.app, the client application. It should not be confused with the Apple Qmaster pane in System Preferences, which you use to configure an entire Apple Qmaster distributed processing system.

About the Apple Qmaster Preferences Window

The Apple Qmaster Preferences window includes the following items.

Remote Computer Settings

• “Enter IP addresses or ranges for manually selected computers” table: This table displays information about remote host computers.

• Add/Remove button: Use the button to add or remove information about remote host computers.

13Chapter 1 Using Apple Qmaster 3

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