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#
# Copyright (c) 2002-2006 Pipelinefx L.L.C. All rights reserved.
#
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#
# Filename: RELEASE.txt
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# Description:
#  Release notes for the maya jobtype for Qube!
#
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IMPORTANT!!!

Please read the README.txt file for the latest important information
regarding the installation and use of this package.

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@RELEASE: 5.1-1

@COMPATIBILITY:

This release is designed to work with Qube! version 5.1-x.

@SUMMARY:

This release is a minor update, and includes workarounds to avoid
mental ray for maya renders from terminating prematurely.

@FEATURE: added "ignore render-time errors" switch

Added "Ignore render-time errors" switch to the submission interface,
which allows the user to tell the job to ignore all render-time
errors, on a job-by-job basis.

@BUGFIX: ignore "Error: ...ignored" error messages

Added code to automatically ignore error messages that look like
"Error:... ignored" printed by the renderer (most notably by mental
ray), and go on with processing frames.  Earlier versions terminated
the job, and didn't process further frames when it saw those error
messages.

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@RELEASE: 5.1-0

@COMPATIBILITY:

This release is designed to work with Qube! version 5.1-x.

@SUMMARY:

This release is built against the new Qube! 5.1 libraries.
It also includes Maya 8.5 support on all supported 32-bit platforms.

@FEATURE: Maya 8.5 support

Maya 8.5 support has been added.


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@RELEASE: 5.0-0

@IMPORTANT:

Please read the README.txt file for the latest important information
regarding the installation and use of this package.

@COMPATIBILITY:

This release should work with Qube! version 5.0-0 and above.

@SUMMARY:

This release is built against the new Qube! 5.0 libraries.
Additionally, for Maya 7.0 and above, it has a brand new submission
interface to submit jobs from within Maya, as well as a new back-end
that takes advantage of Maya's new plug-in renderer architecture to
ease support for different renderers.

@FEATURE: New in-application submission dialog

For Maya 7.0 and above, the jobtype supports a new and improved
submission dialog.

@FEATURE: New back-end mechanism to handle renders

The new back-end code takes advantage of Maya's new plug-in renderer
architecture to ease supporting different plug-in renderers.


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@RELEASE: 4.0-9 (2006-09-19)

@IMPORTANT:

Please read the README.txt file for the latest important information
regarding the installation and use of this package.

@SUMMARY:

This release includes support for Maya 8.0 (32-bit only).
Otherwise, this is a maintenance release, including better 
error-checking on I/O directories, and a more robust mechanism 
to find the executable in the back-end.

@FEATURE: Maya 8.0 (32-bit) support

Support for Maya 8.0 has been added.  This time, however, it is only
for the 32-bit port.  The 64-bit version is on its way.

@FEATURE: Better I/O error-checking

The back-end code now checks for read/write permissions on the
input scenefile and output directory.

@FEATURE: Better support for Maya installed in non-default location

The back-end code now supports a more robust mechanism of searching 
for the mayabatch.exe program.  It searches the $PATH first, then 
the paths specified in the windows registry, and then the default 
installation locations.

@CHANGE: Internal code cleanup 

Some internal cleanup of code has been done, for better maintainability.


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@RELEASE: 4.0-7 (2006-06-07)

@IMPORTANT:

Please read the README.txt file for the latest important information
regarding the installation and use of this package.

@SUMMARY:

This release includes new support for Illuminate Labs' Turtle
renderer, as well as the Maya Vector renderer, for supported
platforms.  Several bug fixes also have been rolled in.

@FEATURE: Turtle support

This version added support for Illuminate Labs' Turtle renderer
version 3.0 for Maya 6.5 and Maya 7.0.

@FEATURE: Vector renderer support

This version added support for Maya's Vector renderer.

@FEATURE: Added automatic plugin loading capability

Added code to automatically load necessary renderer plugins, for
Mayatomr, VectorRender, and Turtle.

@FEATURE: proper MAYA_LOCATION override

Added code to override the MAYA_LOCATION environment variable when it
is improperly set.
BUGZID: 14305

@BUGFIX: detection of Maya version

Fixed bug where the routine to find the appropriate version of maya on
the system would incorrectly detect maya versions of executables.

@BUGFIX: fixed bug in setting up various paths

Fixed a bug which may have affected the "dirmap" feature of Maya
during Qube renders, while setting up paths such as projdir and
imagedir.

@BUGFIX: OSX window server issue

Added "-batch" flag to the invocations of maya, to avoid problem
on some OSX installations.  The OSX version of maya tries to connect
to the window server when the "-v" or "-prompt" option was specified
w/o the "-batch" option.
BUGZID: 14886

@BUGFIX: Rogue mayabatch processes

Added code to minimize the chance of having rogue mayabatch processes
on the worker when problems occur with the renderer.


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@RELEASE: 4.0-6 (2006-04-19)

@IMPORTANT:

Please read the README.txt file for the latest important information
regarding the installation and use of this package.

@COMPATIBILITY:

This release requires qube-core version 4.0-5 or above.

@SUMMARY:

This is mainly a bug-fix maintenance release, for a more reliable and
stable operation of the Maya jobtype.  Upgrading from the previous
version is strongly recommended.

@BUGFIX: submission dialog and unsupported image formats

Fixed bug where the Qube! submission dialog will not open if an
unknown or unsupported image file format was specified in the render
globals.

@BUGFIX: scenefile parsing bug

Fixed bug where parsing a scenefile for the scenefile version can end
up in a very long loop.

@BUGFIX: executable search skips directories

Fixed a bug where the routine that searches for maya executables would
test directories as executables (it was treating $HOME/maya, usually a
directory, as a possible maya executable).

@BUGFIX: added fail-over renderer in back-end

Added code to the back-end to avoid problems with jobs submitted
without explicitly specifying the "renderer".  In those cases, the
back-end uses the renderer specified in the scenefile now.

@CHANGE: errors now ignored while scenefile loading

Since Maya is known to spit out "Error: " messages during scenefile
loading for non-fatal errors, all errors during scenefile loading are
now being ignored.

@CHANGE: more verbose output during the search for maya executable 

More informational messages are printed by the back-end code during
the search for an appropriate maya executable.


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@RELEASE: 4.0-5 (2006-03-20)

@IMPORTANT:

Please read the README.txt file for the latest important information
regarding the installation and use of this package.

@COMPATIBILITY:

This release requires qube-core version 4.0-5 or above.

@SUMMARY:

The biggest change in this release is the better handling of stdout
and stderr log output, which will enable easier troubleshooting of
render job problems.  Also, this release includes a number of
bug-fixes and/or small enhancements, along with some internal changes
for future maintainability.  Upgrading from the previous version is
strongly recommended.

@FEATURE: Better logging

This version supports better handling of maya stdout and stderr
log messages.

@FEATURE: Better OSX support

Added back-end code to search default system directories for Maya
installation, and set up MAYA_LOCATION properly, to better support OSX
maya installations.

@BUGFIX: mentalray render problem

Fixed issues where mentalray for Maya would repeatedly render every
single frame in the frame range.

@BUGFIX: mayaFormat implementation

The mayaFormat (-mf) option has been implemented.

@BUGFIX: Qubic! GUI "format:" field 

The "format:" field in the Qubic! GUI submission dialog now works
properly.

@CHANGE: Launch Qubic! menu item removed

@CHANGE: Internal cleanup and reorganization of files and functions

Internal cleanup of code and reorganization of files and functions
were done, for better maintainability.



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@RELEASE: 4.0-0 (2005-12-12)

@COMPATIBILITY:

This release should work with qube-core version 4.0-0 and above.

@SUMMARY:

This release is a new distribution package of the maya jobtype for
Qube! release 4.0-0.

@CHANGE: Updated for Qube! v4.0-0

Package rebuilt for the new Qube! version, 4.0-0.

@CHANGE: Installation location

New installation location is C:/Program Files/pfx/jobtypes/maya/