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VuCity batcher

A batcher 3ds max tool to run scripts on multiple max files for VuCity tiles

It mostly was used to run the validator overnight on 100s of scenes, auto fix any issues it finds, and create a log with the fixes it did, and the scenes it couldn’t fix.

tool features

select task

  • a dropdown list to select the task to run,
    e.g. pull latest from p4, fix scene, save, re-export, add to changelist

input

  • add scene - add a single path to a max file
  • add folder - add all max files in a folder
  • discover local scenes - i remember there was an option to select & process all vucity tiles.
    like a preset folder

actions

  • copy paths to clipboard

run task

  • process - run the script on all scenes in the same open max instance
  • process crashfree, opens a new maxbatch instance for each scene, so a crash doesn’t stop the whole batch.
  • qt loading bar

each script has 3 stages

  • pre load setup
  • main script
  • post script action. e.g. save scene

output is saved to a log, that can be loaded in an UI to see what worked/failed
pure python, no maxscript (except for a single render related task)

learnings

the batcher saves tons of time. tile implementation went from months to hours.

empowers artists & TAs to do more iterations, deliver faster to clients, try out things

  • want to test a prototype with all Tiles lodded?
    sure that only takes hours instead of a week now.

  • faster bug fixing:
    discovered a bug on all assets, only make a single fix update and run on all assets.

customizable and modular
supports templates for different actions that are reusable

  • template for validation
  • template for auto fix
  • template for lodding

spit out a batch report, which scenes failed to process.
allow a report of reports, e.g. for validation, we can create a list of all validation reports, 1 for each scene, which is read into the log reader tool as a “master report”