Batch Renderer

for DAZ Studio

Manual Version 1.0

Content
Important Information..........................................................................................................................1
Copyright.........................................................................................................................................1
Disclaimer........................................................................................................................................1
1. Overview..........................................................................................................................................2
1.1. Installation................................................................................................................................2
1.2. Quickstart..................................................................................................................................3
2. Usage................................................................................................................................................4
2.1. Menu Buttons............................................................................................................................4
2.2. File List.....................................................................................................................................4
2.3. Render Options.........................................................................................................................4
2.4. Render Process..........................................................................................................................5

Ralf Sesseler
Dimension 3D
E-Mail: [email protected]
Internet: d3d.sesseler.de
Important Information

Copyright
Batch Renderer is © Copyright 2015 by Ralf Sesseler. All rights reserved.

Disclaimer
There is no warranty beyond the legal minimal warranty. In no case, the author shall be liable for
any damage on hardware or software caused by using Batch Renderer.

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1. Overview
Batch Renderer is a batch render tool for DAZ Studio 4.5 and higher to render several scenes. The
scenes are rendered one after another with the render settings from the scene. Optionally, the
frame(s) to render and the image size can be set for each scene.

1.1. Installation
The plugin comes in four different versions, for Windows and Mac, and for the 32 and 64 bit
versions of DAZ Studio. The plugin file for each version is located in the folder Win32, Win64,
Mac32, and Mac64 respectively after unzipping the product archive. To install the plugin, you move
(or copy) the plugin file from one of these folders to the plugin folder of DAZ Studio for the
according OS and version you are using. If you have installed more than one version of DAZ Studio
(e.g. 32 and 64 bit, or official release and public beta version), you have to put the correct plugin
file into the plugin folder for each version.
The plugin folder is named plugin and is located in the folder where the main executable file of
DAZ Studio is located. This DAZ Studio installation folder can be set individually when installing
DAZ Studio by DIM or EXE installer. By default, the following folders are used:
• Win32 (on Win32 system): C:\Program Files\DAZ 3D\DAZStudio4
• Win32 (on Win64 system): C:\Program Files (x86)\DAZ 3D\DAZStudio4
• Win64: C:\Program Files\DAZ 3D\DAZStudio4
• Mac32: /Applications/DAZ 3D/DAZStudio4
• Mac64: /Applications/DAZ 3D/DAZStudio4 64-bit
Note: The Program Files folders on Windows and the Applications folder on Mac show a localized
name in Windows Explorer and Mac Finder. E.g. in German OS version, this is Programme (for
both operating systems).
Note: You may need administrator privileges to access the Program Files folders on Windows.
To verify that the plugin was installed successfully, restart DAZ Studio and open the Help > About
Installed Plugins dialog. The list of plugins will include the entry Batch Renderer.
After you installed the plugin, it will be listed under Windows > Panes (Tabs) in the DS main
menu. Select Batch Render here to open the tab. If it is missing there, press F3 to open the
Customize DAZ Studio dialog, locate Batch Render in the Actions under Panes, and add it to the
menu you like.

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1.2. Quickstart

To batch render images with Batch Renderer, do the following steps:

1. Set up your scenes in DAZ Studio, set all render settings, and save the scenes.
2. Open or go to the Batch Render tab.
3. Select the scene files to render, either with the Add button, or by drag'n'drop from the
content library or an external file manager.
4. Set the image type (not needed for movies) to save the renders.
5. Set the image output path. The output path can be the location of the scene file, a path from
the render library, or any other path. The file name is always the same as the scene, but may
have numbers added for frames or to prevent overwriting existing files.
6. Optionally, set an overlay image for the renders and its placement.
7. Start the renders with the Render button.
Please note that there are some other options available that are not mentioned in this quickstart.

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2. Usage
The Batch Render tab consists of the content file list in the center, the menu buttons on top, and
several options on bottom.

2.1. Menu Buttons

The File List menu button opens the menu to manage the file list:
• New: clears the file list
• Open: opens a file list
• Merge: appends a file list
• Save: saves the file list (prompts for a file name if not yet saved before)
• Save as: saves the file list with a new name
With Add and Remove, you add new files to the file list or remove selected files from the file list.
You can also add files by drag'n'drop from the DS content library or a file manager like Windows
Explorer or Mac Finder.
Finally, the Render button starts the render process.

2.2. File List

The file list shows the file name in the first column and the file path in the second column.
Optionally, you can enter the frame(s) to render in the third column and the render size in the fourth
column. Double click to enter a value.
The frame number is zero-based. You can name a single frame, several frames separated by comma,
a frame range with a start and end frame divided by a minus, or a combination of this. For example,
"1,3-5,7" will render the frames 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7. The frame option is ignored when the renderer is
set to render an animation.
The render size is entered in the format width x height.
You can change the order in the file list by dragging files inside of the list. (Please note that you can
only drop files between two lines, not on top of a line.)

2.3. Render Options

Image
You can select the file type to save still images from the drop-down list below the file list.
Available formats are jpg, png, tif, and bmp. If you render to a movie, this setting is ignored. The
format for movies is always avi on Windows and mov on Mac.
For the output path, there are three options. With Scene Path, the image is stored in the same folder
as the scene file. With Render Path, you can select one of the render paths defined for the render
library. Finally, Custom Path allows you to select any folder you like.

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For a custom path, you can enter the path directly or you may select one of the 10 most recent used
paths from the drop down list. Or you select the path from the file system with the Path button. The
path must exist, it will not be created if it is missing.

Overlay
Optionally, an overlay image may be added to all rendered images (but not to movies). This is
useful to add a watermark or a signature to all renders automatically. Supported image file formats
are jpeg, png, gif, bmp, tiff, pbm, pgm, ppm, xbm, and xpm.
The image file for the overlay is added either at the center, in the middle of one of the borders, or at
one of the corners. In any case, you can define an offset in the next field, e.g. to shift the overlay
away from the border. The offset is in the format x, y (x-offset comma y-offset). Positive numbers
shift to the right / bottom, negative values to the left / top.

2.4. Render Process

You start the render process with the Render button. Except for the optional image size and frame
number, all render settings are used as they are saved with each scene.
The image name(s) are determined by the file name and the path you set in the options. When
naming the frame(s) to render or when rendering an animation as a sequence of images, the frame
number is appended to the file name. It is ensured that no existing file is overwritten by appending a
number to the file name if necessary.
Note: When you render an animation as a sequence of still images, the Batch Renderer ensures that
no existing files will be overwritten. Nonetheless, DS may warn you about possibly overwriting
files if a similar image file (i.e. same name except for frame numbering) exists. You can safely
ignore this warning.
Note: When you render an animation as a movie, you will be asked about compression settings to
save the movie. The next scene will start to render only after you have done so.
You can stop the render process only by canceling each render. If there were errors during any
render, an error message reports the number of failed renders.

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