BatchRenderRegion.mel 1.0.3 for Maya (maya script)

BatchRenderRegion.mel is a rendering utility that lets you correct little errors
in image sequences without the need to rerender whole frames or using an compositing
software and messing around with mask setups etc. With it you can define render regions
in a sort of setting key regions over time and then let the tool interpolate between
them during batch rendering sequences inside the render view window. Also one can use
a built in object tracker to get the regions of certain types of objects inside the
render view automatically. It loads images of sequences according to their frame numbers
into the render view and replaces their faulty image regions with the new rendered
region. It also has the support for external batch renderers including a built in
composer to merge the external rendered regions with existing image sequences.


USAGE:

1. Copy BatchRenderRegion.mel into your script folder
2. Source BatchRenderRegion.mel
3. If using external renderers and the composer, make sure that the environment variable MAYA_LOCATION is set
    in your Maya.env and it targets to your current Maya install dir (default path on windows: c:/program files/autodesk/maya2012)
4. Call the user interface with the following MEL command: BatchRenderRegion();

if you are unsure what to do, have a look into the more detailed descriptions in BatchRenderRegion.mel



LIMITATIONS for v1.0.2

1. functionality only is given using whole frame numbers and their value must be >= 0
2. using the object tracker, all supported node types are: nurbs surfaces, polygon meshes, locators and nurbs curves.
    For nurbs curves you will need to install BonusTools for maya and load the closestPointOnCurve.mll via the plugin manager
3. images loaded into the render view window must match the current render resolution, otherwise batch rendering regions will fail
4. using the external batch renderer, the compositor wont work with enabled render layers or pass contribution maps, they all
    must be disabled, only the standard masterLayer is supported at the moment.



v1.0.1

- fixed some bugs in external renderer procedures - batch rendering and auto composite should work now


v1.0.2

  BUGS FIXED:
- errors occured in Maya2013 if attempt to set output folders if the currently shown folder no longer exists
- custom task size for external rendering with MR for Maya now is properly reflected in render command
- top and right region extension values set in UI now no longer are swapped during rendering
- custom folder 2 accidentially loaded value of custom folder 1 at UI creation
- better detection of wrong path names and non existing file names while UI value editing
- temporary images used by the external compositor were not deleted
- the top most pixel row and right most pixel column inside the RenderView were not rendered although covered
  by the region
- new tracker algorithm implemented for object tracking; now all possible FilmBack edits for perspectivic
  cameras are correctly token into account while calculating regions. Tested with mayas built-in renderer
  MayaSoftware, MayaHardware and MentalRay. If using orthographic cameras with MentalRay however there is
  a bug inside MentalRay if ".cameraScale" is set to other values than 1.0. MentalRay ignores the scaling
  until the PostProjection values are changed (preScale, filmTranslate, filmRoll, postScale) leading to
  unpredictable image transformations while rendering. Thus to get correct render regions, do scale
  with preScale instead using cameraScale.
 
  CHANGES:
- if using custom scripts for external batch renderers please note that now due to consistency with the
  path representation inside the UI all of the folder names provided by the global variables do end
  with a backslash (example: "d:\images\"). Have a look into MentaRayStandalone_perFrameExecuteScript.txt
  how to get rid of the ending slash if needed.


v1.0.3

BUGS FIXED:
- now maya doesnt change the iconify status of the render view window while changing the current frame
- the active camera from the render view window doesnt need to be manually actualized inside the Render Globals
  if rendered extern using batch rendering
- fixed some minor UI glitches
    
ADDED:    
- ability to render only key regions set in "draw regions" mode