Render Queue Manager

Blender add-on for structured multi-job rendering with clean foldering, compositor integration, and stereoscopy.

^{Per-job folders · Zero-based numbering · File Output node management · Extension hooks · Windows‑safe paths}

---

✨ Features

• Per-job overrides: scene, camera, view layers, engine, resolution, animation range (remapped to start at frame 0 for consistent filenames).
• Deterministic directory layout (with optional job-name suffixes for generated folders):
  • Base renders: <root>/<job_name>/base/<basename><frame>.ext
  • Compositor outputs: <root>/<job_name>/<NodeName>/... (no separate comp/ folder)
• Multiple Compositor File Output nodes per job (we only manage base path + optional format + default slot naming).
• Smart slot naming: empty/default slot paths become <job>_<basename>.
• Marker-linked frame ranges: when markers move, linked jobs update their start/end frames automatically.
• Optional stereoscopic (multi‑view) rendering with selectable output format.
• Non‑blocking compositor mode (warn instead of abort) per job.
• Pluggable preprocessors: inject logic before each job via JOB_PREPROCESSORS.
• Windows‑safe name sanitizing (reserved device names avoided).

📦 Structure

__init__.py        # Add-on entry (bl_info + registers submodules)
rqm/
  __init__.py      # Internal namespace
  utils.py         # Sanitizing, tokens, path helpers
  properties.py    # PropertyGroups (jobs, outputs, state)
  comp.py          # Compositor File Output handling & path resolution
  operators_queue.py     # Queue operators and render loop
  operators_outputs.py   # Output mapping operators
  handlers.py      # Render handlers (complete/cancel)
  ui.py            # Panels & UILists

🔧 Installation

1. Create a zip of the add-on root so the archive contains directly:
   • __init__.py
   • rqm/ directory
2. Blender → Edit → Preferences → Add-ons → Install… select the zip.
3. Enable: Render Queue Manager.
4. Open the panel in Properties → Output tab.

🚀 Quick Start

1. Open your target scene & camera.
2. Add a job: Add Job (Current Scene/Camera).
3. Adjust output folder (defaults to //renders/).
4. (Optional) Enable animation & set start/end OR link timeline markers.
5. (Optional) Enable Stereoscopic or Compositor Outputs.
6. Press Start Queue.

📁 Folder & Naming Model

For a job named Shot01_MainCam with basename render:

<output_root>/Shot01_MainCam/
  base/render0000.png …
  <FileOutputNodeName>/<job>_<basename>0000.png

Enable Suffix folders with job name on a job to automatically append _JobName to generated render and compositor directories when you need extra disambiguation.

Animation frame range (e.g. 101–148) is internally remapped so exported files still begin at 0000.

🎞️ Stereoscopy

Enable per job. Choose:

• Stereo 3D (combined)
• Multi-View Images (separate left/right)

If disabled, we restore standard single‑view output.

🧩 Compositor Outputs

When enabled:

1. Add one or more outputs.
2. Choose (or auto-create) File Output nodes.
3. Optionally pick base source: Job output folder, Scene output folder, or a folder inferred from a chosen file.
4. Optional node-named and custom token subfolders ({scene} {camera} {job} {node}).
5. Slots with default/empty paths are renamed to <job>_<basename>.

Note: The previous “Detect View Tags” utility was removed. Use the free‑text Extra View Tags field to specify additional tags if needed.

🔌 Extensibility

This add-on is structured as a package under rqm/. You can import modules (e.g., rqm.jobs.apply_job) from scripts to drive custom workflows, or fork and extend operators/handlers.

🐛 Troubleshooting

Issue	Cause	Fix
Add-on fails: No module named 'rqm'	Zip contained an extra parent folder	Re-zip so __init__.py is at archive root
Compositor outputs not written	Node missing or disabled	Enable node or use “Create if missing”
Wrong frame numbers	Expectation of original frame numbers	Tool intentionally remaps to 0-based for consistent batches
Overwriting from multiple jobs	Same job name/basename	Ensure unique job names or change basename

❓ FAQ

Why always start at 0000? Consistent naming prevents gaps and cross-project confusion when merging outputs.

Can I keep original frame numbers? Not currently; a future option may allow an offset.

Does this change render settings permanently? Only for the duration of the job; subsequent jobs override again.

🗺️ Roadmap (Potential)

• Queue import/export (JSON)
• Per-job color management & sampling overrides
• Dependency ordering (render B after A)
• Optional original frame numbering toggle

🤝 Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md. Pull Requests welcome—keep changes modular.

📄 License

MIT. See LICENSE.

🔢 Versioning

Semantic-like tuple in bl_info['version']: (MAJOR, MINOR, PATCH). Patch = fixes / packaging, Minor = new features, Major = breaking changes.

🛠️ Building / Packaging

You can build the distributable zip in three ways:

PowerShell (auto-detect version):

pwsh scripts/build.ps1

Specify version override:

pwsh scripts/build.ps1 -Version 1.10.6

Cross-platform Python script:

python scripts/package_addon.py

Override version:

python scripts/package_addon.py --version 1.10.6

Output: render-queue-manager-vX.Y.Z.zip at repo root and staging under dist/.

GitHub Actions: Push a tag (git tag -a v1.10.6 -m "Release" && git push origin v1.10.6). Workflow builds, attaches zip, and creates release notes with commit diff since previous tag.

---

Made for production batch rendering and extension. Enjoy.