8

208 Chapter 17: Rendering
The second scene is almost ready, but you need
to test the look of some materials and do a
video color check:
“c:\progr a m f il es\autodesk\3dsma x8\
3d smaxcmd” -o=“ c:\p rogra m file s\aut ode sk\
3dsm ax8\renderoutput\scene2.jpg”
-w=640 -h=480 -force2Sided=tr u e
-vid eoCo lorC heck=tru e “c :\p rogram
files\autodesk\3dsmax8\scenes\scene2.max”
The last scene is com plete, and you want to
render a higher-resolution image using settings
you ’ve saved in a TXT file that you always use
for final renderings:
“c:\progr a m f il es\autodesk\3dsma x8\
3dsm axcmd” @c:\fina lrender.txt
-o=“ c:\pro gram file s\autod e sk\3 d smax8 \
renderoutput\scene3.jpg” “c:\prog r am
files\autodesk\3dsmax8\scenes\scene3.max”
3. After entering these three command lines, save
your file as a BAT file.
4. From the Windows Start > Run dialog, browse
to the BAT file and click Open.
5. Click OK to start rendering.
See also
Command-Line Rendering Sw itches (page 3–208)
Command-Li ne R endering
Switches
In order to use command-line rendering, you
should be famil iar with DOS and understand the
struc ture of command lines.
Command-Li ne S witches
You c an use the following switches after
3dsma xcmd on the command line of a command
prompt window, or as entries in a text file. The
following t ables show switches and their effects.
Note: Switches are not case sensitive.
At Ver bosity level 5, the output message
from command-line rendering includes both a
timestamp and a date stamp. The timestamp is
separated from the main message by a semicolon,
and the elapsed time m essage is separated f rom
the Frame Completed message by a sem icolon.
This lets you pipe the message to a file, and then
open it in a spreadsheet program with appropriate
columns by setting the delimiter character.
Separators
Many switches are displayed in the following
charts with trailing colons, such as -w: or -h:.
The use of a colon separator is optional, and can
be replaced with a space or an equal sign (=).
Therefore, command lines such as:
“c:\progr a m fi les\autodesk\3dsm ax 8\
3dsmaxcmd” -outputName:“c:\program
f ile s\aut odes k\3 dsma x8 \rend e rou tput\
myImag e.jpg” -w:640 -h:480 “c:\progr am
files\autodesk\3dsmax8\scenes\myscene.max”
“c:\progr a m fi les\autodesk\3dsm ax 8\
3dsmaxcmd” -outputName “c:\progr am
f ile s\aut odes k\3 dsma x8 \rend e rou tput\
myImage.jpg” -w 640 -h 480 “ c:\progr a m
files\autodesk\3dsmax8\scenes\myscene.max”
“c:\progr a m fi les\autodesk\3dsm ax 8\
3dsmaxcmd” -outputName=“c:\program
f ile s\aut odes k\3 dsma x8 \rend e rou tput\
myImag e.jpg” -w=640 -h=480 “ c:\prog r a m
files\autodesk\3dsmax8\scenes\myscene.max”
w i ll g ive you the same results. The use of the equal
sign can give your command-line files more of an
INI file appearance.
Note: The sw itch -submit:[manager_name] is the
only case where a colon is necessary.