Thinkbox Deadline
Integration
Submit Maya, Houdini, and Blender render jobs to Deadline directly from a visual graph. Configure pools, groups, frame ranges, and renderers — then wire the returned Job ID to the status node to block until complete.
How Submission Works
Each submission node writes a Job Info file and a Plugin Info file to temporary paths, then calls deadlinecommand.exe [job_info] [plugin_info]. Deadline's CLI parses the files, registers the job, and returns a Job ID. The node extracts the ID from stdout using regex and emits it on the job_id port.
Job Info + Plugin Info
Node parameters map directly to Deadline's file format. Pool, group, frames, chunk size, output path, and extra key=value lines all go in Job Info.
deadlinecommand call
subprocess.run() calls deadlinecommand with the two temp files. A 120-second timeout prevents hangs on unresponsive farms.
Job ID extraction
JobID= prefix is extracted from stdout. Regex fallback finds any 24-hex-char string. The ID flows to the job_id output port for downstream use.
Example: Submit Maya → Poll Status
Plugin=MayaBatch Name=Hero Character Render - v003 Pool=render_high Group=arnold Priority=75 ChunkSize=5 Frames=1001-1120 EnableAutoTimeout=False TaskTimeoutMinutes=0 OutputDirectory0=/render/shots/sh010/beauty
Deadline Node Reference
deadline_maya_submitWrites Job Info + Plugin Info files, calls deadlinecommand, parses JobID from output.
deadline_houdini_submitUses Deadline's built-in Houdini plugin. Output driver path must be a valid /out/* node.
deadline_blender_submitUses Deadline's built-in Blender plugin. blend_file must be accessible on farm worker machines.
deadline_job_statusPolls Deadline for the current job status and progress. Wire after a submit node to block until complete or to branch on status.
Common Outputs (Submit Nodes)
| Port | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| success | bool | True if deadlinecommand exited 0 and Result=Success in output |
| job_id | string | Deadline Job ID (24-char hex string) — wire to Job Status node |
| stdout | string | deadlinecommand stdout — contains submission result |
| stderr | string | deadlinecommand stderr — empty on success |
Requirements
Deadline Client installed
deadlinecommand.exe must be accessible. Default path: C:\Program Files\Thinkbox\Deadline10\bin\deadlinecommand.exe. Override the port value if installed elsewhere.
Farm worker access to scene files
Scene paths must be on a shared network drive accessible by the Deadline workers, not a local path.
Renderer plugin installed on workers
For Arnold, V-Ray, Redshift, or RenderMan renders, the corresponding Deadline plugin must be installed and licensed on every worker.
deadlinecommand accessible from Vibrante-Node
The submission machine running Vibrante-Node must be a Deadline Client or have access to deadlinecommand. The exe is called via subprocess.run() with a 120 s timeout.
Maya Headless
Build the scene with Maya action nodes before submitting
→Blender Headless
Prepare .blend renders with action nodes before farm submission
→Prism Pipeline
Use Prism shot/product workflows to drive Deadline submission
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