Late-Breaking News

About Apple Qmaster 2

This document provides updated information about Apple Qmaster 2 and covers
these topics:
Late-Breaking News About Apple Qmaster 2.3.1 (p. 2)
Previous Release Information About Apple Qmaster 2.3 (p. 2)
Previous Release Information About Apple Qmaster 2.1 (p. 2)
Previous Release Information About Apple Qmaster 2.0.1 (p. 4)
Previous Release Information About Apple Qmaster 2.0 (p. 5)
This document may be updated as versions of Apple Qmaster are released or new
information becomes available. You can check for updated information by choosing
Help > Late-Breaking News when Apple Qmaster is open.
For the latest information about product updates, tips and techniques, and qualified
third-party devices, visit the Shake website at http://www.apple.com/shake.
For the latest support information from AppleCare, choose Apple Qmaster Support
from the Apple Qmaster Help menu or visit the Apple Qmaster support site at
http://www.apple.com/support/qmaster. To receive automatic notification
about new support issues, use Safari to bookmark the AppleCare RSS page at
http://docs.info.apple.com/rss/qmaster.rss. See Safari Help for more information
about configuring RSS feeds.
There is no late-breaking information about Apple Qmaster 2.2, which was not released
to the public.

Late-Breaking News About Apple Qmaster 2.3.1

Apple Qmaster 2.3.1 addresses compatibility issues. This update is recommended for all
Apple Qmaster 2.3 users.

Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard Support

Apple Qmaster 2.3.1 addresses Mac OS X v10.5 compatibility issues for customers using
Apple Qmaster 2.3.

Using Compressor Distributed Processing with Mac OS X Server v10.5

To use the Compressor distributed processing feature with Mac OS X Server v10.5
Leopard, you must manually enable NFS.
To enable NFS for Mac OS X Server, do one of the following:
m Use the Server Admin application to enable NFS. For additional information, see
Mac OS X Server Help.
m In the command line, enter the following:
qmaster$ sudo nfsd enable

Previous Release Information About Apple Qmaster 2.3

Apple Qmaster 2.3 addresses performance issues and improves stability. This update is
recommended for all Apple Qmaster 2.1 users.

Xsan Compatibility
Xsan 1.3 is not compatible with Compressors Apple Qmaster distributed processing
system when Xsan media drives are used for cluster (scratch) storage. To use Xsan with
Apple Qmaster 2.3, update to Xsan 1.4.
To download and install Xsan 1.4, go to:
http://www.apple.com/support/xsan

Previous Release Information About Apple Qmaster 2.1

This version of Apple Qmaster is designed to run natively on both PowerPC-based and
Intel-based Macintosh computers. The following information is additional late-breaking
news about Apple Qmaster 2.1.

Distributed Processing and QuickTime Versions

If you are using the Apple Qmaster distributed processing system with Compressor
or Shake, all nodes (computers) in a cluster must have the same version of
QuickTime installed.
To download the most recent version of QuickTime, go to:
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/mac.html

QuickTime Movie Output from Shake and Mac OS X Dependencies

If you are using Apple Qmaster to render Shake jobs as QuickTime movie output, every
service node in the Apple Qmaster cluster must be running Mac OS X v10.4or higher.

Using Apple Qmaster 2 with an NFS Server

By default, Apple Qmaster uses /etc/exports to define its Cluster Storage export. This
can cause a conflict if you defined an NFS export in your local Netinfo database. When
you enable a controller using Apple Qmaster 2 or later, Apple Qmaster will use
/etc/exports, not entries defined in your Netinfo database. To work around this issue,
either move the exports to /etc/exports, or move the controller to a computer that
doesnt export anything.

Apple Qmaster and After Effects

If you use the Apple Qmaster distributed processing system with Adobe After Effects,
please review the following guidelines:
In order to use After Effects with Apple Qmaster, the After Effects application and all of
its plug-ins must be installed on each node (computer) in an Apple Qmaster cluster.
The following template is a good starting point for using the Generic Render plug-in
to render After Effects projects:
[EXECUTABLE] -project [INPUT] -comp "Comp 1" -RStemplate "Multi-Machine
Settings" -OMtemplate "Multi-Machine Sequence" -s [START FRAME] -e
[END FRAME] -output [ITEM]/strategies[####].psd
Where:
[EXECUTABLE] = /Applications/Adobe\ After\ Effects\ 6.5/aerender
[INPUT] = /SHARED_VOLUME/Projects/AEProjs/Wine_Country/QMproject.aep
[START FRAME] = 0
[END FRAME] = 544
[STEPS] = Not Used
[ITEM] = /SHARED_VOLUME/Projects/AEProjs/Wine_Country/output

In the example above, Comp 1 is the name of the composition in your After Effects
project and strategies[####].psd is the output file name. Since you cannot select an
output filename in the templates Item field before it has been rendered, first select
the output directory, then add the filename to the Item field.
Note: In the example, /SHARED_VOLUME/Projects/ is the shared volume. If you
created the project on a computer that is not using the shared volume, copy the
project to the shared volume, open After Effects, and re-link any missing media.
After Effects makes good use of multiprocessor systems, but on projects that are not
CPU-bound, two rendering services per node gives you better results.
After Effects custom template information is stored in Users/username/Library/
Preferences/Adobe After Effects 6.5 Prefs/. If you would like to use custom Render
Setting and Output Module templates in an Apple Qmaster cluster, copy this file to
the same location on each node in the cluster. Then you can specify your templates
when using the -RStemplate or -OMtemplate options.

Installing the Apple Intermediate Codec

The Apple Intermediate Codec is not currently installed with Apple Qmaster.
To download and install the Apple Intermediate Codec, go to:
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/appleintermediatecodec101.html
Note: Shake and several other Apple software packages also install the Apple
Intermediate Codec.

Cluster Settings for Extended Transcoding Sessions

If you are using Compressor 2.0 or later for distributed processing, and you anticipate a
transcoding session that will last up to seven days or longer, you must make an
adjustment in the Advanced section of the Apple Qmaster Preferences Pane. By default,
temporary process files may remain on a clusters scratch location for seven days before
they are automatically deleted. You can increase this value (the number of days) in the
Apple Qmaster pane in System Preferences.
To extend the time process files remain on a clusters scratch location:
1 On the cluster controller, open the Apple Qmaster pane in System Preferences.
2 If any Apple Qmaster services are enabled on this computer, click Stop Sharing to
temporarily turn them off.
3 Click Advanced to open the Advanced pane.
4 In the Delete Files Older Than __ Days field, enter the number of days you expect the
session to take, plus a day or two extra, just in case.
5 Click Setup to return to the Setup pane.
6 Click Start Sharing.

Previous Release Information About Apple Qmaster 2.0.1

Apple Qmaster 2.0.1 is a maintenance release of Apple Qmaster that provides
improved reliability.

Shake Jobs and Non-Zero Exit Status

Using Apple Qmaster, you can quickly create and submit a batch of Shake jobs for
distributed processing. The new Ignore script failures checkbox allows you to determine
whether Apple Qmaster should continue rendering all the frames of the script in the
event that Shake returns a non-zero UNIX command result. (In Apple Qmaster 2 and
previous versions, a job would always fail if any segment returned non-zero.) By default,
this checkbox is not selected. Select the checkbox if Apple Qmaster should ignore
non-zero UNIX command results.

Generic Render Command and Non-Zero Exit Status

You can use the Generic Render command in Apple Qmaster for the distributed
processing of projects from other frame-based rendering applications (such as After
Effects and LightWave). The Generic Render dialog allows you to adjust parameters and
to add more command-line options to each job. The new Treat non-zero exit status as
failure checkbox in the Generic Render dialog allows you to use Apple Qmaster with
rendering applications that return non-zero results that are not intended to indicate
failure. By default, this checkbox is selected. If your rendering application issues
non-zero results that are not intended to indicate failure, deselect the checkbox.

Proxy Name Mismatch in Apple Qmaster and Shake

With the Proxies feature in Apple Qmaster, you can quickly choose a proxy setting for a
Shake script. While the four default proxy settings are identical in both Shake and
Apple Qmaster, they have slightly different names in each application. The table below
indicates the corresponding names.
Apple Qmaster name

Shake name

P1

Base

P2

P1

P3

P2

P4

P3

Previous Release Information About Apple Qmaster 2.0

The following information is late-breaking news that was included with Apple Qmaster 2.0.

Apple Qmaster Shake Plug-in Motion Blur Pop-Up Menu

The Motion Blur checkbox in the Shake dialog has been changed to a pop-up menu
containing the following options:
Default for script
Off
On
The new Default for script option provides greater control by allowing you to retain
custom motion blur settings from the original Shake script.

Service Node Status Indicator in the Menu Bar

By default, once a service node is enabled, an Apple Qmaster icon appears in the
computers menu bar. The icon now changes color based on the service nodes
current status:
Gray = Idle
Green = Processing
Red = Connection failure

Click the icon to reveal additional information, including the service nodes
IP address, port number, and capture status, as well as a link to the Apple Qmaster
pane in System Preferences.

Command-Line Usage and Upgrading Apple Qmaster 1.2 to 2.0

on a Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger System
The qmasterprefs command feature offers command-line options for enabling and
disabling service node and cluster controlling services. If you upgrade Apple Qmaster
from version 1.2 to version 2.0 on a computer with Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger installed, the
qmasterprefs command-line feature is disabled. Run the Installer a second time to
restore the qmasterprefs command.

Apple Qadministrator Clusters Require Managed Services

Although Apple Qadministrator currently allows you to create a cluster with
unmanaged services, valid clusters require at least one managed service in order for
the cluster to be viewable in Apple Qmaster, Compressor, and Batch Monitor.

Scheduling Unmanaged Services

If you enabled unmanaged services, you can open a calendar interface (in the
Advanced section of the Apple Qmaster pane in System Preferences) to schedule the
availability of these services to the distributed processing system.

Note: You must enter valid days and times. The time cannot overlap into the next day
in one entry. There must be two entries when the range ends after 12 A.M. For example,
to set the schedule availability from 6 P.M. on Sunday to 8 A.M. on Monday, enter the
following two entries:
Sunday ON BETWEEN 06:00 P.M. and 12:00 A.M.
Monday ON BETWEEN 12:00 A.M. and 8:00 A.M.

Using Shell Commands to Set Apple Qmaster Preferences

If you are accustomed to doing your work from Terminal shells, and need or prefer to
run Apple Qmaster from the command line, the Apple Qmaster distributed processing
system offers a number of shell commands for configuring service nodes and cluster
controllers, submitting jobs, and monitoring batches. For example, as an alternative to
using the Apple Qmaster pane in System Preferences, you can use the command
qmasterprefs to enable and disable service node and cluster controlling services. If you
use the qmasterprefs command, the resulting settings may not be accurately reflected
in the Apple Qmaster pane in System Preferences, even though the actual settings are
correct and functional. (You can use Activity Monitor to verify the actual settings.)

Log Activity Default Setting

The Apple Qmaster Log Activity to File feature is on by default. Logs are stored in
/Library/Logs/Qmaster/. To turn this feature off, deselect the Log Activity to File
checkbox in the Apple Qmaster pane in System Preferences.

Apple Qmaster Node Installer

By default, the Apple Qmaster Node Installer installs all the necessary Apple Qmaster
software for distributed processing. If you are using the Apple Qmaster Node Installer on
Mac OS X v10.3 Panther, do not deselect the Apple Qmaster Support Software option.
Both Apple Qmaster Applications and Apple Qmaster Services require this software.

Apple Qmaster Distributed Processing and Xsan

Using Apple Qmaster distributed processing on an Xsan may cause mounting
problems when restarting an Apple Qmaster distributed processing cluster controller.
Restart Apple Qmaster and Xsan computers in the following order:
1 Turn off the cluster controller by clicking Stop Sharing in the Apple Qmaster pane in
System Preferences.
2 Restart the Apple Qmaster cluster controller computer.
3 Wait for the Xsan volume to mount on the desktop.
4 Click Start Sharing in the Apple Qmaster pane in System Preferences to restart
the controller.

Wide Area Network Browsing

You can enable wide area network (WAN) browsing by selecting the Allow wide area
Bonjour in domain checkbox in the Apple Qmaster pane in System Preferences. For
more information about using WAN browsing with your distributed processing
network, visit http://developer.apple.com/bonjour.

Late-Breaking News About Compressor 2 and Distributed Processing

The following news items are relevant if you are using the Apple Qmaster distributed
processing system with Compressor. The Compressor 2 distributed processing feature is
limited to computers that have either Final Cut Studio or DVD Studio Pro 4 installed.
Cluster Storage Capacity
By default, the Apple Qmaster distributed processing system saves temporary
process files in the /var/spool/qmaster directory on the startup disk of the cluster
controller. Computers in the cluster will access this location as needed. If you are
processing large source media files that exceed the available storage space on the
startup disk, you may run out of storage space on that disk. There are a number of
things you can do to address this.
If cluster storage capacity is low, do any of the following:
m Change the cluster storage location to a disk with more free space. For more
information, see Adjusting Cluster Storage Settings, below.
m Configure cluster storage settings to delete files more frequently. For more information,
see Adjusting Cluster Storage Settings, below.
m Compressor users can set Cluster Options preferences (Compressor > Preferences) to
Never copy source to cluster. For more information, see the Compressor 2 User Manual.

Adjusting Cluster Storage Settings

Follow the steps below to change scratch storage settings for a cluster.
To change cluster storage settings:
1 On the cluster controller, open the Apple Qmaster pane in System Preferences.
2 If any Apple Qmaster services are enabled on this computer, click Stop Sharing to
temporarily turn them off.
Note: Do not attempt to change the cluster storage settings while the cluster is
turned on.
3 Click Advanced to open the Advanced pane.

Enter a new number to

change how often cluster
storage files are deleted.

Click Set to open a dialog

for choosing a new
storage folder.

Click Stop Sharing to turn

off the cluster before
changing any settings.

4 Do any of the following:

To change the cluster storage location:
Click the Set button next to the Cluster Storage field.
Navigate to the folder in the dialog, select it, and then click Choose.
To change how often cluster storage files are deleted, enter a new number in the
Delete Files Older Than _ Days field.
5 Click the Start Sharing button to restart the cluster.

Cleaning Up Cluster Storage

If you are using cluster storage, and an error occurs, partial files may be left on the
designated cluster storage location. Check the designated cluster storage location to
make sure no partial media files are left there. If you find partial media files, delete
them and submit the job again.
Compressor Command-Line Usage Requires Login
While it is possible to use the command line to run an Apple Qmaster distributed
processing network, each Compressor service node (each computer providing
Compressor distributed processing services) must be logged in (with a Mac OS X
user name and password) for full functionality.
Distributed Processing and Network Interface Cards
In the Advanced section of the Apple Qmaster pane in System Preferences, you can
restrict distributed processing activity to a particular network interface card by
choosing it from the Use Network Interface pop-up menu. If you do this on a service
node computer, use a different computer to submit Compressor jobs and batches.
Note: If you choose a network interface card from the Use Network Interface pop-up
menu, configure all nodes in the cluster to use the same network.

Copyright 2007 Apple Inc. All rights reserved.

Apple, the Apple logo, Bonjour, DVD Studio Pro, Final Cut, Mac, Mac OS, Panther, Shake, Tiger, and Xsan are trademarks of
Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Leopard and Safari are trademarks of Apple Inc. Intel, Intel Core, and
Xeon are trademarks of Intel Corp. in the U.S. and other countries. PowerPC and the PowerPC logo are trademarks of
International Business Machines Corporation, used under license therefrom. Adobe and After Effects are trademarks or
registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the U.S. and/or other countries. LightWave is a trademark of
NewTek, Inc., registered in the United States and other countries.
October 17, 2007

019-1127