"render only" build

bannerboy · Post by **bannerboy** » Mon Apr 18, 2005 11:13 pm

is there any way to build blender with no interface, no game engine, just the render engine. the purpose is for making DrQueue render nodes, where I don't want to have X11 in order to build.

SamAdam · Post by **SamAdam** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 12:17 am

i think you can get a copy from someone at burp for the same purpose.
http://burp.boinc.dk/

ideasman · Post by **ideasman** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 12:37 am

Mabe sombody would add some IFDEFS into the source for a render only build.

- Could be interesting.

Alternitivly- Build without the ge and extra crap. and just copy bare minimum libs onto the PC your rendering on- Blender can render in text mode linux so the libs arnt used.

z3r0_d · Post by **z3r0_d** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 2:40 am

what is wrong with the blender executable having that other stuff?

7Mb is puny compared to the resources required to render something reasonably detailed. You don't have to compile with the game engine, or run blender with an interface to render.

bannerboy · Post by **bannerboy** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 5:00 am

I'm wanting to build blender on a 120mhz server of mine, and I don't want to have to install x and all that jazz just to render.

Pierre-Luc_Auclair · Post by **Pierre-Luc_Auclair** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 5:07 am

I have no clue what I'm talking about here, but you can't load blender with a console argument ? Or just run it from the console ?

joeri · Post by **joeri** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 9:41 am

Like piere I have no clue what I'm talking about.
I have the same question in other words:
Does blender need the X-Lib libs when started without the interface?
Blender can run without interface, but does it crash 'cause it can't find the libs?
(In the console type something like blender -B -s start -e end -a filename to force it in the background)

ideasman · Post by **ideasman** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 12:58 am

Yes, Blender needs xlibs even if started from the command line.
However I think it would be possible for it to be compiled without linking to X11, as long as these functions are never called. (Like in console render mode)
Like I say, just add some ifdefs and an option to compile render only.
Probably discuss on BF-Commiters bvefore you go too far.. so what other developers think.
Personaly I like the idea. It opens up Blender render to other operating systems without a full port and allows a much smaller binary.

Even for people that use Blender on X11, Background rendering could be done with a console only exe.
-- Cam

Post by **stiv** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 2:44 am

I am skeptical about this. Blender uses OpenGL for rendering. On my linux box, running ldd on libGL says it wants libX11 and libXext.

Probably the easiest way to get to where you want to go is to do some linking magic and make a static build with both OpenGL and X built in.

No comment using a 120Mhz machine for rendering.

LetterRip · Post by **LetterRip** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 6:47 am

stiv,

Blender uses OpenGL for rendering.

Does it? That is rather surprizing, I thought it was supposd to be pure CPU for rendering...

LetterRip

ideasman · Post by **ideasman** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 12:05 pm

Only opengl for interface stuff, not rendering with the -b option. though its still compiled linking to the library, the library needs to exist. But it does not call it.

bannerboy · Post by **bannerboy** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 8:13 pm

ideasman wrote:Only opengl for interface stuff, not rendering with the -b option. though its still compiled linking to the library, the library needs to exist. But it does not call it.

correction: it does call it, I had to install X just so that blender would recognize opengl.

ideasman · Post by **ideasman** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 2:09 am

bannerboy wrote:
ideasman wrote:Only opengl for interface stuff, not rendering with the -b option. though its still compiled linking to the library, the library needs to exist. But it does not call it.
correction: it does call it, I had to install X just so that blender would recognize opengl.

Are you sure???, Software will still ask for libs it links to, even if they are not called.

Im thinking there could be a few issues with render only build.

* Python would have to be disabled since some python functions directly call openGL. ...this means removing the -Y option for running python scripts at rendertime.
Having a blender with no python hooks couldbe nice for a render build anyway. less bloat==more good.

* Some X11 calls may still be being used, by default.. may have to use IFDEFs to get around them and supply dummy values for blender to use.

I cant see Blender relying too heavily on X11, since it runs in Win32 also. Mabe just remove dependencies on ghost.

Remove USer interface code, theres no need for it No tool code, no tranfsorm code. - Renderscene seems fairly seperate anyway. maight not be as hard as all that.

An issue (Assuming its all possible and sombody wants to do it) how hard would it be to maintain? If it breaks all the time then mabe its not worth it.

- Would appretiate some advice from a more experienced programmer.

joeedh · Post by **joeedh** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 6:06 am

This could work. . .if you made a dummy OpenGL lib

no other way to do it, what with the way the code is.

joeedh

joeri · Post by **joeri** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 9:20 am

So this would need a new blender? It can't be done in the official release?