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Task Scheduler not saving rendering files?

Question asked by Peter Castellucci on Jul 31, 2013
Latest reply on Oct 10, 2013 by Rob Rodríguez

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This question comes up in some older posts for older versions, but I can't find one that's been answered.

I schedule a set of renderings using Photoview 360 in Solidworks 2012, to output as jpegs, with alpha channel file, to a specified folder. The first rendering is set to start based on time, the remainder "after previous task".

I close Solidworks.

I open the Task Scheduler.

The Task Scheduler appears to run properly. No error messages, all the tasks show as "complete" after a certain amount of time.

Clicking on "complete" brings up the log, which verifies that the image has been saved to the folder I want.

However, when I go to the specified folder to retrieve the images, there is nothing there.

I have tried both network and local folders with the same result.

I have turned on "show hidden files and folders" (not that they should be hidden) but that turns up nothing also.

Can anyone help?

No one else has this question

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Jeff Holliday Jul 31, 2013 1:02 PM
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What version and service pack of SWorks are you using? The reason I ask is that there was a problem with Task Scheduler in early SO's of SW2013 not saving pdf's of files from the Workgroup PDM vault. Even though I see you're not saving pdf's and may not be using the vault, the problem may have extended to other "saves" within Task SCheduler. The problem was supposed to have been (and seems to have been) solved with SP 3.0.
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- Peter Castellucci @ Jeff Holliday on Jul 31, 2013 1:46 PM
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  I'm using SW 2012, sp5.0
  
  I'd rather not use SW 2013 for this as most of our clients are still on 2012.
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- Wytze Van Mansum @ Jeff Holliday on Aug 8, 2013 8:55 AM
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  Peter, I am having exactly the same problem, and also can't find any answer. Only dead topics.
  Working on 2012 sp4.0. Wondering if anybody can help
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Peter Castellucci Aug 28, 2013 4:14 PM
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Matt posted in an older thread, his post has good information that singles out the alpha channel as a potentially problematic variable. I verified that I was able to get properly saved renderings (JPG) with the alpha channel option switched off. Now I'd like to find out exactly why the alpha channel option causes the saves to fail and how I might correct this. I often need to use the alpha channel rendering to isolate the model and include shadows and transparency for working in Photoshop. If anyone can provide additional input that would be great.

Cad Technician wrote:

Has anyone found a solution yet? I'm having a similar issue with scheduling PhotoView 360.

I'm using SW 2011 - SP 0.0. I can render large images, 3300x2550, at max setting with no problem. I can even schedule a render and save it as a .PNG. The problem arises when I click the "Save alpha image" in the render dialogue box. The scheduler runs, PV 360 renders, but there is not file in the folder location.

As a test I scheduled two renderings of the same large assembly, 2200+ components. The image size was reduced 600x430 to provide quicker render times. The first render was scheduled without an alpha channel. The second render was scheduled to follow the first and included an alpha channel. Both were .PNG files. I made sure to name the files differently.

The result was that the file with the alpha channel option did not render while the file without the alpha channel did.

Does anyone have any ideas or know of a solution? Does the SP 1.0 service pack correct this issue for SW 2011?

Regards,
Matt
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- Matthew Perry @ Peter Castellucci on Oct 1, 2013 8:56 AM
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  Peter,
  
  Thanks for moving my input to this newer thread.
  
  For those interested, I have a bit of an update.
  
  I recently upgraded to SW 2013 SP4.0. I've again tried to schedule a render with the alpha channel selected. The outcome...no difference. A rendering WITHOUT alpha channel can be saved automatically but so far when the alpha channel IS selected there's no output file.
  
  I did make an observation though. I blieve it applies to later versions of SW but someone else may need to confirm. In the Photoview tab there is a Recall Last Render icon. A "Final Render" window appears and shows the most recent renderings. Each image can be selected. Be sure to use the zoom, top right, to get the image in view as all mine were zoomed in a lot. Above and just to the left of the image scroll bar is a "Save Image" button. If you click+hold you'll get another option to save a layered image. I was then able to save each of the layered images, with alpha channel, that I wanted.
  
  Therefore, it appears that one can schedule several renderings, have them render overnight, recall those renderings, and then manually save them. This is not what I consider optimal but it is a workaround for now. I would have thought that SW/Photoview would have corrected this issue between 2011and 2013. Fingers crossed for 2014?
  
  Any other solutions?
  
  Regards,
  Matt
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  - Peter Castellucci @ Matthew Perry on Oct 1, 2013 1:59 PM
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    Hello Matt,
    
    I just upgraded to 2013 SP4.0 as well.
    
    When I set renderings to run in 2013 with alpha channel selected I can confirm that there is still no save of any file. I can also confirm your observation that when you go back and select Recall Last Rendered Image that you can bring up the rendering that ran via the Task Scheduler, including the option for the alpha channel. So the workaround is good for 2013.
    
    For an older version as recent as 2012, however, this workaround fails. The photoview window shows blank screens with values of 0 for all renderings completed by the task scheduler. So for anyone on 2012 or earlier you seem to be out of luck based on my observations.
    
    I realize that out of all SW users, a small percent regularly uses PV360, and of those users only a handful need the alpha channel rendering, but we are here! The alpha channel is invaluable for separating an object from the background and swapping in new backgrounds quickly in Photoshop. We'd like it to work with the Task Scheduler!
    
    I'm creating renderings regularly so I'll keep an eye out for other possible solutions.
    
    Peter
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    - Rob Rodríguez @ Peter Castellucci on Oct 1, 2013 4:10 PM
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      If you set your images to save as png or tiff files the alpha channel should be included in the file. It wont be a seperate file but part of the image. Is this not working?
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      - Peter Castellucci @ Rob Rodríguez on Oct 10, 2013 10:17 AM
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        Rob, thanks for your input. Yes, when saving to a PNG or TIF you get imbedded alpha channel information and no background (you still can't save the alpha channel in a separate file, that fails just the same). However, in many cases for what I'm doing it's much more convenient to have a separate black and white alpha channel file (and small files in general) right out of the gate. It's good that we've found the cause of the initial problem and some workarounds, but a real fix would be ideal.
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        Rob Rodríguez @ Peter Castellucci on Oct 10, 2013 11:07 AM
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        I agree the issue should be fixed
        
        You can create the black and white alpha from your png/tiff file in PS. You just need to load the transparency selection and convert it to a channel. Not ideal I know but it is possible to do if you really need to.
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