cloud_bella_cli

[Alpha v0.2, work in progress]

A renderfarm is great for large projects and teams but the learning curve is high for a single artist. That being said, the Linux skills learned using cloud_bella_cli.sh are the exact ones needed for success with oomerfarm.

cloud_bella_cli.sh: a helper script to run bella_cli in the cloud or on a home Linux server:

These 4 options are presented in a 1980's MS-DOS style menu interface. ( really a 1970's Unix shell interface)

• upload .bsz to server
• render .bsz on server
• check bella progress
• download .png from server

=================================================
1) upload	  3) progress	    5) parseFragment  7) settings
2) render	  4) download	    6) server	      8) quit

Setup for a Linux cloud server

Basic bash/linux knowledge

• ~ ( aka tilde ) is shorthand for
  • C:/Users/harvey ^win
  • /Users/harvey ^mac
  • /home/harvey ^linux
  • or whatever YOUR home directory is
• can be used in bash commands to avoid typing full path
• used extensively in these docs to avoid typing full path

Desktop/laptop prep

Open MacOS Terminal or Windows bash https://git-scm.org

Generate secret ssh private key

ssh-keygen -t ed25519

View and copy your public key

cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

Cloud server prep

Rent a Linux cloud server

• Any vendor will do, but for beginners I recommend https://vultr.com ( Use first month $250 credit promo )
• Under Account->SSH Keys paste your public key
  • will look like this ( don't use this one)

ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIBtbE/BDpqNB2wL36eWLDKcu9L/7bkiZYtdRvIj2dah5 harvey@mycomputer

• Add money
• Launch
  • Optimized Cloud Compute and cpu optimized instance
  • Choose Alma Linux 8.x
  • attach your ssh public key
  • disable auto-backup
  • disable IPv6
• After server starts, make note of assigned ip address

Run cloud_bella_cli.sh on Desktop/laptop

1. save cloud_bella_cli.sh in the same dir as .bsz file(s)

2. In MacOS Terminal or Windows bash https://git-scm.org

bash cloud_bella_cli.sh

To upload .bsz file(s)

• upload more than one .bsz to queue up a series of renders
• ensure bella output name differs or else last render stomps over fist

=================================================
1) upload    3) progress  5) parseFragment  7)settings 
2) render    4) download  6) server         8) quit 

#? 1
porsche-907.bsz ring-brushed-dark-bg.bsz
1) porsche-907.bsz	     3) back
2) ring-brushed-dark-bg.bsz
#? 1
porsche-907.bsz  54%   41MB   5.6MB/s   00:06 ETA 

To sequentially render uploaded .bsz file(s)

• Runs in background
• to stop a render, in 6) server choose stop_bella
  • bella_cli saves out current image
• Will delete .bsz after a successful or a failed render.

=================================================
1) upload    3) progress  5) parseFragment  7)settings 
2) render    4) download  6) server         8) quit
#? 2
Rendering started for: /root/porsche-907.bsz

To check bella progress

• displays last 10 lines of bella_cli's output

=================================================
1) upload    3) progress  5) parseFragment  7)settings 
2) render    4) download  6) server         8) quit 
#? 3
[INFO][17:18:11] Saturn | Elapsed: 1s | Bench: 271
[INFO][17:18:11] Saturn | Elapsed: 1s | Bench: 272
[INFO][17:18:12] Saturn | Elapsed: 1s | Bench: 273
[INFO][17:18:12] Saturn | Elapsed: 2s | Bench: 274
[INFO][17:18:12] Saturn | Elapsed: 2s | Bench: 274
[INFO][17:18:12] Saturn | Elapsed: 2s | Bench: 274
[INFO][17:18:13] Saturn | Elapsed: 2s | Progress: 5.00%
[INFO][17:18:13] Saturn | Elapsed: 3s | Progress: 10.76%
[INFO][17:18:14] Saturn | Elapsed: 4s | Progress: 19.64%
[INFO][17:18:15] Saturn | Elapsed: 4s | Progress: 27.59%

=================================================

To download images ( default png , use settings to switch)

• to clean up server, in 6) server choose delete_images

=================================================
1) upload    3) progress  5) parseFragment  7)settings 
2) render    4) download  6) server         8) quit 
#? 4
porsche-907.png  100%   15KB  90.7KB/s   00:00

To remove watermark

after these steps open a new bash/zsh before running cloud_bella_cli

edit/create textfile ~/.ssh/config

• add this line

SendEnv BELLA_LICENSE_TEXT

edit/create text file

• ~/.zshrc (mac)
• ~/.bashrc (win)

Into text file as one line

• type ^{export BELLA_LICENSE_TEXT="}
• paste text from bella.lic
• end the line with ^"

export BELLA_LICENSE_TEXT="# Bella License
owner:     oomer
type:      FULL
seats:     1
nodes:     5
version:   1
expires:   1721874318 (Wed Jul 24 21:25:18 2024)
key:       XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"

To add global parseFragment

create text file ~/.ssh/config and add this line

SendEnv BELLA_PARSE_FRAGMENT

edit/create text file

• ~/.zshrc (mac)
• ~/.bashrc (win) Into text file add your fragment

export BELLA_PARSE_FRAGMENT="camera.resolution=vec2(100,100);"

Remember to terminate your servers

On vultr.com or whichever cloud vendor you chose, stopped servers continue to get charged hourly because they hold on to the compute resources. Please terminate or destroy your server to avoid unexpected charges.