Overview

The framework consists of two large parts, the python scripting part and the c++ coding part. The c++ files will be compiled into a final plugin whereas the scripts will be distributed as they are.

Everthing in the plugin works via a message queue. If a renderings is started, a tile is drawn or a interactive change in IPR is made, everything is done in the core file called renderQueueWorker.cpp. If maya is started with UI (no batchrendering), then the main method is called every few milliseconds. I wanted to keep Maya as interactive as possible during rendering. Unfortunatly maya has some problems with multithreading. e.g. it can be a problem if you want to access data from another thread but the main thread. Another problem is the way how the render interrupt is implemented into maya with the esc key. Here you have a method called MComputation which locks the interface as long as it is not done with endComputation(). So I had to find another way to do it.