Batch Rendering

Batch rendering is useful when you need to render the same object with different images: say, a series of books. You make a scene, render it, then replace the image and render it again and so on. Boxshot Ultimate can automate this using the Batch Rendering feature.

There are two batch rendering modes in Boxshot:

The difference is that in simple mode you can only change artwork on one side of the shape, but the user interface is much simpler. In multiple–sides mode you can apply artwork to as many sides, as you want.


 

Simple Batch Rendering

To start the simple batch rendering, click Render → Batch Rendering… in Boxshot main menu.

Side selection

A side selection window will pop up:

Side selection window in Boxshot batch rendering tool

Here you select an object that you are going to change and its side that will be used to put the images. Click an object in the left list, then click a side at the right and finally click the Next button.

Images selection

At the second step you will need to make a list of images you want to apply to the selected side:

Selecting images for batch-render in Boxshot

Use drag and drop or click the + button to add images to the list. Use the options at the right to configure the batch process, then click Next to continue.

Rendering options

Finally, you need to configure the rendering parameters for your rendering:

Configuring simple batch rendering options in Boxshot

Once done, click the Enqueue button to create a “render later” job for the batch rendering.


 

Multiple–Sides Batch Rendering

Multiple side batch rendering lets you render the same scene with the different sets of images applied to its sides. Make your scene with some objects, then click Render → Batch Rendering (Multiple Sides) to start the wizard.

Selecting sides

At the first step you’ll see the list of shapes in your scene with their sides. You need to pick the sides you are about to change. Move them to the right list using the arrow buttons.

Selecting side for multiple batch rendering in Boxshot

Once the sides are selected, click Next to select your artwork.

Selecting folders

You need to organize your artwork, so each set of images for a single rendered frame is placed into a separate folder. Like if you need to render 3 versions of a book, you’ll need 3 folders with artwork for each version. Then you add folders to the list:

Loading image folders for batch rendering in Boxshot

You can add them either by using "+" button or by dragging them into the list with your mouse.

Matching images to sides

That’s the most complex step here. By this moment Boxshot has a list of sides and a set of folders and it somehow needs to match images from the folders to the sides. In order to do so, Boxshot asks you to setup file masks for each side. The masks are the same that you use for files, so “*front*” means any file that has “front” in its name, and “front*.jpg” means any jpeg file that starts with “front”.

Boxshot helps you by setting initial masks based on side names. Say if you select “Front” and “Back” sides at the first step, Boxshot will start with “*Front*” and “*Back*” masks. If your images named with “front” and “back” words, Boxshot will be able to match them easily.

Here we’ve got two “Front” materials. One for the box and another for label. We had to modify the mask of the label side, so it catches the images with “label” in their names. As you may see, Boxshot matches all the sides for all the folders:

Assigning images to sides for batch rendering in Boxshot

In case of any issues with matching, Boxshot will highlight the problem cell. There are two types of possible issues:

In both cases you can hover your mouse onto the problem cell to see the details in a tooltip. Fix the issue by renaming images or updating the mask, so all the cells become white and you can continue to the last step.

Note that, if you rename files, you’ll need to go back to the folder selection step and re–add the folders where you renamed files. Otherwise Boxshot will not be able to track the changes.

Once you’ve done, click Next to go to the last step of the wizard.

Rendering options

At the last step you configure the rendering resolution and other options exactly as you do for manual rendering:

Multiple batch rendering resolution settings in Boxshot

When ready, click the Enqueue button to create a “render later” job for the oscillation animation. Here you can read more about rendering jobs.

More Batch Rendering Tutorials