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Batch renders are always spooled to either LocalQueue (default) or Tractor.   Batch queuing preferences are available in the Maya Preferences window, which opens when you choose the option box for the Batch Render menu item.

Output Locations

By default, we use Mayabatch to render the saved Maya scene file. Maya renders from memory similarly to a preview render from the UI, without the intermediate RIB export.

When a batch render is started, RIB files and textures are stored on disk and the renderer reads those in.  These are stored in a directory based on the scene name but with a time stamp appended.  The Batch Context setting in the preferences is where the time stamp is specified as a variable called $JOBDATETIME.  This avoids the possibility of multiple simultaneous jobs attempting to overwrite files.

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