Overview
The stats system is split into two distinct categories:
- Instrumentation of the renderer, bridge, or plugin code.
- Observation and presentation of specific metrics at a specific cadence.
Nothing needs to be done to turn on instrumentation. Data collection starts when the system is initialized and continues until shutdown (Roz is "Always Watching").
However, in order to see the results of the instrumentation, we need to turn on the observation of stats. Specifically, we need to enable Listeners that will pull data out of the system for presentation or analysis. Depending on the listener(s) that are enabled you may see output to a data file or live stats to an in-app HUD, or anything in between.
Currently, the system does not have any listeners configured by default but they can be enabled using a configuration file. In future releases, there will be one or more listeners configured by default and there will be configuration UI in each bridge product.
...
RenderMan diagnostics have a built-in configuration for live data that is always presented in the it tool, toggled on with the "V" (capital "vee") shortcut. For DCC plugins the live stats are also built in but are not enabled by default. This is a prototype feature which may require manual configuration as explained in Live Statistics Configuration.
Advanced users may also configure other presentation Listeners through the use of an "ini" configuration file.
Live Statistics Configuration
Each DCC has a window dedicated to Live Statistics presentation and configuration. Below is a snapshot of the configuration options as seen in RenderMan for Maya:
Enable Live Stats
Toggle this on to enable the built-in WebSocket server and connect the DCC's client window to the live data stream. This works best if only one render is connected at a time, on the default port.
WebSocket Port
In the event multiple renders are attempting to run live stats, each render will need a unique WebSocket port configured manually. The default port is 9723.
Connect/Disconnect
When the Enable button is toggled on a button is available for manually connecting and disconnecting from a running render.
Status
The bottom line of the configuration portion of the Live Statistics window is the current state of the connection, if the Live Stats Server is enabled.
The stats configuration file (default name: "stats.ini") holds the basic default settings for the stats session, a list of listeners to attach, and per-listener rules for metric data to be observed by each listener.
...
The stats system will search for the configuration file in the following order:
| Order | Location | Default |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | /stats/configpath setting in rendermn.ini | .:${RMANTREE}/etc |
| 2 |
| none |
| 3 | prman -statsconfig </path/to/filename.ini> | stats.ini |
Configuration files are not merged if more than one is found. The last one found wins.
...