Bundle
Intro :
The Bundle action is implemented for Maya and Houdini. It is based on a concept similar to the Conform action, so I recommand reading conform action too.
The Bundle can be found in the config\bundle\ folder of a DCC repository.
Use :
The Bundle action is similar to the archive function in Maya, but instead of exporting the scene and its references, it also recursively finds all references in the referenced files, then copies every references in a single folder with the scene, and repath everything with an environnement variable : BUNDLE_ROOT to this folder.
You just need to set the variable in your Windows and you can use the bundle folder to render from external render farm or at home.
Steps :
step 1
The bundle finds all references in the selected scene.
step 2
References are copied, one by one, into the export folder (By default, this folder will be created aside the scene), if a referenced file has references of its own, they will go through the same process.
If a reference is not part of the pipeline file structure, or doesn't follow the same naming convention, the copied file will be renamed with a Hashed version.
step 3
References are repathed in the original scene with an environnement variable, BUNDLE_ROOT to the new location.
step 4
The scene is copied in the export folder.
caution
Currently, there is no way to select a folder from the UI, so the the actions doesn't need to be specified an export directory, and will create its own folder in the same directory as the selected scene. if the scene is in a publish folder (Meaning, a folder that is being synchronised on the server), the newly created folder will be synchronised and fill memory.
It is advised to copy the scene in a local drive before bundling it, so the new "BUNDLE folder" will be placed in the local drive as well.
User documentation :