Setup
The Setup chapter provides information about installing and optimizing Chalice, including
- System Requirements
- Installation
- Optimizing Performance
- Note:
- Be sure to check the Chalice readme document for the most up-to-date information on setup. For custom installations, contact Silicon Grail Customer Support.
System Requirements
Chalice and its associated batch render program, chal, will run well on
- IRIX: any Silicon Graphics workstation with at least an R4000 CPU running the IRIX 6.2 (or later) operating system. Chalice requires a minimum of 64 MB of RAM, although 128 MB or more is recommended for optimal performance. A 24-bit graphics accelerator and a large, 19- to 21-inch color monitor are highly recommended.
- NT: any workstation with Intel PentiumPro/Pentium II/Pentium III or DEC Alpha processors running Windows NT 4.X. A minimum of 64 MB of RAM is required, although 128 MB or more is recommended. Chalice also requires an OpenGL-capable video card with at least 8 MB of video memory, although 16 MB is recommended.
In addition, chal runs under Linux on both Intel and Alpha workstations.
The Chalice application files require approximately 45 MB of hard disk space. In addition, Chalice requires a substantial amount of temporary disk space while the application is running. Refer to "Optimizing Performance " at the end of this chapter to learn how to get the most out of Chalice on your workstation.
- Note for IRIX Users:
- We strongly recommend that you increase the number of shared memory segments from the default as shipped by SGI. This procedure is described in "Enhancing Operation of Chalice on IRIX Systems ."
Installation
This document explains how to install Chalice on an IRIX or Windows NT workstation from the Chalice CD-ROM. Follow the procedure that is appropriate for your system configuration:
- IRIX 6.X Installation (Inst)
- Windows NT 4.X Installation
Once you have installed the software, you will need to contact Silicon Grail to receive a numerical software key that will enable you to inform Chalice of the number of floating licenses to which you are entitled based on your purchase agreement. (Licensing instructions are included herein for each type of installation.)
IRIX 6.X Installation (Inst)
- Log in to your workstation as root to become SuperUser.
- Insert the CD-ROM into your local CD-ROM drive.
- Select Software Manager from the Desk1 (toolbox) System Menu.
- In the Software Manager window, enter the following in the Available Software text field:
/CDROM/dist
- Push the Custom Installation button at the top of the window.
The Software Manager will scan the CD for available software to install. "Chalice 2.0" and "Silicon Grail License Manager" should be displayed in the Software Inventory window. In addition, the "GIMP" open source paint program distributed with Chalice should appear here.
- Click the gray checkboxes for "Chalice 2.0" and "Silicon Grail License Manager" under the Install column in the Software Inventory window.
A red checkmark will appear in the box and the Start button (located below the Software Inventory window) will highlight in blue.
- Note:
- Optionally, you may check the box for "GIMP" installation also.
- Press the Start button to begin installation.
The Software Manager will install Chalice on your hard disk.
- After completion of the installation, select Exit from the File menu of the Software Manager.
- Note:
- To use the Chalice Online Help System, you will need to set the environment variable CHALICE_HELP_BROWSER to the path of your web browser. Although this step is not strictly necessary to install and run Chalice, you will probably want to enable Online Help soon after you complete the installation.
- Follow the instructions below to obtain a license key.
- Follow the instructions for using "chalicetune" in "Enhancing Operation of Chalice on IRIX Systems ."
This step is optional, but highly recommended.
Keying the Software on IRIX Systems
Follow these instructions to obtain a key to run Chalice on an IRIX workstation:
- Log in to your workstation as root to become SuperUser.
- Type the following command to update the file system:
rehash
- Run the Chalice license manager software using the following command:
./makelic
The system will display your server code with a prompt similar to the following:
Code for host "[your hostname]" is: 001 9973 8031 9842 0814 8
Please enter key for server "[your hostname]":
- Record your host code and exit the license manager software by pressing the Control and C keys.
- Contact Silicon Grail Corporation to communicate your server code.
Send the host codes for your host to the attention of Technical Support at Silicon Grail by fax at (323) 871-9199, by email at key@sgrail.com, or by phone at (323) 871-9100.
Silicon Grail will respond by building a key and communicating it to you. The key will be a long sequence of numbers that will inform the Chalice software of the quantity of licenses to which you are entitled.
- Once you have received your key, be sure you are still logged in as root and restart the Chalice license manager with the following command:
./makelic
- Enter the software key numbers at the prompt:
Please enter key for server "[your hostname]":
The software will respond with the status of the key installation. If the installation was successful, proceed to step 8. If you entered the key incorrectly, the system will notify you and ask you to enter the key again.
- Log off the system.
- Log in using your usual login and password.
- To verify that Chalice has been installed correctly, launch the program by keying in the following command:
chalice
Windows NT 4.X Installation
Follow the procedure below to install Chalice on your Intel or DEC Alpha Windows NT workstation:
- Log in as Administrator or as a user with administrator privileges.
- Insert the CD-ROM into your local CD-ROM drive.
- Use desktop icons to open the CD-ROM drive content window.
- Navigate to (assuming CD-ROM drive letter D:)
D:\WindowsNT
- Double-click on the Setup icon (" setup.exe") to launch the Chalice installation and License Manager programs.
- Note:
- There is no option to install the "GIMP" open source paint program that is distributed with Chalice, as it is not yet available on the NT platform.
- Follow the instructions given by the installation program dialogs.
- Restart the computer as instructed by the installation program.
- Note:
- In order to allow other users to run Chalice, they must have the environment variable HOME set to some existing directory path. This can be done in the Windows NT System Control Panel.
- Follow the instructions below to obtain a license key.
Using the NT License Manager
- Navigate to the Control Panel (Start > Settings > Control Panel) and double-click the SG_LM icon in the Control Panel window.
This will open the panel in which you launch the Silicon Grail License Manager.
- In the SG_LM panel, press the Launch button, and then press OK to close the panel.
- Navigate to the Chalice licensing directory on your hard drive:
C:\Program Files\Silicon Grail\SG_LM
- Execute " makelic.exe" by double-clicking on the file.
This will bring up the Chalice License Manager user interface to generate a host code for your machine.
- Record your host code and quit the License Manager.
- Contact Silicon Grail Corporation to communicate your server code.
Send the host codes for your host to the attention of Technical Support at Silicon Grail by fax at (323) 871-9199, by email at key@sgrail.com, or by phone at (323) 871-9100.
Silicon Grail will respond by building a key and communicating it to you. The key will be a long sequence of numbers that will inform the Chalice software of the quantity of licenses to which you are entitled.
- Once you have received your key, restart the Chalice License Manager.
Be sure that you are still logged in with administrator privileges.
- Follow the instructions given by the software to enter the key, and then quit the License Manager.
- Log off the system and log in again using your usual login and password.
- To verify that Chalice has been installed correctly, launch the program by double-clicking on the Chalice icon.
You can also launch the program by typing the word " chalice " in the Command Prompt window.
- Note:
- To use the Chalice Online Help System, you will need to set the environment variable CHALICE_HELP_BROWSER to the path of your web browser. Although this step is not strictly necessary to install and run Chalice, you will probably want to enable Online Help soon after you complete the installation.
Optimizing Performance
Chalice may require a substantial amount of temporary disk space while in operation. Each frame of film at 2K resolution requires 2 to 8 MB, depending on the file format. Cineon 10-bit 4K files require in excess of 75 MB per frame. In addition, performing multiple-layer composites can take several times these amounts. You will also require substantial hard disk space for your source imagery; this amount will be doubled by the imagery Chalice will generate during processing.
Therefore, we recommend that you set the environment variable " CHALICE_TMPDIR" to a file system path that has a substantial amount of disk space available, preferably not on the root partition. We suggest that you allocate as much hard disk space as you can afford. For more information, refer to the readme document on the Chalice CD-ROM.
In addition, we recommend that you review the following information, located elsewhere in this manual, to find out more about
- memory usage in Chalice, to enable you to optimize your cache settings: chapter 4, "Key Concepts ."
- preference settings , to enable you to set the defaults for basic Chalice interface elements to fit your work habits and projects: chapter 11, "Setting Preferences ."
- file proxies , which improve performance most when used knowledgeably: "Using Proxies in Chalice " in chapter 12, "I/O Nodes ."
Chapter 7, "Managing Large Networks ," may also be useful to compositors working on complex shots.
Enhancing Operation of Chalice on IRIX Systems
The default number of shared memory segments available to each user of IRIX workstations, as shipped from SGI, is 100. For optimal use of Chalice, this setting must be increased. The instructions below tell you how to run the " chalicetune" program to increase this setting, based on the number of processors in your system.
- Warning:
- This script modifies your kernel, and you will have to reboot for its changes to take effect. If you have a system administrator, you may want to have that person look at this script before you run the command. This script will set shmmni and sshmseg to $size.
- To run chalicetune, log in to your workstation as root to become SuperUser.
- Type the following command to start the program:
chalicetune
Chalicetune will warn you that it is about to change the value, and how much, and ask you to confirm that you want to continue (yes/no).
- Answer "yes" to have the chalicetune program modify your kernel as specified above.
If you answer "no," chalicetune will abort.
- Reboot your system for the change to take effect.
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Copyright 1996-1999 by Silicon Grail Corporation