Can complex multi-pass rendering be automated in Poser 11 Pro? For example, from a single static scene, automatically...

1. Render a Preview and save to a PNG.
2. Render a Sketch render (using Sketch Designer preset: XYZ) and save to a PNG.
3. Render a Firefly render and save to PSD as a Shadows pass.
4. Switch in a new light and render to Firefly and save to PNG.

And ideally the ability to store that batch as a single preset, so that it can be run again and again on other scenes.

I can find multipass scripts on sale that offer to make multiple render from different cameras, and from different lights in a scene. But all are Firefly only, and there's no mention of an ability to also do Preview or Sketch renders.

I'm thinking that the Poser Python scripting might be able to do this?

Or perhaps I'm missing something obvious - and it's possible to set a new render state for each camera type in a scene (Aux, Posing, etc)?

Yes the method is poser.Scene().SetCurrentRenderEngine(x) with x being an integer that decides which renderer to use (See excerpt from manual below). Following that poser.Scene().Render() will render. Following that the saving of the render in any file format is also possible, but I don't have the function handy off the top of my head. I used to write scripts that would automate rendering and saving for various reasons, such as preparing thumbnails for hundreds of library materials.

Many thanks for the help, bagginsbill. For those wanting to access the PoserPython manual quoted, I see that access to it is built right into the Help menu inside Poser 11.

I'm now thinking that a more general Macro Recorder and Player could be made in Python, for use in automating all aspects of Poser. Something that would run like Photoshop's Actions, and thus be even more widely useful for users beyond just multi-pass rendering.

The Python Software Foundation appears to have free code for that, in their PyAutoGUI module which is a free... "cross-platform module for GUI automation for human beings. Control the keyboard and mouse from a Python script."

In terms of having such a useful "PyAutoGUI for Poser" tool made and extended to handle PoserPython, perhaps this is something that the community might crowd-fund for. I'd certainly chip in $10 for that, to have something like Photoshop's Actions up-and-running in Poser 11.

In the meantime I'm now looking into more general Windows software automation tools, for recording and playing back actions on any type of software. Not ideal, but it appears that it would do the job. On a first 30 minute hunt, it appears that Jitbit Macro Recorder and Quick Macros are the top dogs, with both also able to output .exe files to share recorded actions. WinParrot 2.x appears to be the freeware pick.