Blender render animation in 8 directions

import bpy
from math import radians

angle = -45
axis = 2 # z-axis
platform = bpy.data.objects["RenderPlatform"]
original_path = bpy.data.scenes[0].render.filepath

for i in range(0,8):

    # rotate the render platform and all children
    temp_rot = platform.rotation_euler
    temp_rot[axis] = temp_rot[axis] - radians(angle)
    platform.rotation_euler = temp_rot;

    # set the filename direction prefix
    bpy.data.scenes[0].render.filepath = original_path + str(i)

    # render animation for this direction
    bpy.ops.render.render(animation=True)

bpy.data.scenes[0].render.filepath = original_path