Running max+vray from remote location

[Erik de Graaf]

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone has experience running max and vray from a terminal server. We may well be opening another office on another location but i would like to keep our library and project files on one location. An internet connection capable of doing this is very expensive so our admin thought that it might be possible to run 3dsmax and vray from a remote server. This would mean that it would need a lot of power since multiple clients will log on to this machine (i am thinking 4 clients max.)

Is this even possible? Does anyone here know how to handle two office locations without splitting up the files everyone needs (textures, vray proxies and who knows what)?

We are a bit stuck at the moment and really don't know if it is a wise thing to do.

Any help would be great,

Greetings,

Erik

[Erik de Graaf]

BUMP!

Still nobody?

[plastic_]

you mean, serious working on a scene via remote desktop? that's not realistic. even on a gigabit network. unless you like working in slow motion.
technically it's possible if max viewport is set to software mode, but it's no fun.

[Erik de Graaf]

Well something like that, it is an idea from our admin. And we were wondering if it can be done. He thinks it is possible to build a machine with multiple graphic cards to serve multiple clients at the same time so you wouldn't have to set the display to software mode. I have my doubts about this .

Personally i would like to have two identical servers that stay in sync. I was hoping someone here knows how to manage two locations.

[vlado]

It is not impossible; remote desktop works even with OpenGL/DirectX modes for 3ds Max (not sure at all how it does it, but apparently it works). Still, it requires a good internet connection. Maybe you can do a few tests and see if the response speed is good enough for you.

Best regards,
Vlado

[Erik de Graaf]

Yes, that is one of the things we are looking into right now, we are going to test this with a comparible internet connection. The main problem is that high speed connections are incredibly expensive so anything above 2048kbps is impossible because of the high costs.

I assume nobody here is working at an office that has two locations with synchronized servers. I really would like to know how and if that works.

[dimo]

Hi,

I use both remotedesktop and VNC occasionally. But it's only for checking the renders and managing backburner and coding plugins. You can not do real work on big scenes because the viewport is too slow. Having a two monitor setup is also not possible because it gets too slow.
It's good for checking your work from home but you wouldn't want to work like that for longer.

Best regards,

Dieter

[Erik de Graaf]

Ok, this is as what i expected. I will be able to do a real life test within a few weeks. But like you say, it will be too slow. Looker for other options know.

Still nobody knows how to handle two locations i guess. Maybe we should keep the arch viz department in one location and just split up the other parts of the company.