Recommended Render Manager Software?

[Streetwise]

If I want to set up a few 6-core boxes as a render farm, what is a good manager software that I can use to send jobs to? I've found Squidnet, but are there any others to consider? I'm currently using an on-line V-ray farm, but at $800 in just a couple of weeks, I can see that it would make sense to do more jobs in-house. The problem of course, is that even when I use DR internally (as I do on occasion), it ties up my client until the job is rendered. It would be nice just to send stuff to the queue.

Thanks.

[FSGFX]

backburner is doin a good job here... if you have only a few slaves its fine...
no need to spend money on an other manager...

[Streetwise]

I guess I'm pretty ignorant with how to use Backburner properly then! I thought that it was similar to using VR DR in that the client machine is still tied up while it's in use and that if you use V-Ray DR, you don't use/need Backburner. Hmmm... Can you recommend any good resources for how to set it up?

Thanks!

[FSGFX]

start the backburner manager on your manage computer...
and start the backburner server on the other...
on your main pc start net render in max and it should work.. its really easy...

[mitchgates]

I think that Thinkbox Deadline is free if you only have 2-3 machines. Cost is really reasonable after that. Kicks the crap out of backburner.

[etown]

Anyone used Deadline and RenderPal? I'd like to hear a comparison between the two. I've used RenderPal in the past and wasn't really impressed.

[Morbid Angel]

I think if search the forum for my user name and deadline as keywords, there would be at least 10 threads where I suggested deadline, its great, you don't need another manager and the support is awesome!

[BKE]

Hello! I appreciate this thread. I have been researching Render Managers. Are any of them especially good for rendering large single images? I use Max Design, V-Ray and ForestPack Pro, and I see the value in buying a Render Manager to avoid the problems that I run into with VRays DR. I welcome any suggestions!

[Dariusz Makowski (Dadal)]

Backburner for render jobs
refamo for render farm.

[m_hinks]

I think if search the forum for my user name and deadline as keywords, there would be at least 10 threads where I suggested deadline, its great, you don't need another manager and the support is awesome!

Yep same from me, backburner is had its day, if it ever had a day, Deadline rules!

[Streetwise]

Thank you all! I plan to purchase a couple of hex-core i7 boxes in coming weeks. So I will plan to give Deadline a try. I render single large frames (4096x3277) so this will be a real money saver for me. Much appreciated!

[BKE]

Thank you all! I plan to purchase a couple of hex-core i7 boxes in coming weeks. So I will plan to give Deadline a try. I render single large frames (4096x3277) so this will be a real money saver for me. Much appreciated!

Streetwise and I will both be doing large stills. If we use Deadline to tile our large images, what is the chance of getting inconsistent results from our different nodes. For example, I will have Xeon an i7 systems from different generations.

Secondarily, will Deadline have issues with my ForestPack Pro plug-ins? I have read their online info and I cannot decipher if Deadline has a different approach than VRay DR for handling plug-ins and mapping materials.

Thirdly, is there a way to see the progress of your render farm tiled image? Thanks!

[Dave_Wortley]

Streetwise and I will both be doing large stills. If we use Deadline to tile our large images, what is the chance of getting inconsistent results from our different nodes. For example, I will have Xeon an i7 systems from different generations.

It should be fine the differences will be very very insignificant, if you do get issues just pre-bake your lightcache/irradiance map.

Secondarily, will Deadline have issues with my ForestPack Pro plug-ins? I have read their online info and I cannot decipher if Deadline has a different approach than VRay DR for handling plug-ins and mapping materials.

ForestPro works fine if it's installed for each render blade, you need to make sure with ForestPro that things aren't pathed locally as ForestPro Defaults to that for its libraries.

Thirdly, is there a way to see the progress of your render farm tiled image? Thanks!

You can browse individual tiles in the folder they're being rendered to to glance at it. I've written a tool to see the tiles together before its finished. The tool is a bit buggy and not finished yet, I might release it or pass it onto the Deadline guys at some point.

[BKE]

It should be fine the differences will be very very insignificant, if you do get issues just pre-bake your lightcache/irradiance map.



ForestPro works fine if it's installed for each render blade, you need to make sure with ForestPro that things aren't pathed locally as ForestPro Defaults to that for its libraries.




You can browse individual tiles in the folder they're being rendered to to glance at it. I've written a tool to see the tiles together before its finished. The tool is a bit buggy and not finished yet, I might release it or pass it onto the Deadline guys at some point.

Thank you for the very thorough answer.
I have never pre-baked my lightcache/irradiance map. I am glad to be aware of that solution.
Regarding ForestPro - I only need to be worried about the mapping on the Workstation, correct? Or, are you saying that I need to also make sure that I set up the mapping on every node to be mapped to my textures?
Your tool sounds very helpful.. It would be very advantageous to see the rendering coming together.
Thanks again!

[brainspoon]

I can only vote for RenderPal