70euros = cheap.
yes you can buy machines, but do not forget for the price of the SW, time spent on installing it, networking and debuging, heat, noise, electricity. I do plan 4 workstations and 4-6 renderslaves. But with all of that, i am still not able to render 5min animation in couple of hours… Especially my clients will not wait, they are happy to pay to get it fast (at least for anim project). We have just put quoute with 3k just for rendering on external farm.
Try calculator on rebusfarm. Render Farm Cost and Time Calculator: RebusFarm Rendering Calculator
I put 1 image 12 hours on my machine = 11 GBP. super cheap
Alright, we disagree there, 3k is on verge, but multiple of that is something I would rather invest and reap the benefits for multiple projects, even if it is mere 5-10perc. of budget, I see it as money wasted. As for the rest (SW, HW, managing,etc..), that is for longer discusssion with so many variables and we have different opinions seemingly.
I know the calculator, I’ve done my math. It’s not “cheap” to me, and that is hardly because I don’t budget enough.
I do agree completely on the speed benefit, no amount of home farm will equal to resources of cloud and for it, they are extremely helpful, but I don’t find the “it’s extremely cheap” to be supportive argument of that. It’s obviously not for everyone.
You are right - Ihave to admit, that I lack certain technical level, and option of buying more hw is a bit stressfull idea to me. So that’s why I see it as “cheap option” as it will save me time and nerves. I will use it mostly for finals or in extreme time pressure- I mean for stills. For animations , renderfarms will be probably my weapon of choice.
Hahaha that was the same reaction with me and one friend who wanted to use vray for a scene, he was like : WHAAAT dafuq is that :D, he just took his pc and mine with other 2 pc of his friends and it’s done !