[ms] · Est. May 2002
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Forums / Computers / Electronics / Games
first off. yeah yeah yeah, mercuryengine... I tried, couldn't figure out how to use that site.
ok, here goes. between the computer guys and the graphic guys on this site i hope i can find an answer. I'm getting to a point were my current computer that i just got not too long ago is already maxed out and still too slow for me to produce the number of renderings i need in a timely manor. has anyone set up a renderfarm, and how difficult of a process are we talking about? any suggestions?
Re: renderfarm? question for computer geeks?
ahah.
A renderfarm and how you go about setting one up is dependent on what render engine and/or 3d package you are using, the number of machines you have, and the processors of said machines. With some more info I might be able to help more. I don't exactly have a "renderfarm" but I use 3 machines. Two pentium 2.4's and a dual xeon 3.2. I typically run distributed bucket renderings through mental ray, final render, and brazil on the pentiums and my xeon runs all those solo, which is still roughly 4 times faster than the two pentiums. Anyway give me more info about what you are doing, running, current render times etc..... I can probably help.
Re: renderfarm? question for computer geeks?
the box: currently running 4 gigs of ram on a dell 8400 with 4.3 gig processor and a 256 video card. we would be looking into stringing the whole or part of office together (something like 7-15 machines). all computers roughly the same configurations. all the computers are currently hooked up to the same server.
the program: i use 3d autocad to generate the models. no real downtime there. but with viz for the renderer. well you know how that goes. with my machine, i am currently running a model with 1.3 million faces at a resolution to print on 8.5x11 takes roughly 30 hours. I'm actually pretty impressed with that level of speed, but it could always be quicker. here is an image of what i'm working. most projects are no where near this extensive, but the bosses are into doing more renderings and willing pay to cut the time down. [IMG]http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/7717/10finalcopy3hi.jpg[/IMG]
we have an IT guy, but he is unfamiliar with render farms. i told him about them and he said it make sence and he will look into it. personally, i read this article and it got me thinking this is the way to go. [URL="http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1847365,00.asp"]http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1847365,00.asp[/URL]
Re: renderfarm? question for computer geeks?
i've also heard of certain lisp programs that can render using viz or max without windows running. i'm guessing its all run through DOS with certain premade folders? totally lost on how that would work. i'm not so much an IT type. i only know enough to get me in trouble.
Re: renderfarm? question for computer geeks?
mercuryengine imo
Re: renderfarm? question for computer geeks?
[QUOTE=picklemonkey]mercuryengine imo[/QUOTE]
he couldnt figure out how to use it :what ;)
Re: renderfarm? question for computer geeks?
[quote=picklemonkey]mercuryengine imo[/quote]
did you read the first post? don't make me smack you. :p
Re: renderfarm? question for computer geeks?
he should've asked.
he's used phpbb before :not me:
Re: renderfarm? question for computer geeks?
[quote=picklemonkey]mercuryengine imo[/quote]
Jackass imo!
Re: renderfarm? question for computer geeks?
daveman, heres what to do (for future reference)
go to mercuryengine.com click "log in" to log in, using your username and password go to the appropriate forum ie. general chit chat to start a new topic, click "new topic" to submit your new topic click "submit"
;)
Re: renderfarm? question for computer geeks?
geez. fock it then. sorry i asked. just looking for some insight.
Re: renderfarm? question for computer geeks?
[quote=peloquin]daveman, heres what to do (for future reference)
go to mercuryengine.com click "log in" to log in, using your username and password go to the appropriate forum ie. general chit chat to start a new topic, click "new topic" to submit your new topic click "submit"
;)[/quote]
Ouch...:poke:
Re: renderfarm? question for computer geeks?
[QUOTE=daveman]geez. fock it then. sorry i asked. just looking for some insight.[/QUOTE]
palmer said he could help. :sorry:
Re: renderfarm? question for computer geeks?
:not me:
I'm sorry Kamal pays money for MercuryEngine when nobody uses it. if you're pissed, take it up with him. on mercuryengine.com, of course.
Re: renderfarm? question for computer geeks?
I have 6 renderfarms at work, but nowe I am a little too drunk to explain them.
Re: renderfarm? question for computer geeks?
shit if you are running viz you can do a network render. since the configurations of all the systems are roughly the same you are golden. you don't even need to put anymore money into what you already have.
[URL="http://discussion.autodesk.com/thread.jspa?threadID=456140"]http://discussion.autodesk.com/thread.jspa?threadID=456140[/URL]
there is a walkthrough. setting up network renders is pretty easy and it will DEFINITELY lighten that load. you can also run batch network renders which will allow you to do say 10 renders of 10 different camera angles after you guys have gone home for the day.
I'm pretty blown back by those render times though honestly. Either viz is really slow or you guys are casting a few million photons per light into your scenes with high resolution textures. I'd look into that though because 30 hours for an 8.5 x 11 sounds crazy. So in addition to network renders I'd look into optimizing your scenes.
Re: renderfarm? question for computer geeks?
[quote=miketpoto]I have 6 renderfarms at work, but nowe I am a little too drunk to explain them.[/quote]
Drunk? Hahaha... its 4 o'clock. Rough week?
Re: renderfarm? question for computer geeks?
[QUOTE=palmer]Drunk? Hahaha... its 4 o'clock. Rough week?[/QUOTE] See m y liquid lunch thread....
Re: renderfarm? question for computer geeks?
mercuryalcoholics imo
Re: renderfarm? question for computer geeks?
[quote=daveman]the box: currently running 4 gigs of ram on a dell 8400 with 4.3 gig processor and a 256 video card. we would be looking into stringing the whole or part of office together (something like 7-15 machines). all computers roughly the same configurations. all the computers are currently hooked up to the same server.
the program: i use 3d autocad to generate the models. no real downtime there. but with viz for the renderer. well you know how that goes. with my machine, i am currently running a model with 1.3 million faces at a resolution to print on 8.5x11 takes roughly 30 hours. I'm actually pretty impressed with that level of speed, but it could always be quicker. here is an image of what i'm working. most projects are no where near this extensive, but the bosses are into doing more renderings and willing pay to cut the time down. [IMG]http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/7717/10finalcopy3hi.jpg[/IMG]
we have an IT guy, but he is unfamiliar with render farms. i told him about them and he said it make sence and he will look into it. personally, i read this article and it got me thinking this is the way to go. [URL="http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1847365,00.asp"]http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1847365,00.asp[/URL][/quote]
The complexity of that scene isn't that great, so I'm surprised you're having such a slow render speed. Unless you're modelling all the leaves on that tree, rather than using single poly's with an alpha'd texture. The arches look fairly intricate, but I can't see whether that's due to clever texturing or polys.
I'm not sure what Autocad uses, but most 3D packages worth their salt will come with a distributed computing component that you can install on each machine in the office and then when you want to render it just finds the machines itself. You may need licenses for each one. In general it shouldn't be too much of a headache, as long as your computers are all networked (make sure you have a decent high-bandwidth network too).
[quote]1.3 million faces at a resolution to print on 8.5x11 takes roughly 30 hours.[/quote] Most graphics cards can draw that number of faces in a 100th of a second. I assume you have shit loads of lights in the scene?