nXtRender Render Farm - Rendering With AutoCAD Using NXtRender

A R e nde r Fa rm consists of a group of ne twork e d com pute rs work ing toge the r to com ple te la rge re nde ring ta sk s. Norm a lly, re nde r fa rm s proce e d sile ntly, without gra phica lly displa ying the re nde rings a s the y progre ss. R e nde ring in this m a nne r a llows you to use m ore com pute r powe r for le ngthy ta sk s a t the e x pe nse of som e inte ra ctivity.\\ Ma ny third-pa rty re nde r fa rm products a re curre ntly a va ila ble . The nXtR e nde r R e nde r Fa rm Softwa re a llows you to work with one of the se , or you ca n se t up a sim ple re nde r fa rm just using the softwa re provide d. The nXtRender Render Farm Software is sold separately from the

nXtR e nde r pla tform plugins, such a s AccuR e nde r nXt. The softwa re itse lf is pla tform inde pe nde nt; AutoC AD is not re quire d on com pute rs which will only be use d for re nde ring fa rm ing.

The nXtR e nde r R e nde r Fa rm include s two ba sic pie ce s of softwa re :

nXtFa rm e r.e x e (nXtFa rm e r64.e x e ) is a sm a ll progra m tha t runs on e a ch ne twork re nde ring sta tion a nd wa its for jobs to be ge ne ra te d.

nXtFa rm Monitor.e x e (nXtFa rm Monitor64.e x e ) is a n a pple t tha t shows you the sta te of your re nde r fa rm a nd provide s som e sim ple control tools.

The following proce dure s a pply to nXtR e nde r's include d re nde r fa rm . If you a re pla nning to use third-pa rty re nde r fa rm softwa re , som e of the se proce dure s will be diffe re nt.

C re a te a sha re d folde r for use by the re nde r fa rm . All of the ne twork re nde ring com pute rs m ust ha ve re a d/write a cce ss to this folde r. The sha re d folde r should ha ve a lot of a va ila ble disk spa ce to store both da ta (input) a nd im a ge s (output.) 20 - 200 GB of a va ila ble stora ge a re re com m e nde d. You m ust pe rform the following four ste ps on each com pute r you pla n to use in the re nde r fa rm , including a ny nXtR e nde r work sta tions which will subm it jobs to the re nde r fa rm :

Insta ll the nXtR e nde r R e nde r Fa rm Softwa re .

From the Sta rt m e nu, run the R e nde r Fa rm e r on e a ch m a chine . The R e nde r Fa rm e r will a ppe a r a s a n icon in the syste m tra y.

R ight click on the icon a nd se le ct R e store . A window title nXtR e nde r Fa rm e r should a ppe a r.

Se le ct O ptions->Pa th... from the m e nu a nd se le ct the pa th to the re nde r fa rm . The Fa rm e r window ca n now be m inim ize d to the tra y.

The R e nde r Fa rm is now configure d. To ve rify tha t the fa rm e r m a chine s a re re sponding run the R e nde r Fa rm Monitor from the Sta rt m e nu on a ny of the work sta tions. The m a chine s should a ppe a r in the uppe r list box . If you wish to e x clude a m a chine from pa rticipa ting in the re nde r fa rm , you ca n se le ct it, right click , a nd choose Suspe nd.

Updating the Render Farm Software

All pa rticipa ting com pute rs m ust be upda te d be fore a ne w job ca n be subm itte d to the fa rm . Use the following proce dure : W a it for a ny a ctive fa rm jobs to com ple te be fore be ginning your upda te .

For e a ch pa rticipa ting com pute r:

- If the render farm is currently running, close down the Render Farmer by right-clicking on the tray icon and selecting Close. - Insta ll the nXtR e nde r R e nde r Fa rm Softwa re .

- R un the R e nde r Fa rm e r from the Sta rt Me nu. The tra y icon should a ppe a r.

C urre ntly, thre e type s of jobs ca n be subm itte d to the re nde r fa rm for proce ssing by m ultiple com pute rs: Single Im a ge s from W a lk About, Ba tch Jobs, a nd 3D Slide Shows.

Single Images

Single vie ws ca n be split into "slice s" a nd distribute d to m ultiple m a chine s. O nce the job is com ple te , the se slice s ca n be re constructe d into a single im a ge using the nXtR e nde r Im a ge Editor.

Pe rform the following ste ps to subm it a single im a ge job to the re nde r fa rm : La unch W a lk About a nd configure your re nde ring a nd vie w.

Pre ss the R e nde r Fa rm button on the W a lk About toolba r.

Na m e the job or a cce pt the de fa ult. The da te a nd tim e is a utom a tica lly pre -pe nde d to the na m e you choose . A sub- folde r for the job is cre a te d in the R e nde r Fa rm sha re d folde r. An O utput folde r is a lso cre a te d in the ne w job folde r. C hoose to e ithe r run the job "now", "la te r", or "a fte r" a sche dule d tim e . If you choose "la te r" you will ne e d to use the R e nde ring with AutoC AD using nXtR e nde r

nXtR e nde r R e nde r Fa rm Monitor to m a nua lly sta rt the job.

Afte r the job is com ple te , output ca n be found in the job's O utput folde r. To re construct the output into a single im a ge use the following ste ps:

O pe n the nXtR e nde r Im a ge Editor.

Loa d the first im a ge of the se que nce , 000000.nXtIm a ge From the m e nu, se le ct Im a ge ->Arithm e tic->Add

Se le ct a ll of the othe r im a ge s in the se que nce (do not se le ct 000000.nXtIm a ge a ga in or it will be counte d twice ) Batch Jobs

Ea ch ba tch ta sk will be re nde re d by a single m a chine .

Pe rform the following ste ps to subm it a Ba tch job to the re nde r fa rm : C onfigure your Ba tch ta sk s in the usua l wa y.

Pre ss the Fa rm ... button on the Ba tch DB.

Afte r the job is com ple te , output ca n be found in the job's O utput folde r. The output form a t from Ba tch jobs is a lwa ys .nXtIm a ge .

Slide Show

Ea ch tra nsition be twe e n two slide s will be re nde re d by a single m a chine . For e x a m ple , a slide show with five slide s will ha ve four tra nsitions a nd will produce four ta sk s for the re nde r fa rm .

Pe rform the following ste ps to subm it a 3D Slide Show job to the re nde r fa rm : C onfigure your 3D Slide Show in the usua l wa y.

Pre ss the Fa rm ... button on the 3D Slide Show DB.

Afte r the job is com ple te , output ca n be found in the job's O utput folde r. The output form a t from 3D Slide Show jobs is a lwa ys png. Your a lpha cha nne l choice will be pre se rve d.

Render Farm - 10.4

In document Rendering With AutoCAD Using NXtRender - Albert Hart (Page 122-124)