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An Introduction To Backburner And Render Farms

An Introduction To Backburner And Render Farms

on Jul 10th 2012 with 10 comments
Tutorial Details
  • Software: Autodesk Maya
  • Difficulty: Beginner
  • Estimated Completion Time: 30 Minutes

Final Product What You'll Be Creating

This entry is part 7 of 13 in the Productivity and Building a Better Workflow Session
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This tutorial will teach you how to setup and utilize Autodesk’s Backburner software over multiple computers to speed up your render times. You’ll also learn about making smart decisions and choosing the most cost effective hardware when purchasing components for a personal or small studio sized render farm. If you’re a freelancer on a deadline, or just a hobbyist who wants to get more done – faster, this is a must watch!

Video

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Note: click the ‘Monitor’ icon to view tutorial in full-screen HD.

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I'm a freelance VFX artist from Brisbane. Please check out my website at vfxbyjames.info.  

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  • http://www.fandysain.net Fandysain

    OMG, thank you very much.. I really need this <3

    thanks

  • Justin

    I was wondering if you needed separate licences of 3Ds Max for each slave, or if you could use the same license key. This is a really good video, I’ve been wanting to put together a farm for awhile.

  • heljoshin

    You read my thoughts!!! Really great tut! THNX!!

  • Trevor

    Just wanted to point out that the Ivy Bridge line of processors are very bad at overclocking and thermal management. For $30 less you can pick up the virtually same processor, i7 2600k and overclock it to give you a Much higher performance per $. Of course this is only an option if you don’t mind overclocking. I personally have an i7 3930k, perfect for a single powerstation

  • Águas

    Thank you for the clear explanation =)

    Love the waiting game song! ahah :p

    Good luck on adding more nodes

  • jaidev

    very informative tut !!!

    I m using an AMD X6 as my workstation….can i add my old intel core 2 duo system with it to render….will it work ?

  • Omar

    Amazing introduction (Y)
    Guys i need a website or someone to help me in building my new desktop. I’ll use it manly for 3Ds Max , After Effects rendering and decent gaming. I chose all the parts but still not sure if it’s enough !. if you can help me pleas contact me, thanx ;)

  • Joe

    Nice tutorial. One error is the priority portion. A lower priority value = higher rendering priority. So a value of 1 means the servers will render that job before rendering a job with a priority value of 10.

    You need the 3D software installed on each server. For 1 license of Maya it allows: 5 Mental Ray for Maya batch rendering licenses available for command line rendering. — I haven’t tested this, but that is what the Documents say.

  • http://www.ultrarender.com/ renderfarm

    can it render animated particles?

  • http://www.tutorial-z.com C. Andrei

    Hi, I want to buy a new PC for modeling and rendering. My budget it limited to 7000 euros. I am living in Europe, so the parts are a little bit more expensive here . here you have the parts that I want to buy. What do you think ?

    2 x Intel Xeon X5680 3.33GHz (Westmere) (Socket 1366) : Total : 3453 €

    EVGA GeForce GTX 690 4096MB PCI-Express GDDR5 Graphics Card : 1261.34 €

    EVGA Classified SR-2 Intel 5520 (Socket 1366) DDR3 Motherboard (270-WS-W555-E1) : 524.90 €

    Lian Li PC-V2120B Aluminium Full Tower Case – Black : 428.91 €

    G.Skill RipJawsZ 32GB (8x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C9 2133MHz Quad Channel Kit (F3-17000CL9Q2-32GBZH) : 348.18 €

    Corsair Professional Series AX1200 High Performance 1200W Modular ’80 Plus Gold’ Power Supply (CMPSU-1200AXUK) : 271.11 €

    Crucial RealSSD M4 256GB 2.5″ SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT256M4SSD2) : 242.11 €

    Seagate Barracuda 3TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache – OEM (ST3000DM001) : 156.36 €

    Zalman CNPS12X Ultimate Performance Triple Fan CPU Cooler (Socket Intel LGA2011/1366/1156/1155/775 and AMD FM1/AM3+/AM3/AM2+/AM2) : 88.27 €

    Gentle Typhoon 120mm 5400 RPM Cooling Fan, D1225C12BBAP-31 : 25.21 €

    TOTAL : 6799.39 €

    I would like an answer and thank you :)