Ghetto Render Farm

[erniesbot]

Yo dudes,

 

Right, a current animation project and consequent render, times has given me the idea of setting up a home render farm.

 

Trouble is my hardware/software specs are vastly different on my machines.

 

I have at my disposal...

 

 

• My desktop : i7, 6GB ram Windows 7 64 bit.
  
• Dual core laptop, win xp, 1 GB ram,
  
• Old desktop - 3ghz althon windows XP 1.5 gb ram
  
• Couple of random beige boxes, id imagine each between 1 - 2 GHZ probably with 512mb Ram. Possibly a few more of these available in near future.
  

I will be using Vray and 3ds max.

 

In theory, would it be possible harness the power of the lower spec'd machines in a farm setup, or would they just crash out when trying to load my 1million poly animation?

 

Or could it be setup so that all of the computers "share" their processing power/memory between them?

 

Texture wise the scene is pretty minimal so should not be too memory heavy.

 

Would i have to use somthing like "farmerjoe"?

 

I have experience of rendering with backburner but other than that i'm a networking and general IT noob. So an idiots guide/explanation would be ideal

[AJLynn]

It seems unlikely that most of your older machines would be able to handle a million poly scene. Also, you'll have 32/64 bit incompatibilities.

[Tommy L]

I would weigh up other options. You will pull your hair out rendering an animation on those machines. Consider the fee for the project and whether it is likely you will use the farm again for future projects. Also consider the tax write-offs (maybe look at hiring machines). Look at online render-farms.

[erniesbot]

Cool yeah, i thaught it could be a pain in the ass.

It's a personal project with zero budget. Hence the ghetto setup!

 

In theory could this work even with the low spec machines?

 

Would farming the machines make them work "as one" or rather just give each machine a different frame to render?

[Tommy L]

It could work in theory, but the return on the work would be minimal. You would have to be very aware of your ram limitations, esp working with 32bit machines. Also, once a job is started on one of the slow machines, it can take longer waiting for that frame / bucket to finish than just rendering it sequentially on the i7. You will have to be very mindful of file management and streamlining. Not worth it.

Seriously, if you are doing personal work to put a reel together to get clients, think about spending the money on a dedicated i7 machine. It will pay for itself.

In my opinion, if you have not currently got the capacity to do animations, you should spend your time doing high end stills and bring in work on the back of those, save, then buy a farm. If you want motion but dont have render power, delve into Aftereffects or something similar and get creative there. Clients dont tend to see the difference between 2d and 3d animation anyway.

I had a look at your site. You have some good work on there. Maybe find another artist in your area, partner up and share resources?

[erniesbot]

Tommy, thanks. Some really useful advice there.

 

I do have acess to a few fast machines at work, which i will probably end up using. Just it means going into the office at weekends and eveinings just to set renders off and keep tabs on things.

 

Many thanks.