mohinder Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 Could anyone please advise me on the possibilities of using the new Mac Mini Server (http://www.apple.com/uk/macmini/server/) to decrease the rendering times (mostly of 3dsmaxs) from my Dual Core iMac (@2.93 GHz). Please excuse my ignorance, but I have never used Backburner or any of the other network rendering capabilities of 3dsmaxs ( ) since I have mostly focused on modelling and animating. What additional hardware requirements, in terms of cabling between the formentioned 2 computers would this require? Could the network and rendering be reliably achieved through Home Plug AV adaptors (such as these: http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/powerline-networking/278488/zyxel-pla-401-v3-kit) or would it require cabling between both computers and if so how exactly would this be achieved? The new mac mini servers have integrated graphics but i'm assuming this will not be too much of an issue as renderings will only be sent to the computer from the iMac and so not rely on any of its graphics power, just the computers processors? [As a side note, I would also like to use the mini server as a media player when not rendering and so have it located near the main living room tv] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJLynn Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 Sure. If you configured one with a lot of RAM and installed Bootcamp, you could make it a Backburner slave. Or Vray or mental ray distributed rendering or whatever. It's just a small Intel box, when you install Windows on it it works like any other Windows box.You don't need a powerful video card for any of this. But do consider other options as well - you may find it more economical to make render slaves out of simple quad core PCs or 6-core AMD boxes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mohinder Posted July 30, 2011 Author Share Posted July 30, 2011 Thanks for your answer Andrew. I will definetly consider the other options you mention. Though I think I would miss out on the mac minis many media center capabilities (during the little down time I have!). Any advice on set up of backburner over a wireless connection through the type of home plugs mentioned? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJLynn Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 If possible, use wired networking for both the workstation and the slave. Aside from that, follow the usual instructions for setting up Max. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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