3ds Max 2012 Bible - Kelly L. Murdock [502]
8. Max then searches for any available rendering servers, connects with it, and adds its name to the list of available servers. Click the server name once, and click Submit.
Tip
If you try to submit the same job again (after either a failed or a successful attempt at rendering), Max complains because that job already exists in the job queue. You can remove the job using the Monitor, or you can click the + button on the Network Job Assignment dialog box, and Max adds a number to the job name to make it unique. •
After you've submitted your job, notices appear on the manager and the servers (like the ones shown in Figures 48.8 and 48.9) that the job has been received. Soon Max starts up on each server, and you see a Rendering dialog box showing the progress of the rendering task. As you can see, this displays useful information such as what frame is being rendered and how long the job is taking. When the entire animation has been rendered, you can go to your output directory to get the bitmap files that Max generated. The render servers and the render manager keep running, ready for the next job request to come in.
FIGURE 48.8
The network manager detects the new job.
FIGURE 48.9
One of the network servers receives the command to start a new job.
Job assignment options
The Network Job Assignment dialog box, shown previously in Figure 48.7, has an important section that you didn't use for your first simple render job; it's called Options.
The Options section has the following settings:
• Enabled Notifications: This option lets you tell Max when to notify you that certain events have occurred. If you check the Enable Notifications option, the Define button becomes active. The Define button opens a Notifications dialog box, shown in Figure 48.10.
FIGURE 48.10
The Notifications dialog box lets you specify which type of notifications to receive.
• Split Scan Lines: This option breaks a rendered image into strips that can be rendered separately. The Define button lets you specify the Strip Height, Number of Strips, and any Overlap.
• Ignore Scene Path: Use this option to force the servers to retrieve the scene file via TCP/IP. If disabled, the manager copies the scene file to the server.
• Rendered Frame Window: Use this option if you want to be able to see the image on the server as it gets rendered.
• Include Maps: Checking this box makes Max compress everything that it needs to render the scene (including the maps) into a single file and send it to each server. This option is useful if you're setting up a rendering farm over the Internet, although it takes more time and network bandwidth to send all that extra information.
• Initially Suspended: This option pauses the rendering before it starts so that you can manually start it when the network is ready.
• Use Selected/Use Group/Use All Servers: The Server Usage option makes the selected server, a group of servers, or all servers listed in the Server panel fair game for rendering.
• Use Alternate Path File: This option lets you specify an alternate path for map and other files, which is entered in the text field below the check box.
Configuring the Network Manager and Servers
You can configure both the manager and servers using their respective General Properties dialog boxes. You open these dialog boxes by choosing Edit⇒General Settings.
The network manager settings
The rendering manager has some options that let you modify how it behaves. You specify these options in the Network Manager General Properties dialog box, shown in Figure 48.11. To open this dialog box, select Edit⇒General Settings in the Manager window.
FIGURE 48.11
The Backburner Manager General Properties dialog box
This dialog box includes the following sections:
• TCP/IP: Here you can change the communications ports used by the manager and the servers.