Distributed rendering without a server

	Distributed rendering without a server by peter stenhouse on Nov 6, 2009 at 12:34:34 pm Hi there. I have looked at the various posts on network rendering but none seem to offer a solution for my particular situation. I am a freelancer and usually work from my Macbook Pro on aftereffects. I have managed to borrow two MacPros from the company I am working for, to network, and help with the rendering. However what I don't have is a server to act as centralised storage for the files the computers would use. I was wondering what the best configuration of the machines that I have to distribute the rendering. I do have a gigabit switch, but I am a little confused as to where to put watch folders and what not in order to avoid slow down etc. Unfortunately I don't have budget for a dedicated server, but do have a number of external hardrives. Could they be used to share files? Your help would be greatly appreciated. Tahnks in advance Peter Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Distributed rendering without a server by Tony Silva on Nov 6, 2009 at 4:15:04 pm everything will still work without a dedicated server, it just won't be as fast. I've always found the "watch folder" method a PITA. The problem being collecting huge projects. I like running the renders in batch mode better. Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Distributed rendering without a server by peter stenhouse on Nov 6, 2009 at 10:23:34 pm Thanks for the response. In my preliminary experimetns I have already encountered the PITA that is project collection. What is the Batch method you use, is it more than simply queuing a bunch of comps to render. Thanks again Peter small flowers crack concrete Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Distributed rendering without a server by Tony Silva on Nov 9, 2009 at 4:28:09 pm I just set up the render queue with a "multiple Machine render" and use a command line render script on each machine. check out "aerender" i the manual. Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Distributed rendering without a server by Walter Soyka on Nov 6, 2009 at 4:32:57 pm I've posted a little information on network rendering with AE recently. You could share one of the external drives over your network, but it might too slow to give you any real benefit once all the machines start accessing it. Without fast shared storage, it might actually be faster for you to consolidate your project and put an identical copy on local storage on each machine, then manually render a different segment on each machine and recombine them. Walter Soyka, Principal Keen Live, Inc. Presentation, Motion Graphics & Widescreen Design RenderBreak: A Blog on Innovation in Production Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index