3ds Max 9 Bible

Now that you're eager to get things under way, let's look at what you need to set up a rendering farm:

• Computers: First, of course, you need computers. The more the merrier, but they all must be connected via some sort of network and must be running TCP/IP, a very common communications protocol (we talk more about TCP/IP and setting it up later). As with most things related to computers, the more powerful the hardware you can get your hands on, the faster things go. All computers in your farm should meet at least the basic requirements for Max, but if they have more memory, more disk space, and faster processors, you're better off. Also, having nothing else running on the machines is preferable. Rendering is a CPU-intensive process, so any other programs you have running compete for the processor and increase the time needed to finish your rendering job.

• Networking hardware: Each computer needs some way to connect to the network. The most common way is to use a network adapter card in the computer and a cable that connects it to the rest of the network. The network also can work over a wireless connection, but the speed at which you can render will be determined by the speed of your network. If a computer is connected via a dial-up connection, then its networking hardware is a modem.

• Windows XP: According to the Max documentation, each computer in your rendering farm must be running under Windows XP.

• 3ds Max: Obviously, you need Max to do all this, but the good news is that only one machine in your farm needs to have an authorized copy of Max installed.

Basically that's all you need to network render with Max. But before we move on, you should remember two important things.

First, the display capabilities of the machines in your rendering farm are irrelevant. Max uses its own rendering engine, so in network rendering, a top-of-the-line graphics adapter won't give you any better performance or quality than the cheap, factory-installed adapters that often come built into the motherboard. In fact, you can even omit the monitor on each rendering farm computer, which can really cut down on how much you have to invest to set up a good network rendering farm.

Second, if you don't have access to a bunch of computers that can be exclusively dedicated to network rendering, don't give up. Max has some great scheduling features that enable you to configure each computer so that it's available to render at certain times of the day. If you have administrative access to additional computers at work or a university lab, you can use those computers at night or on weekends, when they are generally not being used.