Network Rendering with Autodesk Backburner
Network Rendering using backburner may seem very intimidating, but with some guidance you will see that it is not difficult to implement. There are many different parameters that can be configured and modified, but the following document will describe the most basic configuration of running backburner Server on rendering nodes and configuring each of these to point to the backburner Manager running on another computer. For this example, the job is being sent from Autodesk 3ds Max 7.
Step 1: Start by opening up the backburner Manager on the computer that will be serving the job to the rendering nodes.
Step 2: Go to each of the rendering nodes and open backburner Server.
Step 3: You will then need to configure the location of the Manager on each of the backburner Servers. To do this simply click on Edit then General Settings.
In the backburner Server General Properties, enter the the Manager Name (UNC Name) or IP Address for the computer where the backburner manager is running.
At this point, all of the backburner Servers (rendering nodes) are configured to connect to the manager to retrieve the network rendering job. Now the job can be submitted from the open Autodesk application.
Step 4: Choose Network Rendering from the Autodesk product’s rendering dialog. This is located in the render output settings. Be sure to specify a save location that is accessible by all rendering nodes. Using UNC naming (\ServerNameFoldername) is the best way to do this.
Step 5: After the Network Job Assignment dialog opens up, enter the location of backburner Manager (uncheck Automatic Search) then click on Connect.
After clicking on connect, all of the Servers (rendering nodes) detected will be listed under All Servers.
Step 6:Select Use All Servers and then click on Submit.
Open the backburner Monitor to view and modify the current job queue.
Please consult your Autodesk reference manual for additional assistance.
Need help? Please e-mail support@archvision.com.
