[daedalus]

Hi,

I recently purchased the Maxwell Render 1.5 for my office, and would like to set up a network rendering.
Can someone please explain me what to do?
I don't have any idea, and the manual is very obscure.

I have very dumb questions like:
Should the fastest computer available be the manager or the server?

What exactly do I have to install in order for a computer to be a server?
For instance, if I'm using maxwell to render from 3dmax, do I have to install the 3d max program in all the remaining computers in the network or only the maxwell ?

Also, how do I set up the network, and what do I have to do to make sure it is working?

Sorry for the dumb questions,
but I never tried anything like this before.

Thank you for your help,

Joao.

[zoppo]

it's really easy, and all of your questions should be answered by reading the manual. in short:

you need one mapped network drive all pcs can access - and not only the mxs, but alos the textures, iors and so on.
you start the server program on all pcs, the manager only on one, doesn't have to be the fastest.

on the pc with the manager running you start the render display, go to the network tab and follow the manual.

i find it very helpfull to choose the path for saving in studio. i use a drive all my pcs have e.g. d:

[jomaga]

A little step by step:

Configuration
-Install maxwell in all the nodes of your network. You don't have to install any plugin, the nodes (servers) only will need mcxl. You must have the same version of Maxwell in all your nodes (a mix with 1.1 and 1.5 won't work)
- Choose the Pc you want to be the manager. As zoppo said, doesn't have to be the fastest. Only one Manager is allowed
- Put shortcuts to mxcl.exe in your start folder:
One with mxcl.exe -server -silent in all your nodes
One with mxcl.exe -manager -silent and another with mxcl.exe -server -silent in the manager
- Make a Shared folder accesible by all the pc's in the network

Add jobs
- If you work with any of the plugins, you have to generate the mxs file
- Place the mxs file and all the textures, iors and mxi emitters into the shared folder. If you work with Studio, Pack & Go is the best option.
- Start mxcl -d in the manager Pc
- Goto network tab
- Press Connect. You will see all the servers in the Render farm window
- Select from this window the servers you want to work in the job
- Press Add to start a job. Your selected servers will show in the Render farm window
- Search for the mxs file. You have to search your shared folder from the network path. Local paths aren't allowed.
- Select cooperative
- Click on render options
- Set all your paths with the network direction of the shared folder (mxs, mxi, image, bitmaps). Not local paths
- Press OK, and the Job will start
- If you want to see the preogress of your nodes, select the node and click display. Each node display will be updated.
- If you want a preview of the merged image (al the nodes), select the Job and click Display. This image won't be updated. You must close the window and generate it again to see the progress.
- If you want to stop any of the nodes, select it and press Stop. It will wait for the other nodes to merge. When the last node is stopped, the final merged mxi will be written in your shared folder.
- You have to load this mxi to play with multilight (if you have it), shutter speed, Iso, Burn, Gamma, Simulens or whatever

[daedalus]

It doesn´t sound easy at all but I'll give it a try and let you know of the results.

Thank you very much,

J.

[beatriz]

Once you make it a couple of times it's quite automatic.

[daedalus]

Ok, I have the first question:

when you say the Start folder, do you mean

c:\documents and settings\all users\start menu\programs\startup ??

Also when I create a shortcut to maxwell server and manager
and I go to the shortcut properties the following target appears: mxcl.exe - manager -p:low

Should I change this target to mxcl.exe - manager -silent?

Thank you very much,

J.

[jomaga]

when you say the Start folder, do you mean

c:\documents and settings\all users\start menu\programs\startup ??

Exactly, sometimes I don't know how are the names of the folders in the english Windows. I have a Spanish one here and it's called "inicio"

Also when I create a shortcut to maxwell server and manager and I go to the shortcut properties the following target appears: mxcl.exe - manager -p:low

Should I change this target to mxcl.exe - manager -silent?

You can change it to mxcl.exe -manager -p:low -silent
The silent option is to automatically minimize the manager window to tray in startup

[daedalus]

Thank you, that worked.

Now regarding the shared folder location:

I'm using 4 computers to make a network rendering.
These computers are conected to each other through a router, using the main server of the office (this computer is not being used as a render node).
Where do you think I should place the shared folder for the rendering?
In one of the four computers hard drive, or in the ofice main server machine? What do you think it's faster?

Thanks,

J.

[daedalus]

Well,

I decided to put the shared folder in the manager computer's hard drive.
The network rendering worked but I still have some questions:

-Is it normal that the manager computer has a much lower performance that the other render nodes?
In the rendering I did, the manager computer was much slower than the other machines. Almost 50% slower.

-Concerning the rendering itself, I understand that in order to change the Iso, burn, etc, of the image I just have to open the mxi after the render is done. But what about the basic parameters like sampling, time, etc...?
Do I have to set all that up before saving the mxs file?

Thank you very much,


J.

[jomaga]

I decided to put the shared folder in the manager computer's hard drive.

I have it the same way, a Maxwell shared folder in the HD of the manager

Is it normal that the manager computer has a much lower performance that the other render nodes?

I haven't noticed this in my configuration. Have you checked your threads configuration?

But what about the basic parameters like sampling, time, etc...? Do I have to set all that up before saving the mxs file?

When you add a new job, you can set the desired time, SL and number of threads in render options. These options will have preference over the original mxs options. you have to set there threads=0 to render with the maximum threads available in each node

[zoppo]

-Is it normal that the manager computer has a much lower performance that the other render nodes?

no, it isn't.

But what about the basic parameters like sampling, time, etc...? Do I have to set all that up before saving the mxs file?

yes and no
you can allways press "render options" in the "add job" screen, there you find all parameters. but sometimes i had weird problems, that the options saved in the file were overwriting the options in the add job screen. nothing proven, but i prefer to set the file completly in studio.