Scott Ehrlich wrote:
I received at least one email suggesting a Windows-based rendering farm - likely to consist of a few rack systems all running 64-bit Windows. I read an article on Tomshardware which gave some decent insight. What can list participants offer on this concept?
Well, since you've asked in a Linux forum, let's discuss Linux-based render farms instead, okay?
(If not okay, kindly take your question somewhere else. Thank you. :) )
It comes down to whether the rendering app has a Linux version.
This is more common than you (or those emailing you) might think. Many companies with Windows or Mac-only GUI tools offer command-line Linux versions specifically for use in render farms. Such versions are not always advertised; it may only be available to select customers, on request.
If your client is a VFX studio with many seats of the GUI version of the VFX tool in question, it'll be a lot easier to get access to such tools than if you're a lone gun.
I don't care _how_ the resource is implemented - virtual machine, cluster, etc.
Generally you let the tool itself tell you how the implement the farm. Often such programs are built with a proprietary networking protocol that distributes the work for you, and has certain assumptions about the system architecture built into it.
Sometimes it's possible to buy third-party farm management software that works better than the first-party offering.
Either way, you don't decide on the architecture before studying the existing tools.
Just provide links/resources to help me get better educated.
Ask the vendors of the tools in question. They will have documentation.
If it makes most sense to migrate the money from a single desktop to a transparently available farm that does the same job the desktop could have done, and considering the farm is expandable, then I'm all for it, as would be the money people!
In my limited VFX experience, render farms are never transparent. At bare minimum, expect the "render on farm" command in the program to be different from the "render locally" command, and for it to work differently in key ways. You're not likely to get the same visual progress indications when rendering to the farm as when you render locally.
It's not uncommon for the entire render setup process to be up to the individual artist, at least with the in-box render farm support. This is one big reason why the third-party farm management software market exists.