Autodesk 12812-051462-9011 User Guide 3 - Page 1207

Software Requirements One authorized copy of the software is the minimum requirement. With this one copy, you can set up the software on multiple machines for the purpose of network rendering. Later topics provide explicit details for doing a custom setup on each machine. During this setup, programs required to render over a network are installed and registered. Four separate programs interact to accomplish network rendering. The following descriptions identify these programs and provide an overview of their use. ■ 3dsmax.exe 3ds Max is used to launch job assignments. You submit a network rendering job from the Render Setup, Render to Texture, or Execute Video Post dialog. The application is also used by the rendering servers to render the job. ■ manager.exe When run, this application sets up one computer as a network manager. Alternatively, you can run Manager as a service by installing managersvc.exe. See Installing Network Services on page 6503. The manager program manages communication with the rendering servers during a network rendering job. This can be set up on any machine in the network. However, if large files are to be submitted and many rendering servers are going to be used, a fast computer with a large amount of disk space is the best choice. In almost all network-rendering scenarios, you only have a single manager running on the entire network. ■ server.exe When run, this application sets up the computer it's run on to be used as a rendering server. Alternatively, you can run Server as a service by installing serversvc.exe. See Installing Network Services on page 6503. The server program sends its local IP address to the Manager program, which in turn registers the Server so it will be available for network rendering a job assignment. When the server receives a job from the network manager, it launches a local copy of the software to perform the rendering. The server then sends the completed frame to a target directory and begins rendering the next frame sent to it by the manager. The server shuts down the 3dsmax.exe3dsviz.exe process when it is no longer needed. ■ monitor.exe This standalone program, named Queue Monitor, provides a Windows interface that lets you monitor and schedule network rendering. Since the Queue Monitor is a standalone program, you can start it at any time from 6462 | Chapter 20 Rendering