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Homemade Render Farm? AE 7 Pro and Mac Mini(s)
Hello AE Leaders, I think this might have been addressed but I my searches are coming up short. I’m using a PPC Dual 2 G5 w/AE7 Pro and Nucleo Pro and I am getting pretty good results in my render speeds but am looking for a functional and financial solution for some speed gains.
I am not in the $$ position to go Mac Pro (would I even gain since AE7 isn’t universal yet) so I’m thinking “string a couple of mac mini’s together to get all I can get out of AE”.
I know Xfactor was discontinued, so do I have any options for some serious render speed adjustments using distributed computing?
Your expert thoughts greatly appreciated.
dj
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4 Replies
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There are some who have published their experiences with AE render farms. Generally, it seems that they sort of payoff but not as directly as you would think. At this point, it may important to see what Adobe is going to do with version 8. We do know that they will be bringing intel-compatibility to it but, I am guessing there will be more than that.
Now, one thing to consider is the cost effectiveness of even a mac mini farm. You are looking at at least $700/mini at a minimum with $1k being more realistic with ram and storage. A Mac pro can be had for $2k on up and will probably render a couple of minis into the ground. This is just my view of it.
-gl
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Thanks for your post, I am looking to see what AE 8 will offer but very keen to know if distributed rendering with Mac Minis is feasible today with AE7. I’m sure Adobe will always be addressing the render issue and will be taking full advantage of the Mac Pro’s capabilities.
Cost factor of the minis shouldn’t be in the 1K range as you speculate (or should it?). I’m after the processing power, not hard drives or ram upgrades (the minis are to be servants, not useful computers) but I may be overlooking that somehow. Anyway, thanks much.
When AE 8 comes out, I may be in a $$ position to up the ante to a tricked out Mac Pro. Thanks again for taking the time to read and respond.
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If it is an Intel core duo based mini, then you are looking at $650 + tax at least (refurb). That will only be 512 ram however and even when you are running AE natively it likes the ram. However, Rosetta operates much more efficiently (tolerably) with more memory so, I would say that you need 1 gig at a minimum. If you add another $100 to that base price and tax, you would have (2) mac minis for around $1,500 total expense that would still be less rendering power than a single Mac Pro as the networking rendering adds overhead that translates into slower rendering times not to mention just slower clock speeds and architecture.
Honestly, I have often thought a rendering farm would be useful for a number of my apps (Maya, FCS, AE, etc) so I am right there with you. What I have found though is that it would be more of a productivity boost (alleviating my main workstation from mundane rendering tasks) than real acceleration AND/OR a cost savings. It’s either going to be more productive, faster rendering or a cheaper alternative – not all at the same time 🙂
-gl
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Yep, that math seems correct all things considered. Great to have forums like this where good advice flourishes. Thanks again for taking time to respond. I’ll consider myself fortunate to have Nucleo Pro working hard with my DP G5 and get on the Intel Train when AE8 arrives at the station (bad metaphor but you get the point).
Much appreciated.
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