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Render Engine / Render Farm download?
I’ve been using my friends PC for a while now till I save up for my own copy of afterFX, we wanted to play around with the idea of a render farm using a few pc’s we have laying around our homes, but he has… misplaced… his cd (dog perhaps? no idea..)
anyways, do any of you know where we can get the render-engine file to install on the other pc’s? Don’t really want to wait for him to clean up his place or get another CD from Adobe.. I understand if there isn’t a choice, but there’s GOTTA be somewhere to download it from..
-Jeremy
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14 Replies
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I’m in the same boat… kind of…
I have the Adobe Creative Suit 3 and there is no option for installing the Render Engine….? I need somewhere to download it. Also, was wondering if you can use a PC to render if the project was created on a MAC? -
I cant remember the details about hybrid networks.. apparently certain versions of the mac aeFX don’t mix at all in a renderfarm situation, but I’m not entirely positive..
I’ll try to find the tutorial I saw on it – maybe that’ll shed some light for ya.
As for me – yeah I don’t even know where the CD is, much less if it’s even on there…
None of the regulars have (unfortunately) posted. So basically we’re still in the dark lol..
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Alright I haven’t read this through completely yet, but it does talk about cross platform rendering…
https://www.hollywoodindustry.com/2001/10_oct/tutorials/aerenderfarm.htm
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Not sure I would put much stock in that old article, especially when it comes to issues of networking, cross platform rendering and render farms. The article is seven years old and there is little of what we do on a computer today in 2008 that is the same as it was in 2001.
Best regards,
Ron Lindeboom
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Ron,
Very true, at the same time it’s one of the VERY few articles that I found (at least in English..)
So – in my case I’ve always found outdated information is a lot better to have than none at all… this might still point someone in the right direction, or at least I hope so..
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I would agree that old info is better than none. It’s why we leave our old articles up, as well.
I just wanted to have that caveat there so that readers who bump into this thread know that they need to double-check things they think that they might be learning from it.
Best regards,
Ron Lindeboom
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Thanks guys,
Any idea where to download the aeRender engine for MAC so I can test the theories? -
All,
FIRST: History shows this is not the sort of thing Adobe would make available for download. Not to be negative…its just the way they roll.
SECOND: Has anyone READ the current feature list for AECS3?
After reading this thread…I became curious, so I tried to install the CS3 render engine on one of our systems…
……and as per a previous post…I could not find the install option on our Master Suite Collection discs.Confused….I went to the Adobe website.
I don’t see DISTRIBUTED RENDERING as a current feature in the master feature list.Perhaps they dropped the feature?
I edit video. I post sometimes.
I fix things. I eat marshmallows.
I play drums. I drink scotch.
I like TV.Done typing now.
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Maybe they think because of the “large hassle involved in setup” that it might not be worth it?
I’ve read reports of it DRAMATICALLY increasing efficiency…
And I can combine a img sequence and audio extremely fast… We’re also toying with trying to setup a maya render farm.. but not sure if we want to share the same pc’s or not..
well – if the stuff’s not on the cd’s anyways.. and not on the site… *scratches head*
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Actually under AE6.5 Pro….it was a very simple install and config. (You have to have the PRO version of AE to get the RenderEngine installer) Troubelshooting in particular was a NIGHTMARE!
3rd party plug-ins were particularly quirky and annoying. Licensing the plugins was always the issue. You would have 6 or 7 machines return “correct” results and one machine return and “unlicensed” red x through the frames. Good luck trying to figure out which was the offending machine/plug combination….
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Yes, the performance increase is dramatic. Especially if you are still working with G4 machines or early G5 machines.
The new quad core and dual quad core machines really take the sting out of render times. You can NOW do on a single machine what you used to need a dozen to do.
With the release of the 8 core intel apple machine we retired our Gridiron X-factor renderfarm. (AE6.5 -26 processors a mix of g4 and G5).
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My advice: If you are asking these basic questions about Renderfarms….save the potential headaches of troubleshooting . Bank some $$ and get a new machine with some serious horsepower (quad-core or more)…that will make the biggest difference for you right now. Dell is selling quad core
AMD machines for $875. When on vacation–for emergencies I take a dual 2.0 mac mini with AECS3. It is highly respecatble in terms of performance as well…and at $650-ish a great deal. Having a top-end machine for composition allows you to be more creative (more time to make changes and PLAY with settings…) you see results faster.Renderfarms only speed along the final render.
Gridiron NUCLEO allows you to render in the background…while you continue to work on other things in the foreground with no perceptible performance hit.
So again, if you are trying to learn/experiment with AE…a higher powered primary machine will help you along MUCH more than having a render farm. Having the ability to experiment with settings and view your results in higher resolution quickly…makes all the difference in the world.
If you are on PC (Or have 10 or 20 old XPPro PC’s laying around) and know all of this already…try a copy of Butterfly Net render. It is a PC renderfarm controller that works with ALL major apps. (Lightwave, Maya, AE, etc.) It only controls the render applications and handles the render process. It does NOT provide the render engine CODE for these apps. You will need to have your legal original install disks, etc. IT simply acts as a traffic cop…delegating tasks and re-assembling final frames. They are currently refining an Apple version of the SW as well.
WE use the PC version for 3D-MAX and Lightwave renders. Its a great way to continue using our 2-5 year old PC’s.
I edit video. I post sometimes.
I fix things. I eat marshmallows.
I play drums. I drink scotch.
I like TV.Done typing now.
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