Rendering on multiple computer ??? Possible ??? How ???

[pclavett]

Hi all !

Presently waiting on a render that has been going on for 30 hours ! Still half to go !!! Is it possible to have multiple computers work on one render ? Can we simply crop half on one and the other half on the other computer and subsequently join them in PS and if possible will there be a seam visible As another matter I imagine that if the image is all TG2 fractals and such that both part should look identical (or will they ). Now if trees are planted in there will they all fall on the same spot when computed on different machines If not then it should be difficult to find a spot where you could crop without it showing... and even if you can manage to put all the trees on one crop... what if there are reflections of those trees in water on the other crop ?? A lot of questions....sorry ! Hope some of you can enlighten me on some of them !

Take care all !

Paul

[rcallicotte]

To answer your title, you need the correct version to create a render farm.  Then, you'll need software to run it.  Someone made something around here, but I haven't tried it.  You can find versions of render farm software on the Internet.

[FrankB]

Paul, you can indeed render the left half on one pc and the right half on another.
Just make sure you select "GI Detail in camera" and optimally allow a 5% overlap on each render.
So PC1 would render from 0-0.55 (left haf + 5% overlap)
PC2 would render 0.45-1 (right half plus overlap).

Then save both halfs and compose in PS or some other app.

Regards,
Frank

[pclavett]

Thanks for the info !

As another question..can I have 2 computers going on the same license as long as they are in the same location and both of them mine The Planetside people would likely chose to advise me on this one !

Thanks again !

Paul

[neuspadrin]

when you get a license you get 1 user +  3 "render node" licenses with the purchase of deep, and 5 nodes on deep+animation.

so if you are using them as render nodes yeh no prob. also becuase it says user, as long as you arnt you know, letting a ton of other people use it and such and its just you, your also good (at least, i think... planetside is final determiner on that...)

[joiecito]

So it is not possible to render a single image with many computers, like cooperative render?, that's not good for a super slow program, it is necessary to have that feature.

[PG]

Well no application is able to render an image at once using multiple machines. The image has to be split up, that's not a limitation of the software that's a limitation of our physical dimension and the way computers are built. If you crop the image into sections then you are allowed to render the image on 4 computers on the deep license and 6 with the deep+animation license. The computer you created the image on and 3 (5 for D+A) "render-only" PCs.

[rcallicotte]

You only have multiple licenses on the Deep Animation license.  Otherwise, you only have one license per machine.

I was wrong.  I don't remember seeing that before.

when you get a license you get 1 user +  3 "render node" licenses with the purchase of deep, and 5 nodes on deep+animation.

so if you are using them as render nodes yeh no prob. also becuase it says user, as long as you arnt you know, letting a ton of other people use it and such and its just you, your also good (at least, i think... planetside is final determiner on that...)

[pclavett]

Well Thanks guys for all these informations ! I will retry this same image that I am working on at this time and compare results and will see of all comes out as it should. The objects population will be interesting to see if they are deposited on the terrain on different machines the exact same way ! Frank's suggestion of some overlap sounds like a good idea with probably a small "fade in"  type of collage for the overlap area. This should remove small border artifacts if they are to be present. Doing a vertical crop would likely prevent artifacts on the reflections if water were present as well. So thanks for all the suggestions and comments ! You have been more than helpful ! Have a good day !

Paul

[domdib]

Frank has mentioned the Advanced Render setting Ray detail region - in camera. But be sure to also increase the ray detail region padding below from 0 to 1.

[Tangled-Universe]

Frank has mentioned the Advanced Render setting Ray detail region - in camera. But be sure to also increase the ray detail region padding below from 0 to 1.

Indeed, I'd like to add that values >1 can also be used if desired.

[neuspadrin]

also, it says 1 license for a user + render nodes.  User, not workstation or computer.  But thats up to planetside to determine if they want just 1 license per machine, or 1 license per person using the software but allowing it to be flexibly installed on multiple machines they might work on.

i'm not planetside but i think they wont mind the hobbiest installing it on his 2-3 computers that only he would ever use it on... they just dont want some firm buying 1 license and then giving it to like 10 artists.

[PG]

I asked Oshyan about this a few weeks ago, I wanted to use a work computer to render an image overnight because my computer keeps everyone up with its jet engine fan. He said the render node licenses enable me to do this. From what I understood of what he told me the license for Terragen 2 itself is for 1 machine. Of course if you replace the machine it can be transferred over but the main license for working on a scene can only be on one PC (or mac). The render nodes mean you can use the number of render licenses you have (e.g. 5) to put Terragen 2 on that number of machines but they can ONLY be used to render images created on the first machine. That's all. That's why Planetside give you special render licenses. If you need more than one computer to be able to create scenes then you need more than one Terragen 2 license.

[Matt]

I asked Oshyan about this a few weeks ago, I wanted to use a work computer to render an image overnight because my computer keeps everyone up with its jet engine fan. He said the render node licenses enable me to do this. From what I understood of what he told me the license for Terragen 2 itself is for 1 machine. Of course if you replace the machine it can be transferred over but the main license for working on a scene can only be on one PC (or mac). The render nodes mean you can use the number of render licenses you have (e.g. 5) to put Terragen 2 on that number of machines but they can ONLY be used to render images created on the first machine. That's all. That's why Planetside give you special render licenses. If you need more than one computer to be able to create scenes then you need more than one Terragen 2 license.

Almost correct, but not quite. "1 user license" means that only 1 person can be using Terragen at any one time. If you need to work on a different computer, you can, because you are still only one user using the software at any one time. It doesn't matter what computer you work on.

Each Licensed Copy may only be running on one "Machine" and operated by no more than one person at any one time, regardless of platform.

Also, whenever you are not using the software, someone else can. If you have bought one user license, then a friend, family member or colleague can use Terragen on your computer whenever you are not. As long as only one person uses Terragen at any one time.

Additional render licenses mean that you can run Terragen on more than one computer at the same time for the purposes of rendering only, as long as you are not using it for scene creation. That's 3 additional render licenses per Terragen 2 Deep user license (for a total of 4), or 5 additional render licenses per Terragen 2 Deep with Animation user license (for a total of 6).

I think this is a bit more flexible than many other licensing schemes for commercial graphics software, but I think it's fairer.

Matt

[neuspadrin]

Thats what I figured it was...

thanks for clearing up oshyan...


shucks, there goes my dreams of growing another head and another set of arms so i could have two computers next to eachother working on two scenes at once! then id have to get a new license.... bummer...

but yeh i always took user = a person, as long as you are the only one using on one computer at a given time except int he cases of renders.

when im home its much easier to work on my desktop, but im often out and about so only laptop on hand... like in physics lecture