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198 Chapter 17: Rendering
Batch Rendering
“Batch rendering” is a term used to descr ibe the
process of rendering a series of tasks or jobs that
have been assig ned to a queue. Batch rendering is
useful when you need to render images without
supervision. Batch rendering can also be used
when you want to see how your project looks from
different camera viewpoints.
There are several methods for setti ng up batch
rendering in 3ds Max. These methods entail using
the
Batch Render tool (page 3–200) or network
rendering (page 3–169)
with Backburner, or a
combination of the two.
Thesearethethreemethodsforsettingupbatch
rendering:
•
Build a queue of camera tasks that are
managed by the Batch Render tool.
IfyouhaveaMAXfilethatcontainsoneor
more cameras and saved
scene states (page
3–519)
, you can set up a camera queue to render
different camera viewpoints. Each camera can
be set to automatically load a scene state to give
you several visualizations of your model.
• Setupaseriesofjobsasnetworkrendering
assignments to be coordinated by Backburner.
If you have a number of separ ate scenes t hat
are part of a single project or part of several
projects, use network rendering even if you’re
rendering to a single computer. Use this
method also if you have scene s that don’t have
a camera set up and you want to render a
P erspective, Front, Left or Right viewport view.
•
Use the Batch Render tool to s et up a
queue of camera tasks to render different views
and pass them to Backburner for rendering
management.
TheBatchRendertoolhasanoptiontosend
each camera task in the batch render list as
a separate network rendering job. Use this
method if you w ant to split the rendering of the
different views among multiple computers.
See also
Batch Rendering - Batch Render Dialog (page
3–200)
Quick S ta r t B atch R ender i ng
Thefollowingprovidesbare-bonestepsonhow
to set up and use the Backburner Manager and
Server utilities to perform batch rendering.
If your system is already properly configured for
TCP/IPprotocols(forexample,yourcomputerhas
an internet connection), information in this topic
will help you get started with batch rendering in a
few basic steps.
Procedures
To render in batch mode:
You need Windows XP (Home or Professional)
Serv ice Pack 1 (or hig her) or Windows 2000
Ser vice Pack 4.
Note: Backburner rendering is not supported
under Windows 95, 98 or ME.
1. Run the Backburner Manager and Server
applications from the Start menu, in the s ame
program group as 3ds Max.
2. Start3dsMax,andloadthefirstsceneyouwant
to batch render.
3. Open the Render Scene dialog and adjust the
various rendering parameters for the way you
want to render the scene, including active
viewport, file output, etc.
4. Turn on Net Render in the Render Output
group, and then click Render.
5. In the resulting Network Job Assignment dialog
(page 3–184)
, click the Connect button.