2008

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 Scene, 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 6302 .
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.
■ ser
ver.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 6302 .
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.exe 3dsviz.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
6260 | Chapter 18 Rendering