User Manual

NOTE: The above does not apply to network rendered previews, which are previews
created over the network that employ spooling to allow multi-frame formats to render
successfully. Only final renders are affected by this limitation.
Troubleshooting
There are some common pitfalls when rendering across a network. Virtually all problems with
network rendering have to do with path names or plug-ins. Return to the “Preparing
Compositions for Network Rendering” section in this chapter to review some of the essential
setup requirements. Verify that all Render Nodes can load the compositions and the media, and
that all Render Nodes have installed the plug-ins used in the composition.
If some difficulties persist, contact Blackmagic Design’s technical support using the support
section on the Blackmagic Design website. Save a copy of the render.log file to send to
technical support.
Checking the Render Log
The log file shown in the Render Manager dialog displays messages that can assist with
diagnosing why a render or node has failed. The render log shows a step-by-step account of
what happened (or didn’t happen) during a render. If a Render Node cannot be found, fails to
load a composition or render a frame, or simply stops responding, it will be recorded here.
Check the Composition
The Render Manager’s Status field in the render log indicates if a composition fails to render.
Some possible causes of this are as follows:
 No Render Nodes Could Be Found: On the Preferences Network tab, make sure that
there is at least one Render Node available, running and enabled. If all Render Nodes
are listed as Offline when they are not, check the network.
 The Composition Could Not Be Loaded: Some Render Nodes may not be able to
load a composition while others can. This could be because the Render Node could
not find the composition (check that the path name of the composition is valid for that
Render Node) or because the composition uses plug-ins that the Render Node does
not recognize.
 The Render Nodes Stop Responding: If a network link fails, or a Render Node goes
down for some reason, the Render Node will be removed from the active list and its
frames will be reassigned. If no more Render Nodes are available, the composition will
fail after a short delay (configurable in network preferences). If this happens, check the
render log for clues as to which Render Nodes failed and why.
 The Render Nodes Failed to Render a Frame: Sometimes a Render Node simply
cannot render a particular frame. This could be because the Render Node could not
find all the source frames it needed, or the disk it was saving to become full or because
of any other reason for which Fusion might normally be unable to render a frame. In
this case, the Render Manager will attempt to reassign that failed frame to a different
Render Node. If no Render Node can render the frame, the render will fail. Try manually
rendering that frame on a single machine and observe what happens.
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