To add an additional 8 logical cores to my network rendering setup, I just ordered a ZOTAC ZBOX IQ01 (http://www.zotac.com/products/mini-pcs/zbox/product/zbox/detail/zbox-iq01-1/sort/product_name/order/DESC/amount/10.html).
This is a very neat barebone, with quite a powerful and very efficient CPU (i7 4770T, 45W max. TDP).
It's really tiny at 18.8 cm (W) x 5.1 cm (D) x 18.8 cm. Still it scores 50fps in the camera bench scene!
(http://www.zotac.com/fileadmin/product_img/mini-PCs/ZBOX/Intel/ZBOX-IQ01_ZBOX-IQ01/web/ZBOXIQ01-4.jpg)
I think a bunch of these would make a really beefy render farm...
Dries
Did you get this yet? Have you used Keyshot with any type of farm setup yet?
No, I haven't received it yet (delivery times are pretty bad, at least in Europe...). However, the CPU is very decent for rendering and it requires very little power. I'll pass you the performance numbers once it's up and running. ;)
Btw, that camera bench fps score is a speculative estimate... ;D
Dries
Thank you! And have you ever tried a render farm before with Keyshot?
What do you mean by render farm? Render farm as in extern service, or a render farm based on our own Network Rendering solution?
Multiple computers on your own network, all working together to render 1 frame in Keyshot.
I use a small 32 core (2 machines) network rendering setup at work.
Since last month I have a 32 core (2 machines) setup at home for personal use too.
At work I've been rendering stills, VRs and small animations with great results. Since V4 network rendering feels very stable. The quality is the same as with regular rendering and the speed increases almost linearly as you add cores. Of course there is some overhead for distributing files and managing the slaves.
So even when you have few machines, I think network rendering makes much sense. Another great benefit is the ability to offload final renders to slaves while freeing up your workstation to work on other scenes.
Dries
Darlene, we have quite a few customers using NR quite successfully, using many machines in a network. You may want to reach out to Ruckus and Feher - they may be able to share more information directly with you.
I hope this helps.
Thanks for your help, Dries!
Hi Darlene,
I don't know what info you are looking for but, we use Network rendering at work. We have used up to 192 cores in one network with great success. We have all the artist computers connected to the network. During the day they will only give up a few cores for the network. That way they can still work if a render is going on the network. At night everybody logs out that's when we have the full 192 cores rendering. If you are looking into using a network make sure the master has enough hard drive space. I recommend a solid state hard drive on the master. It will process the data faster and distribute it to the other slaves quicker. For the most part the speed is linear. Also Hyper thread all slaves.
Let me know if you have any question.
Tim
Quote from: feher on January 02, 2014, 04:14:20 PM
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We have used up to 192 cores in one network with great success.
...
Wow, now I feel like a sore loser... :)
Dries
Excellent - thanks Tim!
Thanks guys!!! I've only used network rendering for Vray and 3DS Max (at my last job we had a few RenderBoxx machines). Never tried it with Keyshot yet. Just poking around for info before spending any $ on it. ;-)
I'll see if I can think of any other questions...
-Darlene O.
Darlene - we can always set you up with a trial license. Let me or Jeff know and we will make it happen.
Thomas- I was a little confused. So even though I would be buying more cpus myself, I would still have to pay depending on how many cores I purchased? Or is the pricing on your site regarding cloud rendering?
Thanks
Yes - correct. You will need to purchase the render cores in addition to your KeyShot license. But keep in mind that you can use any machine for Network Rendering. KeyShot doesn't have to be installed nor licensed on those machines.
Hi Dries, have you received the unit yet? If so, how does it perform?
n
Change of plans. Bought another system instead.
See here (https://www.keyshot.com/forum/index.php/topic,7718.0.html) for details and performance figures.
Dries