The SU Research Computing Group has made available their enormous computing cluster as a render farm for Blender.

By submitting Blender scene files to the farm, the renders will complete in a fraction of the time it would take to do it on your computer (plus your own computer is not tied up doing renders).

How to submit files

• Email the following info to archit@syr.edu.
  • File - a link to your Blender scene file (through OneDrive, Google Drive, Wormhole, Wetransfer, etc.)
  • Render engine to use (at this point CYCLES is the only choice)
  • Starting frame (specify the exact number, such as 000, 001, or something else)
  • Ending frame
  • How many frames to run: all frames in the start and end range, or every 10th frame, or something else. On large renders, doing every 10th frame can be useful as a rough check before committing the time to a full render
  • What type of cores to use (GPU can be faster to render but might not be the same quality as CPU)
  • CPU
  • GPU
  • No preference
    
    
  • What scene within the Blender file to run. For example in the Blender file below you sent, the Scene Collection panel shows a list. Is there a specific scene to render?
    
    

  • Output format choice: PNG (default), TIF, or JPG

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    Animations: do you want an MP4 in addition to the individual frames?

    
    

Configure the Network Monitor

1. Open the KeyShot Network Monitor program (under the Windows Start button)
2. Click File > Connection Settings
3. Uncheck ‘Auto detect master’
4. Enter the following settings:
   1. Master Hostname: keyshot.syr.edu
   2. Queue port: 4777
      
5. Click Apply and look in the lower right corner of the Monitor window. It should say something similar to “Worker count: x   Cores: xxx/xxx   Connected”.
   
   
6. Minimize the Monitor window.

Send the Render Job

1. Start KeyShot and load the file you want to render.
2. Click Render > Render. 
3. Under Output, adjust settings as needed.

4. Under Options, change Mode to “Send to Network”. 

   1. Once you change the Mode, the button in the lower right corner of the Render window will change from “Render” to “Send to Network”.

   2. Adjust any additional settings under Options, then click the Send to Network button to start the render.
      

Monitor the Job Progress

1. Go back to the KeyShot Network Monitor program and your render should appear on the list after a few moments. It may not appear right away so give it a little time.

2. Once it starts to render, you can check the progress and estimated time to completion. Note that this estimate can fluctuate wildly, so perhaps check back again in an hour for a more accurate estimate.
   
   

3. You can logout of the computer once the render is queued.
4. When the render is finished, you will need to go back to the same exact computer to pick up the completed job. If this is not possible, email us at archit@syr.edu and we will send you the output.

Pick up your completed job

• Start the KeyShot  Network Monitor program and look under the completed jobs. Right-click your job and choose Download.

KeyShot Tips

• KeyShotWeb (formerly known as XR and VR) is not enabled by default; here’s how to enable it:
  • In KeyShot, click Help > Select Floating License Type.
  • Enable ‘Check out KeyShotWeb feature from license server’ and click OK.
  • KeyShot will then restart with KeyShotWeb enabled. Notice the KeyShotXR icon on the bottom toolbar is active.
    
• KeyShot does not support importing animated lights from Maya. However, light animations may be applied in KeyShot. Try using the color animation mode in Keyshot. Black = lights off; white = lights on.
  • See this link for info about animation nodes: https://luxion.atlassian.net/wiki/display/K6M/Animation+Node+Types
  • This video covers animated lighting in KeyShot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDfmvsDEGd8