Helpful articles
What is a Render Farm?
Professional rendering requires processing power not always reachable with just one computer. Modern software allows linking several computers or processors to work as one on various rendering tasks. Such a setup is called a render farm. It can be as small as a normal-sized computer case with a powerful CPU and good cooling system, or as big as a data center full of server racks. Big farms usually provide remote rendering services and are usually accessed only through the internet.
How exactly does it work and what’s even the point? Let’s take a look.
3D Render Farm for Any Project
3D modelling is an accessible profession for anyone who has a computer or a laptop. But to create a beautiful complete image, it is best to use a 3D render farm like Megarender. Here’s how you can integrate our farm into your workflow, depending on your choice of the aforementioned software.
Cinebench: How to Measure Hardware Performance During Rendering
Cinebench is a hardware evaluation benchmark especially popular in the 3D rendering sphere. It is developed by Maxon, who also developed the 3D modelling suite Cinema 4D and GPU renderer Redshift. Major CPU producers like Intel and AMD use Cinebench scores as a goal and proof of the quality of the new top-of-the-line models. At Megarender, we use these scores as a basis for our calculator to help you determine the costs of your future projects.
Professional Rendering
The main things that differentiate professional rendering from amateur work are the attention to detail, innate understanding of the settings, good grasp of composition, and a constant and steady demand. This is why visualization studios, big and small, regularly employ the services of render farms. And real pros spend less on each frame than a casual freelancer by using special techniques that everyone can learn.
Autodesk Cloud Rendering
Today, cloud-based technologies are becoming more and more common. They offer file storage space, services to synchronize data between multiple computers, and even provide access to modern games. So it is no wonder you can use them to visualize 3D projects. Megarender provides Autodesk cloud rendering services to help you complete your visualization projects quickly and cheaply.
Free render farm
When you start learning 3D and begin making your first steps in the industry, free software is much more accessible to new users. There are student versions of popular programs, like 3DS MAX or Maya, however, having to deal with a time limit can often cause anxiety in new users. If you only want to learn 3D as a hobby, Blender is a great solution for such situations: it is free and open source as well as offering all of the features of the commercial product. When it comes to rendering projects made in Blender, one would expect to use a free render farm. These can be very useful while still having a few drawbacks. Let’s start with the basics of how these farms work.
Render Farm Price: Buying and Renting
Eventually, every 3D professional considers building their own rendering station for commercial and personal projects. They look up their desired processor, RAM bars, a powerful cooling system, etc. And looking at any render farm price, it is obvious not everyone can afford it. We understand the need for fast rendering and would argue that using an online render farm is a much better choice.
Should You Build a Mac Mini Render Farm?
When you consider upgrading your workstation for rendering 3D projects faster, you will find dozens of different options. On one hand, it may be smart to invest in a powerful CPU, like AMD Threadripper; despite the high prices, the processing power provided may reduce rendering times tenfold and more. On the other hand, you can link together several cheaper and older processors and use them as a render farm. They may not work as fast, but will still provide invaluable rendering speed changes. Building such a farm is challenging if you are not a pro, and assembling even a single PC requires certain knowledge. That’s why simple solutions, even if less powerful, find popularity in the industry. One of these solutions is building a Mac mini render farm.
The Importance of 3D Architectural Visualization
Architecture is a multifaceted sphere. On one hand, you are creating structures very strictly defined by the laws of physics and have sophisticated engineering at the core. At the same time, there is an artistic vision that exists only in the mind of the architect. This dichotomy has been following creators from ancient times to the modern day. How do you show people that the idea you have is worth making a reality? Building even the smallest of structures is a hefty investment, after all. Until we learn to read minds, 3D architectural visualization is the most realistic way to share ideas before making them a reality.