How to configure 3ds Max for Network Rendering

							                    Virtual
Vertex
Muster
Render
Farm
Web
Interface
How
to





How
to
configure
3ds
Max
2009
for
Network
Rendering


   Creating
Default
folder
structure
for
a
3ds
Max
2009
project:

      To
perform
network
rendering
with
3ds
Max
2009
the
Muster
rendering
software
will
require

      that
you
setup
3ds
Max
project
folders
with
the
default
file
structure.


      Launch
3ds
Max
2009.
From
the
3ds
Max
2009
Tool
bar
navigate
to
File



Set
Project
Folder.


      For
a
New
Project
you
can
navigate
to
where
you
would
like
to
save
your
project
and
click
on

      the
Make
New
Folder
button
and
then
enter
the
name
for
your
Project
and
click
OK.

This
will

      create
the
default
project
folder
structure
for
3ds
Max
2009.


      
If
you
try
and
modify
your
folder
structure
outside
of
this
tool
the
changes
will
not
show
up

      correctly.
When
you
try
and
perform
a
network
render
the
links
will
show
up
as
broken.
So

      please
make
and
save
your
changes
through
3ds
Max
2009.


   Setting
up
Default
Scanline
Renderer:

      You
will
need
to
set
a
few
things
in
3ds
Max
2009
Default
scanline
renderer
in
order
to
find

      your
output
files
when
you
submit
your
render
job
to
Muster.
The
next
few
steps
assume
that

      you
already
have
a
3ds
Max
2009
project
that
is
ready
to
be
rendered
and
that
you
have

      copied
the
project
over
to
the
RenderFarm
(Y:)
drive.


      Open
your
project
from
the
local
workstation,
most
students
will
have
their
files
on
the

      Student
work
drive
(D:).
From
the
3ds
Max
2009
Tool
bar
navigate
to
Rendering



Render

      Setup.
Navigate
to
Common
Parameters
and
look
for
the
Render
Output
section.
Here
you

      will
need
to
click
on
Files…


      You
will
now
have
a
Render
Output
File
window
open
and
you
will
have
a
number
of
choices

      to
make
depending
on
what
type
of
file
you
will
be
creating.
These
instructions
are
for
a
basic

      render
job.
There
are
a
lot
more
options
that
can
be
made
through
this
page.


      Save
in:

          You
will
use
this
to
select
were
your
project
output
folder
is
located.
It
should
be
pointed

          to
the
RenderFarm
(Y:)
were
you
have
copied
your
project
folder
to.


               •   Example
of
a
Save
in:

Y:\myProject\renderoutput


      File
Name:

           This
is
the
name
of
the
rendered
files
you
will
be
creating.


               •   Example
of
a
File
Name:

myRenderedProjectName

                     Virtual
Vertex
Muster
Render
Farm
Web
Interface
How
to






       Save
as
type:

           This
is
the
type
of
file
that
you
will
be
creating.
Again
this
will
have
a
number
of
options

           depending
on
the
type
of
file
you
are
planning
on
making.


                •   Example
of
a
Save
as
type:

Targa
Image
File(*.tga)


       When
you
are
done
making
changes
to
the
type
of
file
you
are
setting
up
click
on
Save.

You

       will
now
be
back
at
the
Render
Setup
window.
In
the
Render
Output
section
place
a
check

       mark
in
the
Net
Render
check
box
and
close
the
window.
Save
your
project
to
update
the

       changes
made
to
the
Render
Setup
page.



Managing
files
on
the
network
Render
Farm
share


    Login
to
network
share:

       Click
on
the
Start
menu
and
navigate
to
Programs



Utilities
and
click
on
Connect
to

       RenderFarm.

This
will
pop
up
a
Connecting
to
Student
Shares…
window.
Login
with
the

       classroom
credentials
for
the
class
you
are
currently
in.




           •   Example
of
Classroom
User
Name
and
Password
login:

r264‐stu



       Once
you
have
completed
the
login
you
will
now
have
a
mapped
drive
letter
to
Y:
with
the

       connection
name
of
RenderFarm
.



    Copy
files
to
network
share:

       Open
Windows
Explorer
and
navigate
to
the
mapped
driver
letter
Y:
(RenderFarm).
You
will

       need
to
copy
over
your
Project
folder
containing
your
files
to
this
directory
for
use
with
the

       Muster
Render
software.



Submitting
a
Muster
Web
Interface
Request


    Login
to
Virtual
Vertex
Muster:

       Click
on
the
Start
menu
and
navigate
to
Programs



Utilities
and
click
on
Muster
5
Web

       Interface.

This
will
launch
Internet
Explorer
with
a
login
window
for
the
Muster
5
Web

       Interface.
The
User
Name
and
Password
are
already
entered
for
you
all
so
you
need
to
do
is

       click
on
Login.




           •   Muster
5
User
Interface
Username

and
Password
login:

student



    Fill
out
and
submit
a
Muster
Render
Request:

       After
you
have
logged
into
Muster
you
will
now
be
at
the
Job
Queue
window.
In
the
upper
left

       corner
is
a
web
link
called
Submit
a
new
Job
click
on
it.
This
will
open
a
new
window
with
a

       form
called
Submission
Panel
and
used
for
submitting
Muster
render
job
requests.



       For
a
basic
3ds
Max
2009
render
job
request
you
will
need
to
fill
out
the
following:

                  Virtual
Vertex
Muster
Render
Farm
Web
Interface
How
to



    Job
Name:


        You
should
place
your
student
ID
here
for
tracking
purposes.
If
we
need
to
delete
a
job

        request
we
will
need
to
confirm
that
it
is
your
job.

Creating
a
job
with
your
ID
in
it
will

        allow
us
to
confirm
who
you
are
and
manage
any
request
that
you
might
have.



             •   Example
of

Job
Name:
st382myJob


    Render
Engine:



       For
a
basic
3ds
Max
2009
render
you
will
want
to
select
3ds
Max
9.
There
are
a
number
of

       additional
rendering
engines
that
may
be
used
but
this
document
only
goes
over
the
3ds

       Max
9
options.


             •   Example
of
Render
Engine:
3ds
Max
9


    3ds
Max
Scene:


        This
is
where
you
will
place
the
path
information
to
your
3ds
Max.max
file.
Open

        Windows
Explorer
and
navigate
to
your
project
\scenes
folder
placed
on
the
RenderFarm

        (Y:)
drive.
Go
to
the
Address
bar
in
Windows
Explorer
and
copy
the
file
path
and
paste
it

        into
the
3ds
Max
Scene
field
on
the
Muster
Submission
Panel.
You
will
now
need
to

        append
your
file
path
with
your
project
file
name.


             •   Example
of
3ds
Max
Scene
File
Name:
Y:\studentProject\scenes\student.max


    Note:



        On
the
Submission
Panel
form
you
will
notice
that
there
is
a
Select
button
for
your
Scene

        path.
This
button
does
not
work.
You
will
need
to
manually
type
in
the
file
path
into
the

        field.


         One
additional
thing
to
mention
is
that
currently
Firefox
will
not
submit
the
Muster

         Renderfarm
request
to
the
server.
You
will
receive
a
Job
refused
from
dispatcher
error
if

         you
try
and
submit
a
job
through
Firefox.
So
at
this
time
you
will
need
to
only
use
IE
7.


    Start
Frame:

        This
is
the
starting
frame
for
the
rendering
job.


    End
Frame:


   
   This
is
the
ending
frame
for
the
rendering
job.



   Submit:

       When
you
are
finished
with
entering
all
the
information
to
the
fields
listed
above
you
can

       then
go
ahead
and
click
on
the
Submit
button
at
the
bottom
of
the
web
form.

Your
job

       has
now
been
sent
to
the
render
server
for
processing
and
the
Submission
Panel
is
no

       longer
visible.
You
should
now
be
back
at
the
Job
Queue
screen
with
your
job
showing
up

       in
the
Job
Queue
with
a

 

green
world
icon.






 

                    Virtual
Vertex
Muster
Render
Farm
Web
Interface
How
to



   How
to
tell
when
you’re
Render
Job
Request
has
completed:

      You
can
tell
if
your
job
has
completed
by
looking
at
the
Job
Queue
window.
When
your
job
has

      finished
it
will
have
a
 
green
check
mark
icon
next
to
the
job.
If
the
job
has
a
 
warning
icon

      next
to
it
you
should
double
check
your
settings.


   What
to
do
if
your
submitted
job
fails:

          •   Make
sure
that
you
are
using
the
Default
project
folder
structure
and
not
creating
one

              outside
of
3ds
Max
2009
Software.
3ds
Max
2009
uses
symbolic
links
to
map
things

              and
this
information
is
used
by
the
Muster
rendering
software.

          •   When
you
fill
out
the
form
make
sure
that
the
path
to
your
files
are
correct.
There
is

              no
error
checking
so
if
you
enter
the
wrong
path
Muster
will
be
just
as
happy
to
use

              that
path.

          •   If
nothing
makes
sense
come
see
Technology
Service
Center
and
we
will
see
what
we

              can
do
to
assist
in
tracking
down
why
your
job
has
failed.



Collecting
your
Completed
Rendered
Job
Files


   Where
to
go
to
pick
up
your
finished
files:

      This
part
is
pretty
easy
but
might
take
some
time
depending
on
how
big
the
files
are.
You

      could
easily
have
more
than
a
couple
of
Gigabytes
of
data
that
you
will
need
to
transfer
so

      please
keep
that
in
mind
when
you
try
and
move
the
files.
Technology
has
no
additional

      resource
to
help
you
with
this.



      So
to
pick
up
your
files
you
will
need
to
navigate
back
to
the
Y:
(RenderFarm)
drive.
You
may

      have
to
login
to
Connect
to
RenderFarm…
again
if
it
has
been
awhile
or
you
are
checking
on

      the
files
from
a
job
submitted
from
the
day
before.
You
will
then
need
to
locate
your
project

      folder
and
then
you
can
copy
your
files
back
to
a
USB
device
or
some
other
storage
medium.



   How
long
will
they
stay
on
the
server?

      We
are
limited
on
space
so
we
have
a
need
to
clean
the
old
render
jobs
off
as
soon
as
we
can

      to
make
room
for
more
Student
jobs.
Our
current
cleaning
cycle
is
one
week.
So
from
the
time

      you
submit
your
project
folder
to
the
time
you
pick
up
your
files
you
will
have
one
week

      before
they
will
be
deleted
from
the
server.