#RenderFarm Proposal
6 messages in this thread
I work for a data processing solution provider in Pennsylvania, and I'm
thinking about submitting a proposal to the management to allow me to use the
networks and PCs at night as a 3DS render farm business. The company has three
classrooms each provided with at least 15 networked 486 machines with 20 megs
of ram, and the newest is equipped with pentiums. With all these machines not
being used at nights, weekends, holidays and some days as well, I see a great
opportunity to put them to use.
In order to start writing my proposal I need to put together some of the facts.
Answers to the following questions would give me a good start with putting this
together. I appreciate any replies and welcome hearing about any experience you
might have with setting up a render farm business.
1). What tape formats are in the largest demand for render farm work?
2). What are the standard render farm rates?
3). Can the process be automated so several jobs can be run unattended after
startup for 'light out' operation?
4). What equipment other than the PCs, networks and 3DS is necessary for
automating laying rederings on tape?
5). Is it better to use a digital frame store like an Abakus and a standard
editing recorder, or just use a single frame recorder? For large jobs is a
single frame recorder too slow?
-Andy
Andy,
>> 1). What tape formats are in the largest demand for render farm work? <<
I'd guess betaSP is most in demand.
>> 2). What are the standard render farm rates? <<
I don't there is such a thing. I think it would be hard to sell such a service.
I think people want to render their own files, then possibly get help dumping
to tape only.
>> 3). Can the process be automated so several jobs can be run unattended after
startup for 'light out' operation? <<
Yes, that's what network rendering is about. An additional utility can be added
to the video post queue to dump frames in sequence when they are ready.
>> 4). What equipment other than the PCs, networks and 3DS is necessary for
automating laying rederings on tape? <<
One of the PC's would be attached to some video. Equipment and this really
depends on what method you use. I don't recommend frame-by-frame output
anymore, unless you're a masochist. I think a JPEG device like the PAR or MAX,
or an ACCOM or ABEKAS would be best. Just attach a recording betaSP deck to it.
>> 5). Is it better to use a digital frame store like an Abakus and a standard
editing recorder, or just use a single frame recorder? For large jobs is a
single frame recorder too slow? <<
See my answer to 4.
Martin,
<<I don't there is such a thing. I think it would be hard to sell such a>>
<<service. I think people want to render their own files, then >>
<<possibly get help dumping to tape only. >>
Thanks for your prompt reply!
I was hoping that there was strong demand for high speed rendering for 3DS
users. With 50+ or so rendering machines available, a large project that has to
go on video tape could be done in much less time than most users could do on
their own – thus freeing up their machines to do other work. The difference
could be measured in days or weeks! Am I on the wrong track here?
-Andy
Andy,
>> With 50+ or so rendering machines available, a large project that has to go
on video tape could be done in much less time than most users could do on their
own <<
most animations aren't particularly long. Maybe 5 to 10 seconds being typical.
The scenes typically aren't that intense – I'd guess most people are rendering
frames in less than 15 minutes. Most users can handle that with 2 or 3 Pentiums
overnight. If the animation was much longer then you should be able to charge
enough to cover the expense of getting a couple more boxes.
I'm not saying you wouldn't get some people interested but I wouldn't bank on
it. Just don't make it your main source of business – at best it might add a
little "gravy".
>> I was hoping that there was strong demand for high speed rendering for 3DS
users. <<
I think this *would* be a good idea. I'm sure there will be situations where
some will need a speedy rendering to meet a deadline.. possibly me for one 🙂
Let me know if you do get this farm going and what your rates will be. Thanks.
James Franssen
Imagination Station
I would recommend you first hire yourself a professional consultant to answer
these questions based on a facilities study. This consultant should be
experienced in networks, animation rendering requirements, video engineering
and facilities operation management. Many others have considered what you are
about to do and a few have successfully started up a business doing this but
few, and I can't think of any right now, have successfully maintained a viable
business doing this for any length of time. Most do not have all the necessary
ingredients to run a successful business of this nature. Ignorance of this
industry has been the major missing ingredient for successfully maintaining a
render farm service bureau profitably.