UVaSchoolofArchitecture
SetupMayaMentalRayBatchtousetheRenderFarm:
MentalRayBatchforMayaprovidesfulldistributednetworkrenderingforfullanimationjobs
inMaya.Thisisafullofflinerenderqueue,sendingthejobacrossthenetworktorenderonthefarm,
andfreeingthelocalcomputertocontinueworkingorlogoff.
TosetupaccessfromaSARCworkstationoryourlaptopcomputer,youneedonlyhaveMayaandthe
BackBurnerutilityinstalled.(BackburnerisinstalledwhenyouinstallMayaifyoucheckthecheckboxto
includeitwheninstalling).Onceyouhaveitinstalled,youcanuseitdirectlyfromwithinMaya.
Pleasenotethatthismethodofrenderingisbestsuitedtolargeanimationsequencesratherthansingle
imageslikeMaxwellRenderorV-Ray.MentalRayBatchthroughBackburnerwillsplitupyouranimation
jobintogroupsofframes,whereeachnodeoftheFarmwillrenderadifferentsectionofframesrather
thandifferentpartsofthesameimage.A100frameanimation,forinstance,mightputframes1-20on
onenode,21-40onanothernode,41-60onathirdnode,andsoforth.Allwillberendering
simultaneously.
ToUseNetworkRenderinginMaya
TorenderusingtheRenderFarmgrid,you
needtodotwothingstosetupyourfile:
1. SetyourMayaProject-particularly
thelocationwhereimageswillbe
savedtowhenrendered–toa
locationontheSchoolof
Architectureservers.Theonlyserver
thatiscurrentlyavailablefornetwork
renderingisScantemp(W:).
\\archstore01.arch.virginia.edu\ScantempmappedtoW:
YoucanuseanyfolderwithinScantemp.
Note:Youmustusethenetworkfornetworkrendering.Thefarm
cannotseeyourlaptop,norcanitseetheworkstationyouaresitting
at.UseScantemp.
2. SendaBackBurnerjobfromMaya,settingtheManagerlocationto
renderfarm01.arch.virginia.edu
UVaSchoolofArchitecture
NetworkRenderingisavailableforallstandardMayarenderers,includingMayaSoftware,Hardware,
Vector,andMentalRay.MentalRayisthemostwidelyused,andprobablythemostappropriate.
JobName:CreateaJobName
orusethedefault.Thejob
namemustbeunique.You
cannotre-usethesamejob
name.
Jobnamesalsocannot
containspaces.
ManagerName:Setthe
managernameto
renderfarm01.arch.virginia.edu
Port:7347
OnaMac:
YoucanrunMayaand
BackburneronaMacand
sendtotherenderfarmjust
thesameasWindows.You
onlyneedtochangeonepath
setting.
SettheRendererPathinthe
dialogto
C:/ProgramFiles/
Autodesk/Maya2016/
bin/Render.exe”
(ifyou’reusingadifferent
yearversionofmaya,setthe
yearappropriately)
UVaSchoolofArchitecture
ViewingProgress
ToviewProgressofyourrenderjob,orseethequeue,usethe
BackBurnerMonitorundertheToolsandUtilitiessectionofthe
AutodeskProgramGroup.
YoumayneedtoConnecttothemanagementservertoseethe
queue.Thisisthesameasabove:renderfarm01.arch.virginia.edu