[Frederic Lou...]

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UPDATE November 16, 2009 - The RANCH now officially supports Vue 8!
Announcement on page 5
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March 6, 2007

RANCH Computing is proud to present the RANCH renderfarm : the first - and only - entirely automated commercial renderfarm dedicated to Vue !

You can visit the website (english and french versions) at : www.ranchcomputing.com
A comprehensive RenderFarm User Guide and the press release (both in PDF format) are available for download on the site.

We intend to be close to the Vue community : this sticky thread will serve as a way of communication between the RenderFarm team and Vue users.

Thanks for your attention !

[Dave Burdick]

Good luck with this Frederic. I can say that after having used the Ranch, it's a superb, economical facility for Vue users. A great way to get animations and high-res renders done quickly and efficiently. Thanks again for making this available and all of your pioneering VueMark work as well.

[C.Club Member]

Good luck with this Frederic. I can say that after having used the Ranch, it's a superb, economical facility for Vue users. A great way to get animations and high-res renders done quickly and efficiently. Thanks again for making this available and all of your pioneering VueMark work as well.

[Jim Coe]

Congratulations Frederic!

This a great service and well-made.
It will be a big help to serious scene builders!
_________________
_jc (Vue6i, Intel DX38bt mobo 4GB, Intel Core2 Quad, GeForce 9600 GT 512.) www.art-head-start.com/order-b.html My art skills ebook

[C.Club Member]

Congratulations Frederic!

This a great service and well-made.
It will be a big help to serious scene builders!
_________________
_jc (Vue6i, Intel DX38bt mobo 4GB, Intel Core2 Quad, GeForce 9600 GT 512.) www.art-head-start.com/order-b.html My art skills ebook

[Frederic Lou...]

GREAT NEWS : thanks to E-on software and Cornucopia 3D, the RANCH is now able to render scenes which include copy-protected content bought at C3D !

[DigReal]

... and I can't wait to try it out. Hopefully next week!

[Frederic Lou...]

This is the last week of our special introductory price, and for these last days we have decided to do something special : to let you test the renderfarm for free !!

Of course, such an incredible offer is not without limitations. The purpose of this offer is not to let you render production projects but to let everyone try the farm and get familiar with the process. It is also a good occasion to evaluate the ease of use and the performance of the farm without spending money. And if you have big projects to render in the future, this first experience with the RANCH will certainly be helpful.

To benefit from this special offer, you must :

1) have registered on the RANCH website
2) submit a project with EXACTLY the following characteristics :

- Render mode : FINAL
- NO RADIOSITY (other lighting modes including GA / AO / GI are accepted)
- Lighting Quality Boost <= 0.0

- for a still image, the resolution must be EXACTLY 2500 x 1875 pixels.
- for an animation, you must submit a 51 frames sequence (frame 0 to frame 50), in 640 x 480 resolution, with a standard increment of 1 frame.

You will use the entire process and pay the submission fee as you would normally pay. The difference is, if the project you submit uses these exact parameters, 1) you will not be charged for the render time and 2) you will get a refund for the submission fee (a message from PAYPAL will inform you in the next 24 hours of the refund).

Any project which does not use these exact parameters will be charged normally (at the rate $0.15 per GHz per hour, the normal introductory price).

* This offer will expire on saturday, March 31st at 23:59:59 (GMT+1).
* Each registered user can get exactly ONE free test project.

So, now is your chance to see if the RANCH can be useful for your future Vue projects : don't miss it !

[bradymac]

Hello Frederic-

I would like to try out your renderfarm very soon, but had a couple questions for you first. In the cost estimator, what is VueMark? What do I put in that field? Also, I don't really have any idea how long my image may take to render on my PC. Would I get better results with putting in a closer estimate of time for rendering? Or how does that work?

Thanks for your help.
_________________
Brady McIntosh
www.bradymcintosh.com

[C.Club Member]

Hello Frederic-

I would like to try out your renderfarm very soon, but had a couple questions for you first. In the cost estimator, what is VueMark? What do I put in that field? Also, I don't really have any idea how long my image may take to render on my PC. Would I get better results with putting in a closer estimate of time for rendering? Or how does that work?

Thanks for your help.
_________________
Brady McIntosh
www.bradymcintosh.com

[Frederic Lou...]

Hi bradymac,

all you need to know about the VueMark is here :

http://www.cornucopia3d.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3344

The cost / time estimator is just there to give you a rough idea about the time it could take to render a project on the farm, so if you can give a reasonable estimate of the time it would take on your PC the evaluation will in theory be more precise.

There are many explanations about all this in the RUG (Renderfarm User Guide) PDF document available for download on the RANCH site, so I recommend to read it thoroughly, as many of your questions are answered in there. And see you soon on the RANCH !

[bradymac]

Thanks for the quick reply. However, I use Vue 6 Pro Studio, so I won't be able to run the python script for VueMark. Will I still be able to render on the farm? What should I do? Thanks.
_________________
Brady McIntosh
www.bradymcintosh.com

[C.Club Member]

Thanks for the quick reply. However, I use Vue 6 Pro Studio, so I won't be able to run the python script for VueMark. Will I still be able to render on the farm? What should I do? Thanks.
_________________
Brady McIntosh
www.bradymcintosh.com

[Frederic Lou...]

Yes we accept scenes from Easel, Esprit, Pro Studio and Infinite, so you can use the farm without any problem.

About the VueMark, maybe you can look at the current database in the VueMark thread and find a computer similar to yours and then use a similar number... Anyway, you can use the farm without using the cost estimator, it's here to help but it is not mandatory. So you can enter whatever number you want (>0) in the estimated cost field when you submit a project.

[Frederic Lou...]

Hello everyone,

the second edition of our Newsletter has been sent to all our registered users. The main big news is the ability to subscribe! It has many benefits - described in the newsletter - for anyone who wants to use the RANCH on a regular basis.

Another good news : we have also decided to reconduct the free trial indefinitely for all new registered users!

Finally, the Renderfarm user Guide has been updated with many news tips and new information which might prove very useful when using the RANCH.

Cheers

Fred

[Frederic Lou...]

Here is something I have added to the Renderfarm User Guide, but I think it might be helpful to everyone. The purpose of this tip is to detect scenes which require incredibly long render times... before it is too late.

==============================================

Before sending us a still image to render, ALWAYS do the following test: render your scene on your system with all the final parameters, but in 16 pixels wide (for landscape images) or 16 pixels high (for portrait images). For example if your image has a 4:3 ratio, render it in 16 x 12 pixels, Render to Screen mode.

It seems like a joke, but really it is not . For a “normal” scene, even in ultra mode, the render time should be very fast (a few seconds to a minute for complex scenes). Note: count only the render time, not the preparation time which will be the same, even in high resolution.

BUT IF THE RENDER TIME IS > 1 MINUTE, YOU ARE IN TROUBLE!
(on a Core 2 Duo @ 2 GHz for instance)

It means it could take a VERY long time on the farm in high resolution and that it would cost you a lot of money. Typical symptom for these “nightmare scenes” : Vue quickly displays 100%, but the “finished!” message appears only after several minutes.

[Frederic Lou...]

Until May 31st 2007, we have decided to do something no other renderfarm has done before. We have lowered the base price to an unprecedented level, at $9 per hour, that is between 5 and 6 cents per GHz per hour!
By putting our rendering service within the reach of every Vue user, we hope that hobbyists and freelance artists on a budget will be able to benefit from the performance of the RANCH without going bankrupt! We have also created a priority system which lets you raise your Price Per Hour, if you are in a hurry and want to put your project at the top of the waiting list.

So don't miss this offer! Prepare your scenes, and most of all READ the Renderfarm User Guide before sending anything We are looking forward to render your creations!

More details at http://www.ranchcomputing.com/news_uk.php

The RANCH team

[Frederic Lou...]

Hi everyone,

just to let you know that we now have a superfast internet connection : FTTH (direct Fiber Optics) with a 100 Mbits/s symmetrical bandwidth!

Very useful when downloading those HD animations frames

And a reminder: the $9.00 per hour offer is valid until May 31st, don't miss it!

[Frederic Lou...]

Perfect for short projects and animation previz, the BLITZ! formula is a very affordable way to use the RANCH.

You pay $10 once and for all, and you have one hour max to render your project. Try it out!

All the details here: http://www.ranchcomputing.com/news_uk.php

UPDATED:
Just to put things into perspective and give you a better idea of what you can expect for still images, I rendered the 3 VueMark classic scenes on the RANCH in higher quality and much higher res (with V6I 6.10 - build 291050):

- Peaking Through (Ultra, 4000x3000) is rendered in 25 mn 23s
- Radiosity Room (Superior, 4000x1810) is rendered in 15 mn 20s
- Cerro Verde (Ultra, 4000x3000) is rendered in 14 mn 54s

As you can see all three would easily fit in the BLITZ! time frame.