Page 1199 - Kitab3DsMax

Chapter 48: Batch and Network Rendering
Note
The network manager can automatically attempt to restart servers that failed, giving your rendering farm much
more stability. n
l Failed Servers: Usually, Max doesn’t send more frames to a server that previously failed. If you
check the Restarts Failed Servers box, Max tries to give the server another chance. The Number of
Retries field tells Max how many times it should try to restart a server before giving up on the par-
ticular server for good, and the Minutes Between Retries field tells Max the number of minutes it
should wait before trying to give the failing server another job.
Note
The rendering manager writes the configuration settings to a file on the disk that gets read when the manager
loads. If you make changes to any of the settings, shutting down the manager and starting it up again to guarantee
that the changes take effect is best. n
l Direct Access to Jobs Path: This setting lets you specify a different path that exists anywhere on
the network, regardless of where the manager is running. Separate fields are available for Win32
paths and Unix paths. If the Use Jobs Path option is selected, then the specified path is used.
l Default Job Handling: This section lets you tell the Manager what to do after the rendering job is
finished. The options include Do Nothing, Delete or Archive, and Delete or Archive after a speci-
fied number of days. This option gives you a way to clean out your queue.
The network servers settings
As you may have guessed, the Properties button on the Network Server window serves a similar purpose as
the one on the Network Manager window: It enables you to specify the behavior of the network server.
Clicking this button displays the Backburner Server General Properties dialog box.
This dialog box has the following section:

l TCP/IP: The port numbers serve the same function as they do for the rendering manager,
described in the previous section. If you change them in the manager properties, change them
here. If you change them here, change them in the manager properties.

Note
The Manager Name or IP Address setting lets you override automatic detection of the rendering manager and
specify its exact location on the network. Generally, letting Max attempt to find the manager itself is best; if it
fails, override the automatic detection by clearing the Automatic check box. If you happen to be running multiple
managers on the same network, the servers connect to the first one they find. In this case, you have to manually
choose the correct server. n

Keep in mind that the server properties aren’t shared among your servers, so if you want something to
change on all your servers, you have to make that change on each machine.

Note
As with the rendering manager settings, if you change anything in the Network Servers Properties dialog box, be
sure to shut down the server and restart it. n

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