Configuring Net Render with Cinema 4D Tutorial
Monday, November 9, 2009
Total Running Time: 21:28
In this video tutorial, you’ll learn how to configure Net Render with Cinema 4D. We will cover installing and configuring the Net Render Server and Client. You will learn how to use Net Render to reduce your render time of animations as well as still images using a Tiled Camera.
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Just posted here- the “Submit Comment” didnt’ seem to work…
Thanks for the tip – I”m having trouble with net render and GI.
Here’s a render on my system with GI:
http://dropbox.teamgroup.tv/data/dave/stage-no-net.jpg
Here’s a render with net-render with the same settings:
http://dropbox.teamgroup.tv/data/dave/stage-net.jpg
Here’s a thread on mograph.net that hasn’t really helped much:
http://mograph.net/board/index.php?showtopic=21068
Your comment showed up, so I guess it worked?? or did you try previously and it didn’t work?
Weird…it thought it was spam. Maybe because of the links. I just moved it out of spam.
Yea, the flickering with GI has been a problem, not sure if that’s what you are talking about…. as mentioned in the mograph thread, you can up your stochastic samples. Usually for any kind of animation, I’ll set it to high. I usually set my Record Density and Oversampling to high as well. It adds time to the render, but they turn out much better.
As for the difference with Net Render, did you change your GI Mode on the first tab to: IR + QMC (NET Render) I’ve found that has helped my renders when using NET Render.
Tim,
I actually tried setting the Stochastic Samples to “High” and have been using the IR (net render) setting in the GI tab, but still get crappy results. It really makes no sense.
My solution is to just render some frames on one computer, and just open the same file on another computer to render other frames.
I’d love it if GI would just work properly, though.
A coworker found a solution today.
If you render the GI pass as a .gi file from one computer, you can use the same .gi file during the net render by just copying it to the job folder.
Hi,
I am a bit of a newbie at using render clients like this. Do I understand right that it will not successfully distribute the render of a movie format file and that it must be an image sequence, or is that just a recommendation ? Is there no auto ‘reconstruct’ process for putting back together a tiled single image render ?
Hi guys,
I was setting up a Network and NetRender for a costumer who has almost the same configuration like in the tutorial. Its 2 PC´s (WinXP 64) and a MacPro (10.6.2). Setting up the network and rights to write on each machine was no problem. Also installing and setting up the NetRender server (on XP) and the clients on each machine worked like a breeze – thanks to this nice tutorial here. But there is a strange issue when it comes to rendering Projects using textures.
I always get the Error Message: “Missing Textures/Low Memory” and then it stops although I have the tex Folder and the Filename-restrictions are also correct. Projects without textures work fine, no matter how heavy the Project is (lots of GI for example). As I said before, each machine has r/w-acces to the other ones, they are all in the same workgroup and even tested with Firewalls disabled. Even Client installed on the Server has no access to the textures.
Any hint into the right direction would be great!
When you “uploaded” the c4d file, did you also upload the tex folder? the tex folder needs to be whereever the netrender server puts the c4d file for rendering.
OK Problem solved,
luckily it was all my fault :) I didn´t recognize that I have to copy/upload the textures to the concerning project files. Now its running smooth like a cat.
HELpp! pleasee!!! i cant configurate netrender :(
my problem is:
Error starting up server TCP/IP problems, port might be in use
sorry i´m from Guatemala and i don´t speak english please any idea what happens???
thank You!!
In the server application you could try changing the port id#. Just make sure that whatever port you change it to you do the same in the client. If you use the web app to upload and manage, you’ll also have to add that port address at the end…by default I believe it is set to 8080. If you change it to say 9500 (for example) you would need to also change it to 9500 in the client and then for the web app put in http://192.168.0.1:9500 (make sure to put YOUR IP address of YOUR system.
Hi Tim,
I can get an animation rendered out fine using the NET Render – however any idea why the final ‘result’ is missing the Ambient Occlusion, when I have clearly specified it on the file from the Server machine? All client machines are fully loaded with the same Cinema version, with the same modules. I am running version 10.5.
Hope you can help!
Cheers.
thank You very much! Tim Shetz !!! ……………………..i will try to do thaT!……
Hey there -
Are you rendering off the AO as a separate pass and that pass is missing? or is it missing altogether? If it’s missing altogether, perhaps render the AO as a separate pass, be sure to set the path and name for your multipass in the render settings, see if anything renders out. The only reason I could imagine it not showing up in Net Render is if for some reason the Advanced Renderer module is not installed on all Net Client machines, which you say it is. You could also try RE installing Advanced Render on all machines you are using both client and server…just thinking out loud. Let me know if none of that works and I’ll think about it a little more.
Tim
thanks for a great lesson!
i’m working with Cinema 4d 11.5 using plugin vue 8 for making atmosphere and backgrounds. question.. is it possible to use net.render for scene ( cinema+vue)?
are there any resources on that theme?
thank you in advance.
Need help, please. I’m on a Mac trying to reconfigure network settings and the window to do so in Net Render Server isn’t visible and I can’t see any way to open it through the menus at the top.
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks.
You might try deleting the preferences for netrender and or cinema 4d….
watched the tutorial and set it up just the same but when i just wanted to test it on a single machine it doesnt register in my browser. comes up with (most likely cause•Some content or files on this webpage require a program that you don’t have installed.)
i installed the the server and the client exactly the same as in the tut, and used my ip address. but still nothing shows up in my browser…….any help would be great in this matter
As long as you have the server running and a client running, you should be able to put the ip address into your browser followed by the :8080 (as long as you didn’t change that) and it should bring up the net render interface….
Once you entered the ip address in the client, when you restart the client, does it say that it attached to the server and does the server indicate that the client attached? If so then you should be able to enter the ip address into your browser….
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Err, I have this NET Render, but I’m not quite sure what it does or how to use it…
Hi Audrey -
If you watch the tutorial, I explain what it does and how to use it.
Tim
Good tut, but what about plugins which seems to be the hardest thing to set up for the server. I am using interposer (working) and VUE xstream 8.4 (not working). Also, Maxon should figure out something about the textures…if I have to move/upload them + each texture, that’s nothing but a pain in the butt. Well thx again!
Net renerding is for your machines or is an public server where you can put your files to render and other guys can render for you?
Just for your local network. There are companies online that you can send your files to to render, but they aren’t cheap.
What is the default username and password for setting up users in the net render server? I can’t seem to find the info.
Great tutorial.
One point which I think is important to note is that on large scenes you need to edit the output width and height when using the tiled camera option.
I have a scene which needs an output of 300dpi and needs to be A0 in size. If we follow this method exactly then the renderfarm will create 8 images at A0 which is an unnecessary extra workload.
By dividing the width and height by the number of frames you can improve on your rendertimes even more. Useful for those with modest sized farms. :-)
Good point Dan. Thanks for catching that…. We need to do an updated version of this tutorial. I’ll be sure to add that.
Almost a year later, and now Vue 9 xstream does not work with C4D netrender. The Logo comes up for VUE on job start, then hang. I wonder if there will ever be a solution….
i use mac
i server starded on and new client that is ok
i have 3 machine, Did not see them
i need help plz
If I had 10 machines running Windows 7, Dual Core Processors, 2GB Ram, 256 or 512 ATI or nVidia Workstation cards, 120GB HDD would that be good enough to do net rendering?
Tim –
Thanks for the helpful tut, I really appreciate it.
Dear all!
pls someone can help me upload again or send me movie or link about Configuring Net Render with Cinema 4D Tutorial. Because i cannt see this movie completely.
pls pls help me!
my mail dinhphongha@yahoo.com
Thanks millions.
Hi
I am doing a net render and having an issue with the results. I see how everything is working and it rendered 100% to completion but I couldn’t see the frames sequences results. Anything that I missed? Thank you again for your help.
Not sure what you mean. Can you elaborate?
Unfortunately we can’t send the movie. Usually problems are due to connection speed. We have verified that the file is fine. It plays through all the way on all of our machines here in the office of C4DTraining.com
What type of internet connection are you using? What browser are you using?
Glad you found it helpful. Cinema 4D Net Render is an awesome thing.
Hi Tim,
Great tutorial. You provide exactly the right amount of detail, in plain language, and it’s nicely delivered – thanks very much.
Is there no way the client can be installed on remote servers? I’d love to tap into some of the processing power on the servers which host my websites.
Thanks again,
KaiBosh
Thanks, glad you found it useful. As far as I’m aware, there isn’t a way to do it. You would have to have access to the computers to run the install.
A quick couple questions about a new install of NET Render for R13…
1) The admin console doesn’t show up for the NET Server. We run the daemon under a user in the Admin group on our MAC. It happily accepts and manages jobs. I can connect to the Web UI. The NET Clients local console runs properly. Unfortunately, we can’t get the local console to show up on the server. The Window menu is fully grayed out with Preferences accessible through the menu, but no local logs of the jobs visible.
2) Using the new Physical renderer, we notice very odd artifacts when enabling Motion Blur – compared to clean renders from the C4D GUI rendering locally on a single host. Objects move at different rates from frame-to-frame, with a perceived stutter or lag at certain points in the animation. Any word on this being a known issue?
Thanks,
Ken Wortendyke
Hi,
I’ve just installed the server and client on one machine, and another client on another machine. Everything works fine except that the machine where server and client are loaded doesn’t render. It shows in the net render page, server sees it, client sees server, client picks frames but never renders. Any clue ?
Thx
Usually when a client doesn’t render it is due to the fact that a texture is missing, or perhaps some module or plugin that was used in the scene? I would check those things first.
Hi,
Thanks Tim for your response. I had the client and server using the same port :)
Now a new problem : when using the physical renderer, the only machine picking jobs is the one where the server and cinema 4d are installed, other clients don’t pick anything.
Any clue ?
hey,
I’m using the Vray plugin for rendering. But every time I want to render with NET Render I get an error about my plugin. Cinema 4D + Vray+ Net render server are installed on my server laptop and on my client Cinema 4D + Vray+ the Net Render client is installed. .
I get the error :
Missing Textures / Low Memory: Plugin Shader VrayAdvancedMaterial (VrayAdvancedMaterial.3) Plugin Shader VrayAdvancedMaterial (VrayAdvancedMaterial.1) Plugin Shader VrayAdvancedMaterial (Light Wood) Plugin Shader VrayAdvancedMaterial (lood zonder bumb) Plugin Shader VrayAdva ………………………
Can somone help me please ???
I’m sorry, I have very little experience with Vray. I know people on the Creativecow Cinema 4D forum have used it. You might get a better response there. Good luck.
wow dude nice tutorial(like most you make)
but i’m wondering about 1 thing,
i have a pc and a laptop i wanna use but the laptop runs on our wireless network at home.
is it still possible to have the server on my pc and connect the laptop to it? because on the laptop it keeps saying “server not found” when the server is online and my pc is already connected. so is it the problem with the wireless network or the laptop/server?(server runs on pc atm if i didnt tell you that yet…)
Hi there, I cannot get the job rendered. Just installed net render and although the communication seems fine, the job sits there at 0% and nothing happens.
The textures are under tex folder, there shouldn’t be any files mising.
I’ve tried everything, changing ports, and even reduce the setup to only one client for easier troubleshooting. I made exception rules for inbound and outbound, etc.
Not sure what else to do … Some help is despertely needed ! I have a lot of render hours to do