This page provides answers to some frequently asked questions on the topic of Distributed Rendering.
Overview
It's typical for many questions to arise when it comes to distributing out render jobs over multiple computers on your network. Below are some of the most common questions users have about how to configure their setup and what is needed to maximize your rendering capabilities over multiple computers.
What licenses are needed to set up a render farm?
Using DR in V-Ray for Maya only requires a universal Render Node license for your V-Ray Standalone Render Server. If you run the V-Ray for Maya installer in the "Standalone only" mode, it will set up what you need to render V-Ray jobs. You don't need to have Maya installed on the machines on your farm - unless you need the application for a workstation setup, or are using a render management application that requires Maya to be installed. Most don't actually launch Maya, so check with the render manager's documentation to determine if a Maya installation/license is required.
Are DR machines only able to render V-Ray jobs for Maya?
No, since the nodes use V-Ray Standalone, all V-Ray jobs can be rendered on machines set up for Distributed Rendering, whether they originated from Maya, SketchUp, or any of the other host applications V-Ray can be installed at. A special note must be made for jobs originating from 3ds Max - only renders with V-Ray GPU can be distributed to V-Ray Standalone, while the V-Ray Production renderer in 3ds Max always requires a V-Ray for 3ds Max spawner to work correctly with DR.
Does DR only work with Production rendering?
No, you can also distribute IPR renders. The only exception is for jobs started with V-Ray IPR in 3ds Max.
Do I need to use an external render management application to send DR jobs to a render farm?
No, you can connect to and send jobs directly from the Distributed Rendering Settings window.
Does DR send jobs to computers based on frame assignments?
No, DR sends jobs in parts of a frame. As opposed to many external render management applications, V-Ray is able to divide up each frame into smaller pieces, like individual buckets, to distribute. This allows multiple computers to assist in calculating a single frame at a time, which is especially helpful for rendering a single large frame at a time. DR can also be used when you're rendering a sequence, as each frame will be calculated across multiple systems, although distributed rendering of animation would be more optimally distributed by other render management applications, which distribute separate frames of the animation to different machines on your farm.
Does DR only work for Bucket Image Sampling or can I use Progressive too?
Yes, both Image Sampler types work with DR. Both the CPU and GPU V-Ray render engines are supported.
If I have Maya on both Windows and macOS computers, can I use both with DR?
Since V-Ray Standalone is used for DR jobs, they run the same no matter what OS your machines are using.