Versions Compared

Old Version 7

changes.mady.by.user Gergana Lilkova

Saved on

compared with

New Version Current

changes.mady.by.user Slavina Nikolova

Saved on

Key

  • This line was added.
  • This line was removed.
  • Formatting was changed.

This page provides details on the Swarm Distributed Rendering rollout in the V-Ray Asset Editor.


Overview

...

Section
Distributed rendering is a technique that utilizes multiple computers to render a single scene or image. This approach can significantly accelerate the rendering process, particularly for intricate scenes with high-quality textures.



UI Path

...

||V-Ray Asset Editor|| > Settings > Distributed Rendering

 

...


Distributed Rendering

...

Section
Column
width65%

Enabled – Turns Distributed Rendering on and off.

Mode – Selects between Classic DR and Swarm Mode.

Column
width5%


Column
width30%

Image Added



Swarm

...

Section
Column
width50%65%

The new V-Ray Swarm is a web-based distributed rendering system. It’s a simple, yet powerful way to split your rendering across multiple computers.

 


UI Text Box
typenote

Each machine participating in the render job requires a V-Ray Render Node license. This includes the workstation initiating the rendering process.

Column
width50%
HTML
 <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/9b-HPqfpY_4?rel=0" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

UI Path

 

||V-Ray Asset Editor|| > Settings > Swarm rollout

Swarm

colorlight-yellow
iconwarning

V-Ray Swarm 2 has released a new version:2.0.17. This update makes the setup process easier by removing the need for an Origin node. Download the latestV-Ray Swarm 2version and see theRelease Notes here.

UI Text Box
colorlight-yellow
iconwarning

V-Ray Swarm 2.0.17 is incompatible with the previously released 2.0.15, i.e. all Swarm instances in the cluster should be updated.


V-Ray SWARM ( Image Added ) –

Section
Column
width60%

Enabled – Turns Swarm, V-Ray's web-based distributed rendering system, on or off.

Goal Slider – Sets the desired percentage of utilization of available resources. Computers added or removed to V-Ray Swarm are taken into account automatically.

V-Ray Swarm ( Image Removed ) – Opens up the V-Ray Swarm web interface of the current Coordinator current machine. Alternatively, it can be accessed by typing in the IP address of the current Coordinator machine current machine on the default port 24267. This allows port 1113. This allows you to see the swarm render node machines available for rendering jobs in your network. You can see which of the render node machines are connecting to the particular machine that is casting out the render to the Swarm by the IP address next to its status. This interface also allows you also to configure the render node machines, tag them, or monitor their resource utilization while rendering.


UI Text Box
typenote

Each machine participating in the render job, including the workstation initiating the rendering process, requires a V-Ray Render Node license.

UI Expand
titleV-Ray Swarm 2.0.15
UI Text Box
typenote

It is important to prepare the network of nodes that take part in the render job before beginning the rendering process. To set up your origin node, follow the steps on the How To Set Up Swarm Clusters page.

If there are multiple origins, remove the redundant ones by closing the Origin script command lines on all machines except for one. Then, make sure to restart the Swarm service on the non-Origin machines.

Column
width5%

 


Column
width35%

Image Removed

 

30%

Image Added

...


Tags

...

Section
Column
width60%65%

Tags allow you to tag this node with a descriptor that defines something about the machine, which we can later use to selectively control from inside of SketchUp.

For example, tags can denote if whether this machine is one of a few that have with a powerful GPU , or if a machine it is not a workstation and or a node on a render farm.

For information on how to use Tags, see the  Swarm Configuration page.

 

Once the render process is initiated, machines marked with the selected tags load the scene and assist with the rendering. This is noted in both the Progress Log and the Current Usage bar located in the Swarm settings section.

All scene assets need to be transferred from the local machine to each render node machine before they can begin working on the job. If a render node machine's V-Ray version differs from that of the local host machine, V-Ray Swarm uploads the needed builds automatically and ensures that all the render nodes use the same V-Ray build.

 

The blue marker displays what part of all available machines are rendering the job, and the red marker shows the machines currently occupied with another job. More detailed information on the Current usage bar is displayed upon mouse-over. 

The Goal slider beneath the bar can be adjusted dynamically to add or remove assigned machines during the rendering process

Column
width5%


Column
width30%




Classic DR

...

Section
Column
width65%

The new Classic DR feature allows you to configure their Distributed Rendering setup manually. To use this mode, you have to set the V-Ray running machines in server mode as render nodes, and to configure the client UI with the Host names and ports of those nodes.


+ – Adds a new host to the host list.

Image Added – Enables or disables hosts for rendering. This checkbox allows the host to be kept in the list without participating in the DR process.

IP/Name – Displays the host IP or name.

Port – Displays the host port. The default port is 20207.

x – Deletes the host from the host list.


UI Text Box
colorlight-blue
iconinfo

Host information is stored at system level and made available across projects of the same installation, so it does not have to be configured for every project.


Column
width5%


Column
width30%

Image Added


Render Node Setup

...

Section

To use the Classic DR mode, all render nodes need to have the same V-Ray version installed. Here is how to enable this.

UI Steps
UI Step

Installing V-Ray Standalone


Column
width45%

Run the V-Ray Installer. On the Host App Version screen, uncheck all versions. Click the Advanced button to continue.

Column
width5%

 


Column
width
35%

Image Removed

Image Removed

 

 

 

...

50%

Image Added

UI Step

Installing V-Ray Standalone


Column
width45%

On the Additional Components screen, select V-Ray Standalone and complete the installation. 

Column
width5%

...

section
35%


Column
width
60%
50%

Image Added

UI Step

Running V-Ray Standalone as Server


Column
width45%
This installation provides a Windows shortcut that can be used to run V-Ray directly as a server. 
Column
width5%


Column
width50%

Image Added 

UI Step

Obtaining Server Port


Column
width45%
Start the V-Ray Server and locate the port displayed in the command output.
Column
width5%


Column
width45%

Image Added

UI Step

Obtaining Server IP


Column
width45%
The IP can be obtained by executing the ipconfig command in a separate Command Prompt. There might be multiple IP addresses depending on the configuration of the machine. Which one to use depends on how the server is accessed (wireless, Ethernet, etc)

The Network Discovery settings control how a Coordinator Node is selected. By default, V-Ray Swarm's Network Discovery is set to use auto-discovery.

If the Auto-Discovery option is turned on, V-Ray automatically assigns the machine with the greatest network visibility as a Coordinator and uses it for render-job management. The Coordinator machine is automatically changed if a different computer reports that it can communicate with more nodes than the current Coordinator.

Alternatively, the Network Discovery settings can be adjusted through the V-Ray Swarm web interface.

Coordinator IP – Manually sets a network machine to be the Coordinator which is used for render-job management.

For more information on Network Discovery, see the Swarm Configuration page
.
Column
width5%
 


Column
width
45%

Image Removed

Image Removed

 

Cap CPU Utilization

Image Added



Don't Use Local Machine

...

Section

 

Column
width60%65%
This setting is not available when the GPU is enabled.

When enabled, the local machine is not used for renderingLimits the utilization of the local machine CPU to a maximum of one thread. Enabling the option lets you continue using your computer without noticeable slowdown, while the other Swarm nodes are rendering the image.

UI Text Box
typenote
Column
width5%
 

Column
width35%30%
Image RemovedImage Added



Footnotes

...

Fancy Bullets
typecircle
  • GPU Bucket is supported in Swarm. Overall Bucket image sampler is recommended for production distributed rendering jobs.