Use Devices To Render In “Node Mode”

All the devices included in a subscription account (4 per seat) can be used to render scenes, so in a way, you are effectively getting 3 extra render nodes for each subscription seat (1 seat + 3 nodes = 4 devices).

But notice that you don't have to install anima® in Render Node mode to use the pre-authorized subscription devices in "node mode". Please, read below how it works.

Each one of the devices listed in your subscription account is added to that list when anima® is installed on a machine and the requested subscription credentials (either user/pw or an invitation code) are provided to pre-authorize the device.

Before you pre-authorize a new device to add it to your list of devices, make sure to verify that you have enough seats available or you will get an "invalid grant" error. If necessary, close temporarily anima® and your 3D app in your main workstation to release the steat until the new device is pre-authorized and appears in your devices list.

After that, each one of those devices is able to get one of your subscription seats when anima® or its plugins are used. Also, those same devices will be able to render scenes in "node mode", without using any of your subscription seats, as long as those render jobs are sent from a Render Manager or using the Distributed Rendering setup (DR).

In a normal situation, when your 3D application is started, an User Interface (UI) is provided to let you interact with the 3D application. However, when the 3D application is started only to render a scene, no User Interface is provided and executed automatically, without any user intervention. This is the standard mode that the 3D apps use to render (no UI) when they are receiving jobs sent by a render manager (like Backburnder, Deadline, Pulze, Team Render, etc.).

The same happens when a single frame render is distributted on multiple machines using a DR setup (as the ones used by V-Ray or Corona). Our anima® plugin is able to detect this particular execution mode of the 3D application (that is, running without UI) and, when this happens in a device that is listed in your subscription account, it sets the plugin to run in a "node mode" too.

When the plugin runs in "node mode" it won't use any subscription seat and it will appear in your subscription devices list with a different icon (a server rack instead of a monitor), as you can see in the image below:


The upper icon is a Monitor, which represents a device using a subscription seat, and the icon below is a Server Rack representing a device running in "node mode".

Notice that you will only see the Server Rack icon when the device has already loaded the scene and started the render process. As soon as it stops rendering and becomes idle again, waiting for another job, it will change the icon back to the Unplugged Monitor:

Therefore, if you want to confirm if the "node mode" setup is working fine, you must send a render job to that device, wait until the render starts (after the scene is loaded by the node), and then refresh the web devices panel. At that point, only during the time that the render is being made, you should see the icon displayed as a Server Rack.


Sample Setup Process

The following is a standard setup process for rendering anima® ALL scenes in 4 devices having only 1 single subscription seat:

  1. Install anima® in Workstation mode on all the machines by following the process described here:
    Installation process (section ANIMA® ALL / ANIMA® PRO)
  2. Confirm that the subscription seat is available. You can do that on the subscription admin page, in the user dashboard:
    anima® ALL – STATUS
  3. Activate the subscription on the first machine by following the process described here:
    Device Activation
  4. Close the anima® Designer and any other 3D app that may be using the anima® plugin on that machine.
  5. Repeat steps 1 to 3 on all the machines that you will use to render.

Please, make sure that you have seats available in your account (step 2) before trying to activate a new device or you will get an Invalid Grant error.

If you forget to confirm the availability of the seat and get that Invalid Grant error, please proceed to remove that device from your list of devices and then add it again. If you don’t do that, this device will probably be considered invalid or obsolete by our servers and won’t be able to get the seat anymore, or render in “node mode“.

To remove one of the devices, use the trash-bin icon in the devices list:




After all your machines have been correctly added to your list of devices, proceed to send a render job to them, and wait until they start rendering. Once the scene is loaded and the render starts, refresh the Devices List dashboard in your account and you will see the nodes using the Server Rack icon, instead of the standard Monitor icon.


Extra Render Nodes

If you need to use more nodes than the number of devices available on your subscription account, you can purchase extra anima® Render Node licenses separately at 39 € each. The anima® Render Node licenses are not linked to a Maintenance Plan, so you pay once and after that, you will always be able to update them for free. If you already own anima® Render Nodes licenses, you can use them to render scenes from anima® ALL by just updating them, at no extra cost.

Just keep in mind that the anima® Render Node version and the anima® ALL version cannot be installed simultaneously on the same machine, which is the main reason that led us to create the "node mode" for the subscription devices.

The anima® Render Node application (since version 4.5.x) is fully compatible with anima® ALL, so it can render both types of actors, the ones from the subscription and the ones that you may have purchased already or imported as custom models. But please, notice that, unlike the PRO licenses, the subscription service does not include any anima® Render Node licenses because they use an incompatible type of license (perpetual), so they cannot be sold as a part of the same product.

If you need to, you can purchase extra anima® Render Node licenses here:

In case you are interested in online Render Farm services, notice that lots of them are already supporting our plugin. You can see an updated list of supported Render Farms in the following link: