Stuart MilneIndustry Consultant - Building

Bentley Building Concepts

Distributed Rendering• Step 1 - Create a Shared folder

• Distributed Rendering is disk intensive.• For optimal performance find a machine that is not heavily utilised.• The shared folder can be on a server or local machine.• Avoid a using a machine that is used in the rendering process.• The folder should not be used for any other purpose other than Distributed Rendering.

Distributed Rendering• Step 2 – Sharing the Shared folder

• Right Click on the Folder and select Properties (Windows XP – other OS may vary).• From the “Sharing” tab enable “Share the Folder”.• Select the “Permissions” button and “Allow” Full Control.• When complete double check the Read Only attributes of the folder are disabled.

Distributed Rendering• Step 3 – Start the Process Controller

• From the Start Menu > Bentley start the “Process Controller for Distributed Rendering”• Edit the Shared Directory path by selecting the folder created in Step 1.• The DR controller will recommend changing the network or UNC path to a local.

C:\temp\ \\machine_name\c$\temp\

Distributed Rendering• Step 4 – The Scheduler

• From the System Tray, Right Click and select Open Scheduler. The Scheduler will;

• Allow you to control your machines participation in Distributed Renderings,• Specify the maximum number of MSProcessors to launch for DR jobs,• Change the Shared Folder location for DR.

Distributed Rendering• Step 5 – The Job Monitor

• From the System Tray, Right Click and select Open Job Monitor. The Job Monitor will;

• Allow you to check the status of the jobs submitted to the Shared folder.• Allow you to see which machines are processing.• Allow you to Pause, Resume and Cancel jobs.• Allow you to check the operation of previous job logs.

Distributed Rendering• Step 6– Submitting a Distributed Rendering Job

• To commence the DR select the “Begin Network Render” button from Render dialog.• Settings can be adjusted from the “Begin Network Render” drop down.• The Network Image History folder must be seen by all participating computers.• The Maximum Tile Size works best for larger tiles. Smaller tiles require more machines.• Group – Specifies the distributed rendering that will be allowed to participate in this job.• Include Current Session helps the most powerful machine complete the CI process.

Distributed Rendering• Tips

•Only one machine will Compute the Illuminations.

•The first machine that attempts to find a new job will handle the illuminationcomputations. The ability to designate a machine will be added in the future.

•All resources such as materials are packaged and transferred to the network duringthe Distributed Rendering process. Due to varying network and PC performancessmaller images may take longer to render using DR.

•Larger images and animations see the fastest results using DR.

•Slower machines can slow the DR process. A slower machine can block an intensivetile rendering. For example - Leaves on a tree.