9

Batch Rendering 201
Defaults —
Returns all settings to their defau lts.
OK —Accepts any changes and closes the dialog.
Cancel—Closes the dialog without saving changes.
Batch Rendering
“Batch rendering” is a term used to descr ibe the
process of rendering a series of tasks or jobs that
have been assigned to a queue. Batch rendering is
useful when you need to render images without
supervision or when you want to render a number
of test studies showing different day or nig ht
lighting, or for producing shadow studies of
various sun ang les. Batch rendering can a lso be
used when you want to see how your project looks
from different camer a viewpoint s.
Several methods for sett ing up batch rendering are
available in 3ds Max. These met hods entail using
the Batch Render tool (page 3–203) or network
rendering (page 3–173) with Backburner, or a
combination of the two.
The three available methods for setting up batch
rendering are as follows:
• Build a queue of camera tasks that are managed
by the Batch Render tool.
IfyouhaveaMAXfilethatcontainsoneor
more cameras a nd saved scene states (page
3–518),youcansetupacameraqueuetorender
different camera viewpoints. Each camera can
be set to automatically load a scene state to give
you several visualizations of your model.
• Setupaseriesofjobsasnetworkrendering
assignments to be coordinated by Backburner.
If you have a number of separ ate scenes that
are part of a single project or part of several
projects, use network rendering even if you’re
rendering to a single computer. Use this
method also if you have scenes that don’t have
acamerasetupandyouwanttorendera
P erspective, Front, Left or Right viewport view.
• Use the Batch Render tool to set up a queue
of camera tasks to render different views
and pass them to Backburner for rendering
management.
TheBatchRendertoolhasanoptiontosend
each camera task in the batch render list as
a separate network rendering job. Use this
method if you want to split the rendering of the
different views among multiple computers.
See also
Batch Rendering - B atch Render Dialog (page
3–203)
Quick S ta r t B a tch R ender ing
Thefollowingprovidesbare-bonestepsonhow
to set up and use the Backburner Manager and
Server utilities to perform batch rendering.
If your system is already properly configured for
TCP/IPprotocols(forexample,yourcomputerhas
an internet connection), information in this topic
will help you get started with batch rendering in a
few basic steps.
Procedures
To render in batch mode:
You need Windows XP (Home or Professional)
Service Pack 1 (or higher) or Windows 2000
Ser vice Pack 4.
Note: Backburner rendering is not supported
under Windows 95, 98 or ME.
1. Run the Backburner Manager and Server
applications from the St art menu, in the same
program group as 3ds Max.