9

Network Rendering 979
TheidealplacetoinstalltheNetworkManageris
onafileserver.IfyouhaveaPCalreadysetupas
a texture-map file server, this would b e an ideal
place for it.
Yo u s p e c i f y w h i c h P C i s t o b e t h e N e t w o r k
Manager in the Network Job Assignment dialog,
a subdialog of the Render Scene and Video Post
Execute Sequence dialogs.
Networ k Render i ng
Network Rendering is the rendering of animations
using more than one computer connected by a
network.
Large and complex animations take many hours to
render,evenonthefastestPCs.Networkrendering
allows you to use the po wer of other computers to
speed up the process. Any network-connected PCs
that have the software installed can participate.
You can even render using computers connected
only by the Internet.
Setting up network rendering involves installing
three kinds of programs:
• T he Network Manager, which should be
installed on a central file-server PC.
• The Network Render ing Server, w hich must be
installed on all participatin g PCs.
• The Queue Monitor client provides a
user-interface to monitor and control network
rendering. It can be installed on any of the
participating PCs.
Networ k R ender ing S er v er
The Network Rendering Server must be r un ning
on any computer dedicated to rendering a job
remotely.
The Server communicates with the Network
Manager and starts the program on that computer
to render network processes. The Server has no
user i nterface itself, but you ca n se t various options
for it from the Queue Monitor client. For example,
you can specify the times of day that the Server is
available to do network rendering.
You specify which PCs are to be servers in the Job
Assignment dialog (page 3–190),asubdialogof
Render Scene.
Newton
Inthemetricsystem,thenewtonistheunitof
force required to accelerate a mass of one kilogram
one meter per second. In 3ds Max, you can use
thenewtonindynamicsimulationswithobjects
such as the spring (page 1–400) and damper (page
1–396).
Node
Every object in a 3ds Max scene is represented
in memory (that is, in the data st ructure of the
scene) as a node, which acts as a container fo r
an object’s geometr y, its tr ansform controllers,
assigned materials and modifiers, etc. Nodes
also provide the building blocks for hierarchies,
in which parent/child relationships are created
by linking objects node to node. Two tools that
display nodes are Track View and Schematic View.
”Node” is distinct from the term “object,” because
the “object” refers more narrowly to geometry: the
mesh, or NURBS surface, spline, or patch, and so
on. The same instance of an object’s geometry
canbesharedbymultiplenodes. Eachnodein
the scene is unique and can be identified as such
by the commands and tools 3ds Max or plug-ins
implement.