Submitting a Job

Once you have specified the output settings in the Render Queue dialog, submit the job to the network rendering system. This procedure assumes the input and output paths are set up properly.

To submit a network rendering job:

1. In the Render Queue dialog, click the Global Settings tab.
2. Enable Use Network Rendering to connect to the manager. The result depends on the Render Queue preferences:
• (Default setting:) If Auto-Connect to Manager is enabled and Use First Available is enabled, the Use Network Rendering controls appear. Proceed to step 3.
• If Get List Automatically is enabled, the Manager Selection dialog appears with a list of render managers found on the network using the subnet mask and manager port. Select a manager and click OK.

If the list does not appear automatically, click Get List. If nothing appears, show the preferences and check that the subnet mask is correct for the network. If Get List still does not work, you should enter the name or IP address of the manager.

Note: Usually, only one backburner Manager should be active on a render network at any given time. If several managers appear in the list, check with the network coordinator to determine which backburner Manager to select.

• If Auto-Connect to Manager is enabled and Use First Available is disabled, enter the name and IP address. Then, the manager should be found immediately.



3. Notice that the name of the selected manager appears at the bottom of the dialog, and the rendering options become available. When Use Network Rendering is enabled, the Process button becomes the Net Render button.

Note: If you click Process, the project is rendered locally.

The job name, which is derived from the workspace filename by default, appears in the Job Name field. Priority is set to 50.

4. By default, the job uses all available servers. To use only specific servers, disable Use All Available Servers, then click Choose or click Servers to show the Servers controls. If necessary, click Refresh.

Note: The Use All Available Servers button is unavailable if you select a movie format such as QuickTime—a movie file must be assigned to one server.

The Server Assignment list shows all available render servers. The box next to the name of a render server is highlighted in yellow when the server is assigned. When Use All Available Servers is disabled, you can right-click a server and choose Assign to Job or Remove from Job, or you can click the box to indicate if you want the job to use the server.

Note: The Use All Available Servers button is also in the Servers controls. When Use All Available Servers is enabled, servers started after the job is submitted can also be used.

5. By default, the job has no dependencies. To create a dependency, enable Use Job Dependency, then click Choose or click Job Links to show the Job Links controls. From the Job Dependencies list, select the job that must be completed before the current job starts.

If necessary, click Refresh. The list shows all active jobs. The box next to a job name is highlighted in yellow when there is a dependency.

6. To set notification options, enable Notification in the Main controls.

You can set notification options for render completion, render failures, or when a specific number of frames is rendered. For notification, you can also send an e-mail when these results or progress happens.

For more information on e-mail options, see Sending E-mail after Rendering.

7. Click Net Render.

The outputs are validated and the job is submitted to the manager. The Render Queue dialog closes.

However, if any information is missing from the render settings, the file browser or format Settings dialog appears. For example, the JPEG Options dialog appears if you forget to set the options for a JPEG image sequence.

The manager breaks up the submitted job into tasks and distributes the tasks to the available render servers.

8. To view the progress of the job, start Monitor or go to the workstation where Monitor is running.

Note: Render progress is not displayed in the Render Queue dialog on the workstation that submitted the job. The Progress settings in step 6 refer to the progress the Monitor reports.