Online render farms

Render farms

Render farm is when a multiple computers are connected to render different frames of a sequence to overall speed up the process and reduce the float time between renders. However, the more complicated the sequence is the longer it will require to render the sequence which is unfortunate for me as some of my scene contain particle effects such as smoke. To fully render the sequence will take up to 2 days which is a substantial amount of time making this not only inefficient but also runs the risk of not successfully rendering the sequence correctly. Therefore, I have come to realise that there has to be a way in which I can render my sequences out more quickly and efficiently which is why I’ve decided to consider sending my sequences to an online render farm at a small cost.

Pixel Plow

Pixel Plow is a online render farm service that has its own client where users are able to send their footage and track the process in real time. This is not only useful in terms of constantly being updated on the status of the process but it also tracks the cost of the render as it is being rendered.

After filling out the specifications of how long it takes for my computer takes to completely render a frame, Pixel Plow roughly calculated how much it will cost for them to render out my sequence. It estimator has then calculated it will cost around $3.92 which is £3.21 to render out my sequence of 250 frames making this one of the cheapest options.

RenderCore

Render core is another online render farm that offers the same service as Pixel Plow however at an additional cost with extra features. In comparison to Pixel Plow, Render core is extremely fast when it comes to rendering out complex sequences that has a vast amount of particle effects making this one of the powerful render farms avaliable.

After filling out the estimator, it calculated 13 minutes to render out my 250 famed sequence at the cost of $72 which is observably expensive with the quality of work that I’m producing since my sequences are currently just test footage. Therefore, I will not be using this company to render out my sequences just for this reason.

FoxRender Farm

FoxRender farm is another competitor within the industry that also offers a slightly cheaper price tag to render my sequence.

After filling out the calculator, the render cost added up to $26.36 which is £21.62. It may not has cheap as Pixel Plow but it is considerably cheaper than RenderCore. The quality however will not change as much compared to Pixel Plow which makes Pixel Plow the ideal choice to use when it comes to rendering out my animation.

Overall, out of all of the 3 options, Pixel Plow is deemed to be the most cost efficient render farm compared to the rest. It is all flexible in terms of tracking how much it costs to render a sequence and it is easy to import projects into the client. So therefore, I will be using Pixel Plow to render all my complicated sequences that involves particle effects to maximise efficiency and reduce time to render.

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