FAQ


    General FAQ:

    Q: What are the System Requirements for BNR?
    A: Click here for the system requirements. 


    Q: Can you add Scene from the Client or a Auto drop directory?
    A: YES! You can add Scenes from the Client Viewer (Professional Version) and you can also copy scenes into a Auto Scan directory that will automatically load and start the scene on the Controller.


    Q: Do you support Linux and OSX?
    A: YES! I have a Client that will run under Linux (Intel), Mac OSX and Windows. Currently the Controller is only supported under Windows.

    Note on using Lightwave with Linux:
     
    The LWSN linux has not been developed since LightWave 8 so to use LightWave LWSN
    under Linux you would need to use Linux WINE running:
    Windows LightWave LWSN and the Windows BNR Client.
    But I can't confirm this is working correctly - as some plugin/dll's might not work correctly under WINE - So you will need to run tests to confirm.



    Q: If I buy the Standard version now, can I upgrade to the Standard Studio in the future at a discount?
    A: YES! The upgrade price for the Standard Studio version will be the current price of the Standard Studio version less the price you paid for the Standard version.


    Q: If I buy the Standard Studio version now, can I upgrade to the Professional Studio in the future at a discount?
    A: YES! The upgrade price for the Professional Studio version will be the current price of the Professional Studio version less the price you paid for the Standard Studio version.


    Q: Is each Processor in a Dual system considered a Render Node?
    A: Yes, but, you could configure the Client to only use 1 processor on a dual system.


    Q: How does the Controller talk to the Clients?
    A: The Controller and Client communicate via TCP/IP.


    Q: How do I figure out the IP Address of my Computer?
    A: In the BNR Controller - Select the Options->Controller Information.


    Q: Can I run the Client on the Machine that's running the Controller?
    A: Yes, Just install the client after you install the controller and configure it with this machines IP address. 


    Q: The Split frames are not found - why?
    A: Make sure the 'Check Targa Format' is turned off - Sometimes the Split files are so small that BNR does not think the file is a valid format. If you are trying to render with Frame 0 - try using Frame 1 instead.


    Q: I'm having trouble getting BNR to render the Scene First in First out in the Professional Version?
    A: Open the Professional Preferences panel,Please select FIFO check box. If you not satisfied with result behavior,
    Please select Override Percentages with... check box and put 100 for all of three field 'Low,Normal,and High Max RenderNodes'.


    Q: I've installed the BNR Controller and BNR Client and set the correctly IP Address for the Controller in the Client - but it doesn't connect?
    A: Please confirm you are not running a Firewall on the Controller machine or Client machines. BNR uses Socket Ports 5600-5699, 6600-6625, 7600-7610.
    If you want to run a Firewall on these machines - Please open these ports for Local TCPIP traffic.


    Q: I'm running the BNR Controller an a Windows 2003 with SP1 and the Rendernodes are taking a long time to connect.
    A: Windows 2003 with SP1 added a change to the Socket message size - Please install the HotFix 898060 to resolve this issue.



    Q: I Don't understand the Priority system in BNR - Can you explain how this works.

    A: There are 2 factors that control the Priority
    1. Priority Level = Low, Normal, High, Take Over
    2. Priority Order = 1-32757

    A Scene with 'Level: High' will run before a Scene with 'Level: Normal'
    A Scene with 'Level: Normal' will run before a Scene with 'Level: Low'
    A Scene with 'Level: Take Over' is a special level -that can be used to Take over all the rendernodes - for emergency jobs.

    Now inside each 'Priority Level' the scenes will run in the 'Priority Order' So:
    A Scene with 'Level: Normal' and 'Order: 1' will run before 'Level: Normal' and 'Order: 2'

    The FIFO setting in Options->Configure Priority is used to set the increase the Priority Order each time you add a scene
    to the queue. (FIFO - First in First out)


    Please see Tree View below for a visual map of how this works:
     



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    LightWave FAQ:

    Q: Do I need to setup Screamernet before I can use BNR with LightWave?
    A: No, BNR will set this up for you with the Automatic setup feature. All you have to do is install BNR on the same machine that you have Lightwave installed on and you must have a shared network directory that all your machines can access, BNR will do the rest!.


    Q: Does the LightWave option use the LWSN -2 or LWSN -3 on the render
     nodes?
    A: I'm using the LWSN -2 option to give BNR more control over the render nodes. And this also gives me the ability to not have to reload the Scenes each time it renders a frame(s). However with Custom Batch Scenes you can specify any executable as a render application and feed it the relevant information.


    Q: I keep getting LWSN crashes with a Texture sequence in my scene - How do I fix this?
    A: Make sure you are only using 1 thread during rendering. 
    In the lw3.cfg file make sure the 'RenderThreads ?' is set to 'RenderThreads 1'

    Q: SasLite doesn't seem to be working with BNR?
    A: SasLite does not support the ScreamerNet Rendering -
    Please check: http://www.worley.com/saslite.html


    Q: Shadow Designer 2 doesn't seem to be working with BNR?
    A: Shadow Designer 2 (http://www.evasion3d.com/sd_lw_intro.html) will work with LWSN - but you must turn OFF the preview of the shadow map. If you left this setting on -it will crash LWSN.

    This plugin is located in the surfaces and the processing tab. 
    Uncheck the 'Enable Preview' in the processing tab.




    Q: The render shells are not displaying any information on the RenderNodes.  It only displays: "LightWave x86 ScreamerNet Module (Build" then nothing else?
    A: When you enable the Lightwave 8 Error checking the output is captured to a file to check for errors. Please turn off the LW8 Error checking in the
    Controller (Options-> Preferences)


    Q: On a XP rendernode LWSN crashed because of a plugin issue - but BNR didn't catch it?
    A: BNR can catch LWSN problems on XP machines - but you must have the 'Error reporting' disabled.
    Open the System in the Control Panel
    On the Advanced tab, check 'Error Reporting'






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    Maya FAQ:

    Q: I am having trouble getting BNR to verify the frames with Maya?
    Frame(1) not found!
    Scene:maya_test
    Image:Z:\output\maya_test.0001.gif

    A: BNR requires the Maya scene to be saved with a Frame Ext of 'Name.####.ext'


    Q: Can BNR Read the Render Global from a Maya binary .mb file?
    A: No, Currently BNR can read the Render Globals from the Maya .ma file - but not the .mb file - you will have to set the render settings after you load a .mb file.


    Q: How to I watch the Maya render output window and capture this information?

    A: You can enable the 'Shell Logging' feature on the BNR Client and Turn on the 'Batch logging' in the BNR Scene Properties (Info tab) to view and log the rendering. This will create a Text file in the Scene Frame directory for each frame.
     

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    Messiah Studio FAQ:

    Q: I am having trouble getting BNR to render frames using Messiah Studio?

    A: Messiah Studio needs to be installed Locally on each RenderNode machine. Please make sure you install Messiah Stuido in the same directory on each machine.

     

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    3dsmax FAQ:

    Q: How do I setup BNR to use 3dsmax?

    A: Please review the Quick Start section for 3dsmax.
     

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ButterflyNetRender 4.0 User Guide