Mastering LightWave 3D ScreamerNet LWSN

Introduction | Background Render | Batch Render | Network Render | Internet Render | Config File | Command Line

Introduction

LightWave 3D ScreamerNet LWSN allows standalone, batch and network rendering across multiple platforms including both Mac OS X and Windows. I used a Mac OS X LightWave 3D ScreamerNet LWSN render farm set up as outlined in this DreamLight Insight to render my award-winning LightWave 3D animated short film: BlastOff!™ as well as continuing production on my 3D animated Web series – The Autiton Archives™, which served as the basis for my book: Creating a 3D Animated CGI Short.

I wrote the original version of this white paper – Mastering LightWave 3D ScreamerNet LWSN for Mac OS X from the many notes that I took as I encountered, isolated and worked through various issues when setting up our first DreamLight in-house render farm way back on LightWave 7.5 (and I’ve periodically updated it through each subsequent version of LightWave). Back then there was no documentation for the Mac version of LightWave 3D ScreamerNet LWSN and it worked differently than the PC version so I had to figure most of this out through trial and error. I decided to publish this white paper to help other Macintosh LightWave 3D users avoid some of the frustration that I had encountered. After all, ScreamerNet was named for the speed of network rendering, not for what you do when struggling to set it up… 😉

Starting with LightWave 9 through today, NewTek even based the LightWave 3D ScreamerNet LWSN for Mac OS X chapter of the LightWave 3D manual on previous versions of this white paper.

From the LightWave 3D 2015 User Manual:

The explanation in these docs is mainly written by Mike Scaramozzino from DreamLight and is published here with his kind permission. Mike has spent many years rendering using ScreamerNet and has created a tool to make it all much easier with no use of Terminal required. Visit his site at dreamlight.com and check out the DLI_SNUB-Launcher

Mastering LightWave 3D ScreamerNet LWSN takes you through setting up and using LightWave 3D ScreamerNet LWSN for background standalone rendering, batch rendering and basic network rendering with the built-in network controller in LightWave Layout.

It then goes further covering advanced network rendering with our more advanced network render controller, DreamLight Constellation and our LWSN configuration and launch utility, DLI_SNUB-Launcher. We created these cross-platform tools to run our in-house LightWave 3D ScreamerNet LWSN render farm. It also covers advanced topics such as using SharePoints and Dropbox to share your Content Directory with other users and even harnessing render nodes across the Internet.

This DreamLight Insight is much more than a simple quick-start tutorial. While it includes how to step-by-step tutorials, it goes beyond that and includes an in-depth, detailed discussion of all aspects of LightWave 3D ScreamerNet LWSN rendering on both Mac OS X and Windows. This will allow you to really master LightWave 3D ScreamerNet LWSN by fully understanding what’s going on under the hood. When you understand how it all works, it’s far easier to troubleshoot and keep your own render farm up and rendering smoothly.

If you find this LightWave 3D ScreamerNet LWSN white paper and tutorials useful, please support our continuing efforts by registering DreamLight Constellation or registering DLI_SNUB-Launcher, by purchasing our Award-winning 3D CGI Short Film – BlastOff!™ Special Edition DVD, by purchasing some of our BlastOff! Merchandise or award-winning DLI SNUB Launcher logo merchandise or by buying my book: Creating a 3D Animated CGI Short.

Thanks for your continued support!

Enjoy,

Michael Scaramozzino – LightWave 3D Artist Profile
Author of Creating a 3D Animated CGI Short

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Background Standalone Mode (-3) Rendering with LightWave 3D ScreamerNet LWSN Tutorial

• Download and Install the FREE LITE DreamLight Constellation, DLI_SNUB-Launcher & DLI SuperBalls content
• Setting up the ScreamerNet lwsn Config File
• Setting up the Scene for ScreamerNet LWSN Rendering
• Drag-and-drop Rendering using the FREE Lite Version of DreamLight SNUB-Launcher as a Droplet
• Manually Rendering the Scene with ScreamerNet LWSN using Terminal/Command

Batch Mode (-2) Rendering with LightWave 3D ScreamerNet LWSN Tutorial

• Download and Install the FREE LITE DreamLight Constellation, DLI_SNUB-Launcher & DLI SuperBalls content
• Setting up the ScreamerNet LWSN Config File
• Drag-and-drop Launching LWSN Node with DreamLight SNUB-Launcher
• Drag-and-drop Batch Rendering with DreamLight Constellation
• Manual Setup for Stock Built-in LightWave 3D ScreamerNet LWSN Rendering
  • Manually Setting up the Scene for ScreamerNet LWSN Rendering
  • Manually Launching ScreamerNet LWSN using Terminal/Command
  • Manually Rendering the Batch with LightWave 3D Layout’s Built-in Network Render Panel

Network Mode (-2) Rendering with LightWave 3D ScreamerNet LWSN Tutorial

• Download and Install the FREE LITE DreamLight Constellation, DLI_SNUB-Launcher & DLI SuperBalls Content
• Setting up the ScreamerNet lwsn Config File
• Sharing the Content Folder from the Host Computer to the Remote Render Node(s)
• Drag-and-drop Launching LWSN Nodes with DLI_SNUB-Launcher
• Drag-and-drop Network Rendering with DreamLight Constellation
• Manual Setup for Stock Built-in LightWave 3D ScreamerNet LWSN Rendering
  • Manually Setting up the Scene for ScreamerNet LWSN Rendering
  • Manually Launching ScreamerNet LWSN using Terminal/Command
  • Manually Network Rendering with LightWave 3D Layout’s Built-in Network Render Panel

Dropbox Internet Rendering with LightWave 3D ScreamerNet LWSN Tutorial

• Download and Install the FREE LITE DreamLight Constellation, DLI_SNUB-Launcher & DLI SuperBalls Content
• Setting up Dropbox for Internet Rendering
• Setting up the ScreamerNet lwsn Config File
• Drag-and-drop Launching LWSN Nodes with DLI_SNUB-Launcher
• Drag-and-drop Network Rendering with DreamLight Constellation
• Advanced Internet Rendering Through a Secure ssh Tunnel and vnc Screen Sharing

Managing LightWave 3D ScreamerNet LWSN Config Files

• Creating and Updating LightWave 3D ScreamerNet LWSN Config Files
• LightWave 3D Config Folder Path, Defaults and Locations
  • Default LightWave 3D Config Folder Path on Mac OS X
  • Default LightWave 3D Config Folder Path on Windows
• Custom LightWave 3D Config Folder
• Config Settings for LightWave 3D ScreamerNet LWSN
  • Content Directory
    • Using a Separate Content Folder for Each Project
    • Using a Single Common Content Folder for Multiple Projects
    • Setting the Content Directory in the Config File
  • Command Directory
    • Setting the Command Directory in the Config File
  • Default Segment Memory
    • Setting the Default Segment Memory in the Config File
  • Multithreading / RenderThreads
    • Setting the Multithreading / RenderThreads in the Config File

LightWave 3D ScreamerNet LWSN Command Line Parameters

• Interactively Building ScreamerNet UB Command Lines with DreamLight SNUB-Launcher
• General LightWave 3D Command Line Syntax
  • Hub Switch
  • Command Line Path Parameters
    • -c Config Directory
    • -p Plugin Directory
• General ScreamerNet LWSN Command Line Syntax
  • Rendering Mode
  • -c Config Directory
    
  • -d Content Directory
  • -l Log File
  • -q Quiet Mode
  • -t Time Check Interval
• Standalone Mode (-3) LWSN Command Line Syntax
  • Scene File
  • Render Frame Range
• Batch/Network Mode (-2) LWSN Command Line Syntax
  • Job File
  • Ack File

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Introduction | Background Render | Batch Render | Network Render | Internet Render | Config File | Command Line