LightWave 3D [7.5] FAQs
ScreamerNet
Setting up ScreamerNet on a Macintosh System
Here is an overview on setting up LightWave ScreamerNet
on a Macintosh System for OS9 OR OSX.
-
Decide how many of the machines on your network
you are going to use and tally the total number
of CPUs that are going to be involved.
-
On the Host Machine go into you LightWave folder
and the go under Programs.
-
Look for a file called LWSN and create a duplicate
of this file for the number of CPUs that will be
involved in the network render. Rename these duplicates
so that they DO NOT contain any SPACES or SPECIAL
characters in their names. (for example: node1
, node2 ...)
-
Now go to the first machine that will be a Node
for the ScreamerNet. Acess the mapped version of
the Host drive and goto the LightWave folder then
got to Programs.
-
5)Double-click on one of the LWSN duplicates that
you made earlier. In the argument field enter the
following:
-2 "Macintosh HD:Applications:LightWave:Programs:JOB1" "Macintosh
HD:Applications:LightWave:Programs:ACK1"
This argument will be the same for all the Nodes
with the exception of the JOB and ACK numbers,
which you will increment as you go from Node to
Node. In the example above Quotes were used to
enclose lines with folder or file names that had
space in them. The statement also assumes that
LightWave is installed in your Applications folder
be sure to make the appropriate changes for your
system.
-
Hit OK, the window should stay open and begin
running some script basically stating the version
of the render module and stating that it CANNOT
OPEN JOB file.
-
Repeat Step 5 and 6 for the rest of your machines.
Remember to use a duplicat of the LWSN for each
CPU you are using. Which means you will have two
of these running on your Dual Processor machines.
-
Go back to your host computer and remember to
leave all the nodes running. Launch LightWave Layout.
-
Under Rendering goto NETWORK RENDERING.
-
In the Network Rendering panel set the COMMAND
DIRECTORY. This will need to aim at the PROGRAMS
folder inside the LightWave folder. Once you set
this it will ask you to reinitialize your screamernet
select YES.
-
All your Nodes should be detected momentarily.
Once detected Click on the ADD SCENE TO LIST button.
Then select the scene you want to render.
-
With your scene queued up click on Screamer Render.
The core of getting a network render set up is understanding
that LWSN (which is located inside your LightWave folder
under Programs) is what allows LightWave to see a machine
as a usable node. The term Node generally means a machine
being used to render frames in Screamernet. This term
is also used to refer to individual processors in a
ScreamerNet for example:
In my network I have:
- 1 single processor G4 machine
- 2 dual processor G4 machines
Altogether I have a potential of 5 Nodes for my ScreamerNet.
Since two of the machines are dual processor machines.
The machine that has LightWave installed will serve
as the Host for the ScreamerNet. It can also serve
as another Node but you may want to avoid that if you
have plenty of other machines in you network to use.
WHERE things are rendered to and WHAT they are saved
as are parsed from the scene file itself. So make sure
you set this up in your Render Options panel before
setting up the ScreamerNet.
REMEMBER SCREAMERNET CAN ONLY RENDER STILL IMAGES.
WHERE things are coming from is dictated by the CONTENT
DIRECTORY you setup the last time you exited the Layout
and is embedded in the Layout Pref file.
You will need to share the HOST drive with the NODE
machines in order to set up the ScreamerNet.
If you are having trouble setting up your network
to share drives please consult you resident Network
Admin, MacHelp, or Apple Support.
Last update: 30.10.2003, 15:38
Author: Gil Triana
