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As 3D rendering evolves, the question of whether to invest in a render farm remains pertinent, especially given the ongoing improvements in real-time rendering technology and local hardware capabilities. Real-time rendering tools have reached a level of sophistication that can rival traditional offline rendering for certain applications. Engines like Unreal Engine and Unity are particularly popular for real-time workflows, providing creators with high-quality, interactive visuals. However, the allure of a render farm persists for many artists and studios, particularly in complex projects requiring fine-tuned realism or high-volume rendering. This article explores the current role of the render farm in the industry, evaluating whether it remains essential in 2024/2025 and identifying who benefits most from these services as rendering needs continue to shift.
The rise of real-time rendering tools has transformed how many creators approach visualization projects, making it tempting to bypass a render farm altogether. Real-time engines can produce nearly photorealistic results, and the quality they deliver is more than adequate for certain applications, such as games, virtual production, and pre-visualization. Modern GPUs also empower creators with impressive rendering capabilities, so it’s no longer necessary to rely on remote servers for every project. But when it comes to high-end 3D productions, a render farm still holds several distinct advantages.
In complex scenes where nuanced lighting or volumetric effects are crucial, a render farm often outshines real-time engines. Real-time rendering tends to perform best in controlled, simplified environments, while intricate lighting setups, detailed particle simulations, and deep global illumination can overload even the most advanced local systems. The render farm excels by allowing these high-level simulations to precompute lighting and textures, which means artists can achieve a level of realism that remains difficult in real-time workflows. In cases where photorealism and subtle detail matter—such as in cinematic productions, product visualizations, and high-stakes architectural renderings—offline rendering via a render farm is still the preferred approach.
In addition, for animation work, a render farm provides an unparalleled advantage by processing multiple frames simultaneously without slowing down an artist’s workflow. Rendering animations in high resolution and consistent quality across hundreds or thousands of frames is a task tailor-made for the render farm. Attempting this on a single workstation, even a powerful one, would not only consume substantial time but also make it challenging to continue working on other tasks while rendering. A render farm offers a way to maintain productivity, providing time-saving benefits that remain highly relevant for time-sensitive productions and complex animations.
High-end VFX and CGI work are also areas where a render farm remains indispensable. VFX-intensive productions require high-speed processing for large datasets, complex shader setups, and multiple layers of compositing that are challenging for real-time engines to manage. For projects with tight deadlines, a render farm can vastly accelerate turnaround times by processing vast amounts of data in parallel. Although real-time tools are rapidly improving, they are not yet equipped to handle the rigorous demands of large-scale CGI and VFX workflows. Ultimately, while real-time rendering has its place, the render farm continues to dominate in environments where quality and computational power are non-negotiable.
Recent advances in both hardware and software have made local rendering increasingly appealing to studios and independent creators. High-performance GPUs, like NVIDIA’s RTX 4090 and AMD’s Radeon RX 7900 XTX, now deliver speeds that rival traditional render farms, while multi-core CPUs provide local setups with more power than ever before. But hardware is only part of the story: modern software innovations are equally transformative.
Today’s 3D software—Blender, Maya, and Cinema 4D—integrates real-time ray tracing, noise reduction algorithms, and optimized memory usage, making it feasible to produce high-quality renders on a single workstation. Tools like Blender’s Cycles and NVIDIA’s OptiX have significantly accelerated workflows with enhanced denoising and ray tracing. Now, artists can preview lighting, shadows, and textures in real time without relying solely on multi-node render farms.
FinalGrade’s video on Cycles X in the Blender 3.0 Branch serves as an example of the continuous advancement of rendering technology:
Upgrading a local setup provides a cost-effective solution for creators working on manageable projects or needing consistent access to rendering power. For these artists, building an in-house setup not only saves on ongoing render farm fees but also grants more control over scheduling and costs. However, the scalability of a local setup is limited. Large studios or teams with multiple simultaneous projects may find a render farm’s flexibility and pay-as-you-go structure more practical, avoiding the substantial upfront costs of in-house infrastructure.
For concept artists and small studios working on single or less intensive projects, a high-performance workstation can handle most rendering tasks efficiently. For larger productions, such as animation studios, where high frame counts and complex lighting setups are the norm, render farms remain essential. Render farms provide redundancy and high capacity, allowing teams to meet demanding production schedules without interruptions caused by local hardware failures or power outages.
Local rendering also demands efficient management of texel density, lighting, and memory resources. In complex scenes, optimizing textures and lighting can prevent bottlenecks, though even real-time engines like Eevee may require several render passes for final output quality. This has led many artists toward a hybrid model: building scenes locally with real-time feedback and offloading final high-resolution renders to the cloud.
This approach maximizes control and flexibility, blending the cost-effectiveness of local rendering with the scalability of cloud services.
With powerful hardware and intelligent software, local rendering has indeed transformed creative possibilities. Yet, the scalability and reliability of render farms keep them relevant, particularly for high-demand projects. For most creators today, balancing local setups with cloud services offers a flexible solution, enabling efficient and scalable rendering that can adapt to any project’s scope and budget.
A render farm is not a universal solution, and its benefits can vary widely depending on the user’s specific needs, project type, and budget. Independent artists and small teams working on detailed projects, such as short films or client work requiring professional quality, can benefit greatly from a render farm. For many freelancers and small studios, the cost of maintaining high-end hardware is prohibitive, and a render farm allows them to achieve professional-grade results without such investments. The ability to render quickly and at a high quality helps smaller teams meet client expectations and deadlines, leveling the playing field with larger studios.
For medium to large studios, a render farm represents a way to free up internal resources and increase productivity. By offloading the rendering process to an external service, studios can prevent bottlenecks and ensure that artists and designers remain focused on creative tasks rather than managing and monitoring renders. A render farm also provides a layer of efficiency for studios that handle multiple projects simultaneously, as it reduces the need to allocate extensive on-premises resources for each project.
In particular, studios with high-quality requirements, such as those in the entertainment and advertising industries, benefit from the flexibility to upscale rendering capacity during peak periods and reduce it when demand is low.
Animation and VFX studios, often dealing with complex visual effects and high-resolution animations, are among the biggest beneficiaries of a render farm. VFX-heavy scenes frequently involve intensive simulations, from particles to fluids, which require significant computational power to achieve realistic results. A render farm expedites these processes by distributing the workload across numerous machines, making it possible to render extensive VFX and CGI sequences quickly and efficiently. For these studios, using a render farm is essential to staying on schedule, especially when dealing with extensive post-production work.
ACupofJoeVFXandAnimation drives home the importance of considering render time and storage when working on such projects, which makes a case for the continued usefulness of a render farm:
Not all creators, however, will see a high return on investment from a render farm. Artists working on simpler projects or low-stakes visualizations may find that local hardware is sufficient. For these cases, real-time engines or even lower-end GPUs can deliver acceptable results without the added cost and complexity of a render farm. Ultimately, whether or not a render farm is beneficial depends on the specific demands of each project, budget considerations, and the level of visual fidelity required.
While a render farm offers numerous advantages, there are instances where its benefits can reach a plateau, especially as local hardware improves and workflows become more optimized. For simpler projects with shorter rendering times, the time and cost savings of using a render farm may be minimal. Many artists are finding that modern GPUs can complete renders quickly enough locally, making it unnecessary to outsource. In these cases, the costs and logistical requirements of using a render farm could outweigh any potential gains.
Another factor in diminishing returns is the complexity of adapting to a render farm’s workflow. For smaller teams or independent artists not accustomed to cloud-based systems, managing files, synchronizing assets, and understanding submission processes can introduce a learning curve that slows down overall productivity. For these users, the simplicity of rendering locally could be preferable, particularly if their projects do not demand high-end rendering power.
In addition, budget constraints play a significant role. For projects where quality standards can afford to be flexible, such as basic animations or non-photorealistic work, the costs associated with a render farm may exceed the benefits. Specialized software or plugin requirements can also limit the efficacy of a render farm; if a project relies on specific configurations not well-supported by the farm, render times may suffer, diminishing the cost-effectiveness of the farm.
Check out Brandon3D's first attempt at using a render farm for a sense of the usage learning curve, cost and render times considered for a project:
The possibility of diminishing returns doesn’t undermine the utility of a render farm; rather, it highlights the importance of considering project scope, deadlines, and available resources. Creators can maximize the benefits of a render farm by carefully selecting which projects to outsource and understanding how to balance in-house capabilities with the advantages of external processing.
A render farm offers more than just processing power, and several factors should be considered when evaluating its value. With the increasing prevalence of cloud-based services, data security and privacy are essential, especially for studios handling proprietary or sensitive content. Render farms with strong encryption and robust data management policies offer an extra layer of security, ensuring that valuable assets are safeguarded during transfer and storage.
Sustainability is another emerging consideration. As more industries commit to environmentally conscious practices, choosing a render farm that employs green energy solutions or has offset initiatives can align with eco-conscious values. Some farms are now offering sustainable energy options or implementing practices to reduce their environmental impact, which can be an appealing feature for studios looking to minimize their carbon footprint.
Cost control tools are also valuable, especially for freelancers and small studios who must carefully manage budgets. A render farm that provides transparent pricing, flexible plans, and real-time cost monitoring can make it easier to control expenses. This transparency allows users to avoid overages and better manage their rendering expenses, which is particularly helpful for project-based freelancers who need to remain within client budgets.
As the landscape of 3D rendering continues to evolve, a render farm retains a crucial place in high-end production pipelines. While advances in real-time rendering and local hardware provide viable alternatives for certain applications, a render farm excels in scenarios demanding high-quality outputs and fast turnaround times. Large studios, animation houses, and VFX-heavy productions stand to benefit most from the scalability and reliability of a render farm, while independent artists and smaller teams may find that local solutions can suffice for their needs.
A render farm is unlikely to become obsolete anytime soon, especially for projects where quality, complexity, and deadline pressures require massive parallel processing power. Real-time engines and local hardware will continue to evolve, but for now, a render farm remains a cornerstone of the industry, offering unique advantages that will likely keep it relevant well into 2025 and beyond.
