Log in to Web Manager (web dashboard) at https://app.garagefarm.net and download our renderBeamer app for you operating system.
Install the renderBeamer app and start it. Once renderBeamer is done with the installation process, you need to choose the default download directory. This path will be used as the main output place for all your renders. Next, just log in using the account ID you received or your account email. Please keep in mind that the app should always be running in the background whenever uploading a project or downloading rendered frames.
Once renderBeamer is installed and you’re logged in, you’ll see the Plugins panel. Plugins installation panel should automatically open after the first renderBeamer startup. You can also open it anytime you need to install additional plugins for your 3D apps.
Here in the plugins panel, you can install plugins that allow you to work with our farm. Once you installed the plugin for your 3D app, you can proceed to the next step.
Open your scene in 3ds Max and prepare it for rendering on a render farm.
Once project is prepared, please locate the renderBeamer menu and hit Beam it up to open the plugin window. In the plugin UI you can prepare your scene for farm rendering.
n the first section of our plugin setup window you can set render quality, prepare GI settings and turn on/off strip image switch. Our plugin automatically reads your current render settings and just mirrors them here, however, if you want to increase the quality – you can also do that here, without opening 3ds Max render settings.
Progressive render limits. You can set the render quality with Pass limit, Time limit or just with Noise level.
Global Illumination setup. As for progressive rendering limits, GI settings are also read from your scene and mirrored here. If you are using UHD cache and got pre-cached GI maps, please remember to turn off the bake switch in our plugin and connect them to your scene using “from file” mode before sending the project to farm.
Strip image mode. It’s designed for rendering high resolution still shots. This is our custom distributed rendering system. If you turn on strip image switch, your scene will be rendered with only one frame. Depending on which settings you choose, this mode creates two or three jobs – GI cache, render and merge. If you already have pre-cached GI, you can turn off the bake switch, and connect your GI map in “from file” mode (for UHD cache). GI map will be uploaded with your scene and used for rendering. Turning off bake will force our plugin to forward 2 jobs to farm render queue – render and merge. When the bake switch is on (which is the default setup) you will receive 3 jobs – GI cache, render and merge. Still Image mode renders your scene with “strips” (horizontal or vertical render regions). After the strip render jobs are completed, strips are then automatically stitched to the final resolution frame in a merge job. Next to the bake switch you can select how many render regions you want.
Once you set quality controls, GI setup and eventually strips rendering, you can proceed to the second part of the plugin – Camera and render range settings. Here you can see all your renderable cameras. When you have multi-camera scenes, you can set multiple frame ranges for each camera all at once. Each camera in the scene will be rendered as a separate render job. If you want to test your scene, you should put some render step value in the camera frame ranges. For example, if a scene timeline is 1 to 100 frames, you can test it by putting s10 at the end of time value – 0to100s10. Once the test is rendered, you can then resume the job to render full range in web dashboard without the need to upload the scene again.
At the bottom of plugin UI you can see Image file format options with Overwrite ext switch. By default, your output format is read from your scene. If you want to change it, you can do it by ticking Overwrite ext switch and then selecting your desired format from the list.
The last option is New project name. This option should be used only when you’re working on a new scene (with new assets) from the same project directory. Otherwise, please leave this switch OFF. With this switch inactive, our plugin will not reupload any previously uploaded assets linked to the project.
At this point, your scene is ready to send to farm.
Once our plugin completes the scene export, your project will be redirected to renderBeamer to be uploaded. renderBeamer is a standalone uploader/downloader application that works in conjunction with our plugins. Simply put, it takes care of the file transfers.
After the scene has been fully uploaded, the app will show you a window with a direct link to your scene on Web Manager (web dashboard). To continue just use click here to submit job button. If for some reason you closed the window with the link or it didn’t work, don’t worry, you can locate your project in the web dashboard and submit your scene by clicking on the scene file later (more on that in the next step). You can also copy link to clipboard and manually paste it into your web browser.
Now that your project is uploaded you will need to follow the final step - creating and submitting a job to render farm. Web Manager is where all your projects and render jobs reside.
If you followed the link generated earlier by renderBeamer, you will now see the job submission window with several fields and settings. If you didn’t follow the link or it didn’t work, you can do it manually by locating your project in the Projects panel, finding the scene file within the project folder (in your folder structure look for the folder called “data”, i.e. Project_name/data/SceneName.max), and clicking on it to open the job window.
You can choose between three priorities when submitting a job: High, Medium, and Low (more info on Pricing page and FAQ page). You can also view the current queue on the farm, which should help you inform your decision about selecting the priority.
After giving your render settings a final check and choosing your preferred priority hit Submit to add your job to the render queue. If you’re a first time user, you will have received $25 worth of credit to test out our service. The credits should be enough to run a few test jobs and get you familiar with the service.
When the job has started rendering, you can check the real-time progress of currently processed frames. To do that, just select the render job from the main project list and then click the arrow on the top right side to open the progress panel.
The progress panel will show its content only when any of the jobs is selected. The panel is divided into 3 sections.
Active frames - it shows currently rendering frames. When a frame finishes, it is moved to the second section Done frames. If you select any frame in the Done frames list, you can then access the render output process log in the bottom section called Process results.
Each frame that has completed rendering is downloaded automatically to your local drive to a directory you selected in the renderBeamer application. If you’re not sure where your download folder is located, you can double check it or change it in renderBeamer’s settings (click on the cogwheel). Also, make sure you have auto download turned on to get the frames downloaded as soon as they are available. If this box is unchecked, you will have to click on each job in Beamer's "downloads" tab, and manually download the frames.
If you prefer more control over what to download and when, you can also download your frames manually. To do that, just turn off auto download switch in renderBeamer settings and go to the “downloads” tab. Next, select the desired render output using a checkbox, and click the download button.
This kind of workflow will download all rendered frames for the selected job or jobs. However, renderBeamer also gives you an option to download individual frames. To do that, you need to use the list files function under RMB.
Once files for the selected job are listed, just roll down the list and select the files you’d like to download using checkboxes. Next, use the same download button.
Once your frames are downloaded, you can use open directory option under RMB to open the folder where frames are saved.
When you use up all your trial credits, you’ll need to charge your account to continue using the service. Please note that when your balance goes below $0, you won’t be able to download rendered frames or start new render jobs. You can make payments in the Billing panel in Web Manager. We accept debit cards, credit cards, PayPal and DotPay payments.
If your rendering needs are high or you plan to render regularly, please make sure to check out our volume discounts.
You can talk to the GarageFarm.NET’s tech team any time of the day, any day of the week. We’re here to help you get started, answer your questions, and assist you in any way. Don’t hesitate to give us a shout.
You can contact us through our live chat accessible in the web dashboard or our desktop app when you log in to your account or message us here through the guest chat.
We also recommend checking out our FAQ page which answers most of the questions new users have.
Log in to Web Manager (web dashboard) at https://app.garagefarm.net and download our renderBeamer app for you operating system.
Install the renderBeamer app and start it. Once renderBeamer is done with the installation process, you need to choose the default download directory. This path will be used as the main output place for all your renders. Next, just log in using the account ID you received or your account email. Please keep in mind that the app should always be running in the background whenever uploading a project or downloading rendered frames.
Once renderBeamer is installed and you’re logged in, you’ll see the Plugins panel. Plugins installation panel should automatically open after the first renderBeamer startup. You can also open it anytime you need to install additional plugins for your 3D apps.
Here in the plugins panel, you can install plugins that allow you to work with our farm. Once you installed the plugin for your 3D app, you can proceed to the next step.
Open your scene in 3ds Max and prepare it for rendering on a render farm.
Once your project is prepared, please locate the renderBeamermenu and hit Beam it up to open the plugin window. In the plugin GUI you’ll need to finalize the scene setup using one of the available render modes (Render as is, Full animation, Camera animation, Brute force animation, Still image). Each render mode is specifically designed for a different kind of scene setup, so please make sure that you select a mode suitable for the type of scene you’re going to render. This is crucial because each mode uses different GI and render settings and so selecting an inadequate mode will result in incorrect rendering
You can read more about the importance of testing and ways to estimate the render cost and time in our FAQ.
Once you selected the plugin mode, you can now continue the workflow to the second part of the setup window – the camera and frame range setup. When you have multi-camera scenes, you can set multiple frame ranges for each camera all at once. The same kind of workflow goes for Still Image mode. Each camera in the scene will be rendered as a separate render job including a GI caching procedure, scene rendering and merging job (applies to strip mode). If you want to test your scene, just put some render step value in the camera frame ranges. For example, if a scene timeline is 0 to 100 frames, you can test it by putting s10 at the end of time value – 0to100s10, thereby making the job render every 10th frame.Once the test is rendered, you can then resume the job to render full range in your web dashboard without the need to upload the scene again.
Once you set all your cameras and frame ranges, you can proceed to the last part of the plugin settings. This settings group is mostly a reflection of what you see in V-Ray settings plus output formats from the 3ds Max render setup.
Dynamic memory limit – This option allows you to set RAM utilization border for V-Ray geometry and pre-processing. By default, it’s set to 28GB (28000). We strongly suggest leaving this setting at a default value unless your scene is really big with tons of additional xrefs or V-Ray proxies.
Bucket size –It’s set to 32×32 by default. If you are using 4k+ resolution, you can increase the size of render buckets (to something like 64×64), but please keep in mind that if a scene contains a lot of reflection or refraction materials, and the bucket size is too big, some buckets may “hang” on calculating the most reflective (or transparent) objects. That’s why we strongly suggest leaving the 32×32 setting as buckets, with 32×32 size are the most common for 1080p and similar resolutions.
Use Frame Buffer / Use Raw Image / Use Split Channels – these 3 switches are just on/off settings for 3ds Max + V-Ray outputs. By default, Use Frame Buffer should always be turned on. That’s because when using V-Ray the main output,the image and format are saved from the V-Ray frame buffer and not the 3ds Max main output. You can use Use Raw Image to turn on the multi-layer exr (or .vrimg) saving option.The Use split channels switch works in conjunction with Use frame buffer. It forces V-Ray to save main outputs with its default setting – separated from the main RGB channel and Alpha.
Use camera path Irradiance map/Light Cache – This switch is just a reflection of the GI settings. Our plugin reads those switches from your current render setup, so if you don’t want to change them, just leave this setting as it is.
Below that you can select output formats for the V-Ray output and 3ds Max main output. By default, selection lists are off. That’s because plugin reads those settings and just forwards them with the scene. If you want to change your V-Ray or 3ds Max output format, you need to turn on Overwrite extension switch.
Please keep in mind that turning on “Overwrite extension” will force both outputs modules to save them in a default setup. So, for example. if you are using some internal settings for output (like TIFF48Bit with alpha or similar setups for .exr outputs) we strongly suggest leaving the “Overwrite extension” switch off. Otherwise, just turn it on and select something like “PNG” for V-Ray image file format and “JPG” for Max image file format.
V-Ray buffer gamma override – It’s off by default. This switch should be used ONLY if you need different gamma for V-Ray frame buffer and V-Ray RAW image outputs.
Below all the main output formats configurations you can find the V-Ray scene image file output. This selection list works along with the send .vrscene switch. You won’t be able to select output format from this list until send as .vrscene is on. This selection list is for rendering 3ds Max scenes as .vrscenes. You can do that by turning on the send as .vrscene switch. This option forces V-Ray to export the scene to V-Ray standalone. This can be used in various situations. For instance, when a 3ds Max scene is really big, or when most of the scene is compromised of V-Ray objects, or V-Ray proxies and similar solutions.More importantly, in most cases rendering a .vrscene (V-Ray standalone scene) is significantly faster than rendering a .max file.
Some of 3ds Max’s plugins may not be compatible with V-Ray standalone rendering. Especially plugins like scatters, or deformers/generators. Ideally, please change those kind of objects to geometry before using the “send as .vrscene” switch.
merge XRef – This switch works similarly to the 3ds Max “merge object” function. Once it’s on, it will force 3ds Max to merge all external objects into one scene. This switch can be used when your scene contains many external x-refs scenes in different directories and network paths. Also, using .max scenes with merged x-refs makes the rendering on the farm faster and more stable because there’s no need for loading & reloading those assets.
New project name – This option should be used only when you’re working on a new scene (with new assets) from the same project directory. Otherwise, please leave this switch OFF. With this switch inactive, our plugin will not reupload any previously uploaded assets linked to the project.
Our plugin automatically checks assets connected to the scene, so as long as you keep your scenes in one Project directory (e.g. C:\MyProject\Scene_1.max & \Scene_2.max and so on) your assets will be uploaded only once. If you move your .max scene to a parent folder – our plugin will treat it as new project and so will upload all assets as if they were new.
Once you’re done with the mode selection, camera range settings and render setup, just click the Send to farm button. Our plugin will create a temporary directory next to your .max file and will start preparing your project.It will then copy all connected assets and relink them. Due to some network drive limitations of Windows and copy/move/rename operations on them, we advise against using network drives. Next, our 3ds Max plugin will check the farm .dll list with what you have locally. If there are any incompatible .dlls (3ds Max plugins) you will see a prompt with Continue and Cancel options. If those missing plugins (.dlls) can be skipped, just continue with the process. If those missing plugins are crucial in your project (and are not installed on the farm), please contact us. After the complete project preparation process (depending on scene and assets size it can take several minutes) our 3ds Max plugin will redirect all data to the renderBeamer application which will take care of the file compression and upload processes.
There’s one rule you should remember – all outputs, settings, and file formats from 3ds Max Common tab, V-Ray Frame Buffer, and Render Elements settings are inherited by our plugin settings as well as the scene which is uploaded to the farm.
If you want to render the scene the same way as it is set up to render on your computer, just skip the ‘Render settings’ part of the plugin setup, select the render mode, frame range and cameras setup and click the Send to Farm button.
However, if you only want to change the output settings for the purpose of rendering on the farm, you don’t have to modify your scene’s settings every time. You can use our plugin output settings which will overwrite the settings of the scene you are uploading.
In the diagram below you can see how the scene’s output settings are inherited by our plugin.
As you can see all output formats and V-Ray frame buffer options are inherited by the plugin settings and can be modified if desired.
Separate render channels is inherited by plugin’s Use Split Channels option
V-Ray raw image file is inherited by plugin’s Use Raw Image option
Enable built-in frame buffer is inherited by plugin’s Use Frame Buffer option
3ds Max main output format (from Common tab) is inherited by plugin’s Max image file format
V-Ray frame buffer output format (from Common tab) is inherited by plugin’s V-Ray image file format
Let’s take a look at several things you should keep in mind.
The behavior of 3ds Max and V-Ray Render Elements (even when you render on your computer):
The behavior of our plugin:
Please make sure that the frames render correctly on your computer with given setup before uploading a scene to the farm.
You can read more about various output setup scenarios in a scene and our plugin in the last chapter of this guide: Extra: Scene and plugin output settings (V-Ray)
Once our plugin completes the scene export, your project will be redirected to renderBeamer to be uploaded. renderBeamer is a standalone uploader/downloader application that works in conjunction with our plugins. Simply put, it takes care of the file transfers.
After the scene has been fully uploaded, the app will show you a window with a direct link to your scene on Web Manager (web dashboard). To continue just use click here to submit job button. If for some reason you closed the window with the link or it didn’t work, don’t worry, you can locate your project in the web dashboard and submit your scene by clicking on the scene file later (more on that in the next step). You can also copy link to clipboard and manually paste it into your web browser.
Now that your project is uploaded you will need to follow the final step - creating and submitting a job to render farm. Web Manager is where all your projects and render jobs reside.
If you followed the link generated earlier by renderBeamer, you will now see the job submission window with several fields and settings. If you didn’t follow the link or it didn’t work, you can do it manually by locating your project in the Projects panel, finding the scene file within the project folder (in your folder structure look for the folder called “data”, i.e. Project_name/data/SceneName.max), and clicking on it to open the job window.
You can choose between three priorities when submitting a job: High, Medium, and Low (more info on Pricing page and FAQ page). You can also view the current queue on the farm, which should help you inform your decision about selecting the priority.
After giving your render settings a final check and choosing your preferred priority hit Submit to add your job to the render queue. If you’re a first time user, you will have received $25 worth of credit to test out our service. The credits should be enough to run a few test jobs and get you familiar with the service.
When the job has started rendering, you can check the real-time progress of currently processed frames. To do that, just select the render job from the main project list and then click the arrow on the top right side to open the progress panel.
The progress panel will show its content only when any of the jobs is selected. The panel is divided into 3 sections.
Active frames - it shows currently rendering frames. When a frame finishes, it is moved to the second section Done frames. If you select any frame in the Done frames list, you can then access the render output process log in the bottom section called Process results.
Each frame that has completed rendering is downloaded automatically to your local drive to a directory you selected in the renderBeamer application. If you’re not sure where your download folder is located, you can double check it or change it in renderBeamer’s settings (click on the cogwheel). Also, make sure you have auto download turned on to get the frames downloaded as soon as they are available. If this box is unchecked, you will have to click on each job in Beamer's "downloads" tab, and manually download the frames.
If you prefer more control over what to download and when, you can also download your frames manually. To do that, just turn off auto download switch in renderBeamer settings and go to the “downloads” tab. Next, select the desired render output using a checkbox, and click the download button.
This kind of workflow will download all rendered frames for the selected job or jobs. However, renderBeamer also gives you an option to download individual frames. To do that, you need to use the list files function under RMB.
Once files for the selected job are listed, just roll down the list and select the files you’d like to download using checkboxes. Next, use the same download button.
Once your frames are downloaded, you can use open directory option under RMB to open the folder where frames are saved.
When you use up all your trial credits, you’ll need to charge your account to continue using the service. Please note that when your balance goes below $0, you won’t be able to download rendered frames or start new render jobs. You can make payments in the Billing panel in Web Manager. We accept debit cards, credit cards, PayPal and DotPay payments.
If your rendering needs are high or you plan to render regularly, please make sure to check out our volume discounts.
You can talk to the GarageFarm.NET’s tech team any time of the day, any day of the week. We’re here to help you get started, answer your questions, and assist you in any way. Don’t hesitate to give us a shout.
You can contact us through our live chat accessible in the web dashboard or our desktop app when you log in to your account or message us here through the guest chat.
We also recommend checking out our FAQ page which answers most of the questions new users have.
Here are some example scenarios that show how our plugin output options work.
3ds Max main output: turned ON
V-Ray outputs: Enable built-in frame buffer: OFF / Separate render channels: OFF / V-Ray raw image file: OFF
Render Elements: ON – With NO paths and format set
Plugin’s Overwrite extension switch: Not used
That’s the default 3ds Max setup – with no V-Ray Frame Buffer options used.
In this case, the plugin takes the 3ds Max main output setting from the scene (it’s set to .JPG). Therefore, all files will render to .JPG
After complete rendering, output files will look like this:
As you can see, everything is rendered correctly – the same way as it was set in the scene before running the plugin.
3ds Max main output: turned ON
V-Ray outputs: Enable built-in frame buffer: OFF / Separate render channels: OFF / V-Ray raw image file: OFF
Render Elements: ON – With paths and output format set
Plugin’s Overwrite extension switch: Not used
However, if you use the Overwrite extension switch (and change the 3ds Max main output image file format to a different one – (PNG for example),it will also change the extension for Render Elements!
After complete rendering, the output files will look like this:
3ds Max main output renders to JPG, and Render Elements render to TIF as it was set in the scene.
3ds Max main output: turned ON
V-Ray outputs: Enable built-in frame buffer:OFF / Separate render channels: OFF / V-Ray raw image file: OFF
Render Elements: ON – With paths and output format set.
Plugin’s Overwrite extension switch: Turned ON for 3ds Max main output.
In this scenario, 3ds Max Main Output setup and Render Elements render setup stays the same as in Case 2 example.
In this case, only the plugin output settings will be set in a different way – we will use the Overwrite extension switch in our plugin. With this setting used, the scene outputs formats will be overwritten with a new one (.TGA.)
To select a new format for 3ds Max main output, you need to use the Max image file format drop down menu.
That’s how Overwrite extension works – it’s overwriting current selection to a new one.
After complete rendering, the output files will look like this:
As you can see, everything was overwritten to our selected format – TGA in this case.
Please keep in mind that CASE 1 – 3 scenarios are “dedicated” to users who are not using V-Ray built-in frame buffer in any form – neither standard VFB with Separate render channels switch, nor Raw image file saving options.
3ds Max main output: turned ON
V-Ray outputs: Enable built-in frame buffer: ON / Separate render channels: ON / V-Ray raw image file: OFF
Render Elements: ON – With paths and output format set.
Plugin’s Overwrite extension switch:Not used
This is the most common setup for rendering with 3ds Max and V-Ray Frame Buffer. All the standard outputs are turned on.
So, we’ve got 3ds Max main output set to JPG, V-Ray built-in frame buffer turned on and set to PNG with standard, correct setup in Separate render channels ( the output path and the format are set), and some Render Elements added with the format set to JPG
The plugin setup window should look like this:
As you can see, the plugin reads all current scene output settings. Use Frame Buffer option is turned on and the same thing goes for Use Split Channels. For V-Ray frame buffer file format, the output formats are already set to PNG and for 3ds Max main output format to .JPG.
Since the Overwrite extension option in plugin’s settings isn’t used, the output formats will render as set in the scene.
So, we got the 3ds max main output rendered to JPG and the rest of the outputs (including Render Elements) to PNG.
3ds Max main output: turned ON
V-Ray outputs: Enable built-in frame buffer: ON / Separate render channels: ON / V-Ray raw image file: ON
Render Elements: ON – With output paths and format set
Plugin’s Overwrite extension switch:Used on 3ds Max main output and on V-Ray built-in frame buffer output
This is yet another type of standard render output settings.
In this example 3ds Max main output is set to JPG, V-Ray built-in frame buffer is turned on with all options set – Separate render channels is set to PNG and Use raw image file to EXR.
Render Elements – which are set like in Case 4 example – are set along with 3ds Max main output to JPG, but in “real world” – the output settings are controlled by V-Ray frame buffer output format.
In this case, we want to get all the outputs in the same format, let’s say we want TIFs everywhere + additional output with RAW (EXR).
As you can see, we are using overwrite extension (to .TIF) in both outputs – 3ds Max main output & V-Ray frame buffer.
That type of setting will give us the certainty that all outputs are rendered to selected TIF in this case. Also, Use Raw Image is used and it will render to the format you have selected in your V-Ray Raw Image settings.
The scene has V-Ray Raw image output configured already, and we won’t overwrite it – even when the overwrite plugin option is turned on. V-Ray RAW buffer is more complicated, so we decided to not add an overwrite option to it.
After complete rendering you should receive files like this:
As you can see, we got all 3ds Max and V-Ray outputs saved as TIF and one additional output from V-Ray raw image file – EXR.