New to Rendering Servers

[trailblzr27]

I'm looking to build my own video rendering server.  Something similar to what Linus made a few years back.  However I have NO clue what software to use.  Can someone point me in the right direction.

 

This is trailblzr27, signing off.

[scottyseng]

6 minutes ago, trailblzr27 said:

I'm looking to build my own video rendering server.  Something similar to what Linus made a few years back.  However I have NO clue what software to use.  Can someone point me in the right direction.

 

This is trailblzr27, signing off.

Well, a helpful start would be a basic budget. More than anything though, what software do you actually use? 3D rendering? Video Encoding / Rendering?

 

You need to know what you want to render before anyone can recommend what to use. Some software have render slave systems built in (like render nodes for Vray).

[trailblzr27]

Budget would be about $10,000 (don't ask).  But possibly a bit more.  And it would be mostly for video encoding and rendering.  The hope is have myself and a friend would be able to work in premiere's timeline while videos are rendering in encoding on a separate server.

 

Like I said, the software is what I'm struggling with... and maybe the software configuration X)

 

I've never done something like this before, and my friends giving me the ability too.

[Jarsky]

Thing is though....is there actually a benefit to doing this for 2 users?

Or would you be better off building 2 x ~$3000 workstations, and $2000 worth of 10gbit storage + networking? 

[trailblzr27]

Quote

Thing is though....is there actually a benefit to doing this for 2 users?

Or would you be better off building 2 x ~$3000 workstations, and $2000 worth of 10gbit storage + networking? 

 

That is something I'm still trying to decide on.  I don't disagree with you.  It would be cheaper in the short term.  But in the long term the hope is that as more people come in we can get them, say, a macbook pro (I know, I know).  As well as a premiere license.  Then they can go to town working on something else once they're finished.  While the video is rendering and encoding the video on a separate server.

[Nils3D]

I suggest building a Corona / Vray  or anything 3D related farm, that you can then make cash out of. I built my own renderfarm for Keyshot for example.
http://www.clusterfarm.net

[Pixel5]

2 hours ago, trailblzr27 said:

 

That is something I'm still trying to decide on.  I don't disagree with you.  It would be cheaper in the short term.  But in the long term the hope is that as more people come in we can get them, say, a macbook pro (I know, I know).  As well as a premiere license.  Then they can go to town working on something else once they're finished.  While the video is rendering and encoding the video on a separate server.

that sounds more like a dream then something that would actually work, you would need the full source files on both machines and a way to transfer what was being done by the editor to render on the server.

 

also editing on a freaking macbook is not really efficient in any way, due to screen size and computing power for live previews.

 

get proper editing workstations and have people working where they should be, at work.

[GDRRiley]

ok so lets be more realistic get something like this https://pcpartpicker.com/list/sKPNM8 

and then get threadripper boxes (ex https://pcpartpicker.com/list/dLVyM8) for your editor

[jkirkcaldy]

You may be better having a server / workstation dedicated to transcoding the video files before the editors touch them which is the industry standard way of working. I know you said premiere, but in Avid (which is the industry standard for film and TV) you have to transcode all the footage before the editors can even begin working on it, by doing it this way you get much better performance during the day to day editing than any render server will give you.

 

A proper workflow will be much more beneficial than $10000 of server hardware. I would recommend something like:

- Footage comes in

- Make backups

-Ingest/transcode the footage on a dedicated non editing machine

-Store footage on a (FAST) shared server

-editors use the transcoded footage from the shared storage

-when finished either do a Same as Source export - so if you transcoded your footage to DNx120 export to the same codec and same settings (should be really quick)

-use your ingest machine to transcode to delivery friendly files. i.e. h.264 etc. 

 

 

This should work fine for you. Also don't build your own machines, there is a reason companies exist selling purely video editing servers/workstations. If you do decide to build your own storage, go for more lower capacity drives as you will benefit more from the performance that these will give you in a proper raid array. (Also use a proper RAID array, not software arrays that store a file on a single disk, they are great for file storage but not for when you have multiple editors wanting access to the same files at once.)

 

Get yourself a couple of HPZ820/840's as these are specifically designed for editing and workstation use. 

 

You should be able to do everything above with premiere and adobe media encoder, BUT Premiere does not play well on a network, it is fine for smaller files and projects but when they start getting larger it can grind down to almost unworkable conditions. Look into avid, they do a subscription no that is similar in price to adobe, then use blackmagic fusion (free) for gfx. This will give you a much better workflow and is way more scale-able than premiere.