VisionStudios

Render Farm

Curtis — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:24:27 +0000

Apple Qmaster Render Farm Setup

Tested Compressor and Qmaster render farm setup.

Here you can look at the settings and configuration of the setup that I am currently using, Nov 29/07

You need to install Compressor and Qmaster on all of the machines that you are going to cluster together.

I have installed Final Cut Studio 2 on all of the machines

You need to have a fast connection to your shared storage

I am running a small render farm using 2x MacPro 2.66 GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon Workstations and 1x Xserve 2 GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon,

The computers are connected together with single Fibre Channel cable to a 10TB Xsan.

I have set the Shared Cluster Storage to a Folder on the Xsan, (volume01/admin/RENDERFARM)

All computers have read and write access to this folder (777).

In System Preferences you configure Apple Qmaster

Here are my settings in setup menu.

I have my workstation (STATION11) setup as Services and Cluster Controller.

Other computers in the cluster

The other client stations are set up to services only.

(Nas01 and Station12)

Here are my advanced settings

I have set my Cluster storrage to /Volumes/volume01/admin/RENDERFARM.

It is set to delete Old files after 1 day.

After you stop sharing you need to reset services before you restart again

Once you stop Qmaster services this button changes to Start Sharing. If you hold down the option key and click on this button it changes to Reset Services. I Reset services on all machines every time I shut down the services. If you don’t do this then often the machines do not show up in Apple Qadministrator > Qmaster Service Browser

Open Apple Qadministrator and check to see if the machines you have set up are showing up in Qmaster Service Browser

If they are not showing up, then Reset the services as described in the above step.

Create a new Cluster and choose a controller

Drag the Machines that are showing up in the Qmaster Service Browser up to the Services Window to assign them to the new Cluster.

If you ever want to remove a machine from the cluster that you have set up, go here and drag them back down to the Qmaster Service Browser Window.

Make sure to apply your changes

Apple Qadministrator Preferences

My Cluster isn’t hooked up to the internet, so I have left these Preferences like this, the security settings are blank

To speed up your rendering in Compressor make sure to change the Cluster Options from copy source to cluster as need to Never copy source to Cluster

Your new cluster should now be available in Compressor

Test your renders and see if the new cluster is working. try a 1min video and test to see how long it takes for your render.

Here is one of my Compressor settings that I use all of the time for web previews with timecode and ID BUG

Name: H.264 800Kbps 16×9

Description: H.264 for high-bandwidth connections

File Extension: mov

Estimated file size: 295.31 MB/hour of source

Audio Encoder

    AAC, Stereo (L R), 48.000 kHz

Video Encoder

    Format: QT

    Width: 480

    Height: 270

    Pixel aspect ratio: Square

    Crop: (L: 0, T: 20, R: 0, B: 20)

    Padding: None

    Frame rate: (100% of source)

    Frame Controls: Automatically selected: Off

    Codec Type: H.264

    Multi-pass: On, frame reorder: On

    Pixel depth: 24

    Spatial quality: 50

    Min. Spatial quality: 50

    Key frame interval: 150

    Temporal quality: 50

    Min. temporal quality: 50

    Average data rate: 0.688 (Mbps)

    Fast Start: on

Timecode Generator

    Position: Lower Right–Title Safe

    Alpha: 1.000

    Label:

    Start Timecode at 00:00:00:00 false

    Text Color: r:0.0000, g:0.7331, b:0.0020

    Font: Helvetica, 18

Here is a setting that I use for Hi Quality Previews of my HD content.

Description: H.264 for LANs/Intranets

File Extension: mov

Estimated file size: 1.07 GB/hour of source

Audio Encoder

    AAC, Stereo (L R), 48.000 kHz

Video Encoder

    Format: QT

    Width: 960

    Height: 540

    Pixel aspect ratio: Square

    Crop: None

    Padding: None

    Frame rate: (100% of source)

        Selected: 24

    Frame Controls: Automatically selected: Off

    Codec Type: H.264

    Multi-pass: On, frame reorder: On

    Pixel depth: 24

    Spatial quality: 50

    Min. Spatial quality: 50

    Key frame interval: 150

    Temporal quality: 50

    Min. temporal quality: 50

    Average data rate: 2.56 (Mbps)

    Fast Start: on

Timecode Generator

    Position: Lower Right–Title Safe

    Alpha: 0.500

    Label:

    Start Timecode at 00:00:00:00 false

    Text Color: r:1.0000, g:1.0000, b:1.0000

    Font: Helvetica, 24

Watermark

    Position: Lower Left

    Scale By: 0.500

    Alpha: 0.250

    Repeat On

    File Name: volume01:admin:User:Logo_1920×1080_IDBUG.psd

If I need to deliver the same content in a more compressed version I use this

Name: 960×540_Edison_Leo_Weekly_web

Description: H.264 for web

File Extension: mov

Estimated file size: 439.45 MB/hour of source

Audio Encoder

    AAC, Stereo (L R), 48.000 kHz

Video Encoder

    Format: QT

    Width: 960

    Height: 540

    Pixel aspect ratio: Square

    Crop: None

    Padding: None

    Frame rate: (100% of source)

    Frame Controls: Automatically selected: Off

    Codec Type: H.264

    Multi-pass: On, frame reorder: On

    Pixel depth: 24

    Spatial quality: 50

    Min. Spatial quality: 50

    Key frame interval: 150

    Temporal quality: 50

    Min. temporal quality: 50

    Average data rate: 1.024 (Mbps)

    Maximum data rate: 1.024 (Mbps)

    Fast Start: on

Timecode Generator

    Position: Lower Right–Title Safe

    Alpha: 0.500

    Label:

    Start Timecode at 00:00:00:00 false

    Text Color: r:1.0000, g:1.0000, b:1.0000

    Font: Helvetica, 24

Watermark

    Position: Lower Left

    Scale By: 0.500

    Alpha: 0.250

    Repeat On

    File Name: volume01:admin:UserLogo_1920×1080_IDBUG.psd

I am encoding video that has been exported from an Avid timeline in its native codec Avid DNX-36

To get this to work i needed to intall this codec on all the machines that I am using to render. put the components in Macintosh HD/Library/QuickTime/

Once you restart your machines they will now be able to play the Avid Files.

I have installed a FibreChannel card in the avid so that it has access to the Xsan.

We export a self contained movie from the avid onto a shared folder on the Xsan. This file is dropped onto a dropplet created in compressor. When the droplet starts up it asks what machine you want to use to render. Choose your new cluster.

I will run a benchmark test for you with 1 min of video encoded with this setting

Description: H.264 for LANs/Intranets

Estimated file size: 1.07 GB/hour of source

Audio Encoder

    AAC, Stereo (L R), 48.000 kHz

Video Encoder

    Format: QT

    Width: 960

    Height: 540

1 Machine rending alone

Name: 1minDNX36.mov

Job Type: Compressor

Priority: High

Time Elapsed: 0:17:22

Time Remaining: 0:00:00

Percent Complete: 100

Status: Successful

3 Machines Clustered

Name: 1mincluster

Submission Time: 29/11/07 6:12:44 PM

Owner: station11

Time Elapsed: 0:04:13

Time Remaining: 0:00:00

Percent Complete: 100

Status: Successful

Ive noticed that when using the cluster that the activity monitor is working much harder than 1 machine alone.

My slowest machine is ususally the one that is the last to finish the render. In this case Nas01 took about 20 seconds longer to complete its render.

Hmm… I wonder how fast it would be with 10 computers clustered together? Faster than real time?

Curtis Robinson

VisionStudios.ca

Your company and your goals are unique.

Curtis — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:20:00 +0000

That’s why we approach every project with a fresh outlook.

We know that the most important objective is to deliver your message effectively. This means presenting your ideas clearly, through multimedia images – the most powerful medium of communication that exists. We can tailor a budget to fit your needs, so you get the best quality possible, without any surprises. We’ll provide you with the multimedia tools that promote your products to the right audience.

We offer services of Apple technical support (remote or onsite), digital video production, non-linear editing, web site design, web video compression, multimedia presentations, special effects, sound design, DVD authoring, and A/V technical support and consulting.

Be sure to check out the showcase.

Highlight images and video clips.

Curtis — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:26:00 +0000

I am posting some great highlights from the past few years. Many of the photos are best viewed in the full screen viewer. Click play to view it as a slideshow.

This SlideShowPro photo gallery requires the Flash Player plugin and a web browser with JavaScript enabled.

Edison & Leo

Curtis — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:32:21 +0000

I worked as Technical Support and Data Wrangler on the Feature Film Edison and Leo. The system was an 11TB Xsan with 14 MacPro Towers set up as animation stations. I controlled the systems via Remote Desktop. This allowed me to support the animators without walking through and disrupting the sets while they were working.

There was an Avid Media Composer Edit station which I connected to the Xsan with a fiber card to speed up the process of bringing completed shots immediately into the edit. Once the shots were cut into the existing animatic, animators could see how their shots were working. This speed up the process and allowed the animators to shoot less overlap as well as get almost instant feedback on their shots. The video clip above demonstrates this.

North American Indigenous Games/ Editor, Technician

Curtis — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 08:15:16 +0000

In the summer of 2008, I edited and provided technical support on a sports highlights show for the North American Indigenous Games in Duncan. It was shot on the Sony XDcam and Ingested into the Avid Unity. We had an avid trainer Paul Sampson that helped us get up to speed quickly on the new avid newscutter system that he had built for this show. We produced a daily 1 hour sports highlights show for Aboriginal Peoples Television Netowrk (APTN). It was a great team to work with. I learned a lot and had a tonne of fun.

Bodog FIGHT / Battle of the Bands Technical Director

Curtis — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 07:36:17 +0000

I was contracted to budget, design, specify and build the production and post production systems to handle 2 reality shows in production concurrently for BODOG Entertainment Group in Vancouver. The infrastructure included 12 Panasonic HDX 900 cameras, 1 Varicam, and 22 Final Cut Pro editing systems networked together via fiber channel to a 150 Terabyte Apple Xsan storage array. Bodog FIGHT produced over six seasons of content in 2 years. Bodog Music also produced a reality music show Battle of the Bands.

It was a blast building the production and post production systems for Bodog. Here are a few photos of some of the gear that we set up.

Gwaii Haanas National Park – Ninstints

Curtis — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 08:03:55 +0000

This edit was part of a Geodiscovery terminal instalation.

I edited 20 videos for this interactive display.

Whale Watching, BC Experience / Editor

Curtis — Fri, 04 Nov 2005 07:49:51 +0000

This show was presented on a 65 inch Panasonic plasma screen at the B.C Experience building. It is a mixture of HD and SD footage and was presented in HD with the viewer no more than a few feet from the screen. I had to really dial in the mpeg compression settings to get this to look great when viewing from such close proximity to the screen.

About half way through the edit I put one of my shots of an orca spy hopping. It was a SD shot that I had to up convert to HD. But it fit in nicely. And held up well on the 65 inch monitor.