Render farm setup for Houdini/Redshift
(but can be [almost] any packages)
Download the Deadline Worker and Repository on your main workstation (choose the remote connection server route during installation)
A good tutorial on how to install Deadline and set it up
Adding more machines to your render farm
Any extra machines you add to the farm will just need the deadline client installed and have the same IP address as the machine where the repository is installed.
To have the same IP on all machines you can use a VPN. You can use a free and super easy setup, tailscale:
Just install tailscale on all the machines with the same account, and connect the machines to the repository with the new IPV4 address tailscale creates for the machine with the repository installed
Syncing files between machines
The machines that are rendering will need to be able to access all the files necessary for rendering (hip files, textures, caches, etc). I recommend going with google drive or dropbox. Just ensure the driver letter is the same on all machines (I.E. “X:” or “G:”)
Another option is a cloud NAS solution, lucid link:
Licenses
• Deadline is free for the first 10 machines on the farm
• Houdini Indie supports 2 machines running at the same time
• You will need a redshift license for each machine that will be rendering
• If you plan to render with more machines than you have available Houdini licenses, you can render out redshift proxies which you can render with deadline’s redshift standalone feature