When you've configured the computers on your rendering network for TCP/IP, you're ready to load 3ds Max.
You need to install 3ds Max on each system you plan to use for network rendering. After you've installed 3ds Max on all the systems, at least one of them needs to be authorized. This is the copy of 3ds Max that you will run interactively and use to submit jobs for network rendering.
Refer to the Installation Guide for details about installing 3ds Max.
During network rendering, common directories (directories that are shared across the network) allow access to files needed by all the rendering servers. You can organize, share, and (if necessary) mount these directories.
You share a directory from the machine where the directory is located. This gives other machines on your network access to that directory. The instructions below are general. See your Windows Vista, Windows XP, or Windows 2000 documentation for details.
You can mount a directory to a drive letter as an alternative to using UNC names. In mixed UNIX/XP/2000 networks, for example, you might need to mount the output directory.
Render-only machines do not require any form of authorization. However, you cannot use unauthorized versions of 3ds Max to access the Configure User Paths dialog to specify alternative locations for servers to search for bitmap files.
