“Batch rendering” is a term used to describe the process of rendering a series of tasks or jobs that have been assigned to a queue. Batch rendering is useful when you need to render images without supervision or when you want to render a number of test studies showing different day or night lighting, or for producing shadow studies of various sun angles. Batch rendering can also be used when you want to see how your project looks from different camera viewpoints.
Several methods for setting up batch rendering are available in 3ds Max. These methods entail using the Batch Render tool or network rendering with Backburner, or a combination of the two.
The three available methods for setting up batch rendering are as follows:
If you have a MAX file that contains one or more cameras and saved scene states, you can set up a camera queue to render different camera viewpoints. Each camera can be set to automatically load a scene state to give you several visualizations of your model.
If you have a number of separate scenes that are part of a single project or part of several projects, use network rendering even if you're rendering to a single computer. Use this method also if you have scenes that don't have a camera set up and you want to render a Perspective, Front, Left or Right viewport view.
This topic provides bare-bone steps on how to set up and use the Backburner Manager and Server utilities to perform batch rendering.
Using Backburner for batch rendering is a simple matter of starting 3ds Max, running the Backburner Manager and Server programs, specifying the scenes you want rendered, and then proceeding with the rendering. In this case, Backburner coordinates a series of rendering tasks that are network rendered on a single computer.
The Batch Render tool offers you an efficient, visual approach to setting up a sequence of different tasks or scene states to render automatically. From the Batch Render dialog, you control the following:
The Batch Render Warning dialog informs you of certain conditions you might have overlooked while assigning the rendering tasks.
