Overview of mental ray (satellite)
mental ray for Maya supports a different form of network rendering: mental ray satellite rendering. The new network rendering capability, based on mental ray satellite technology, allows you to install a version of mental ray (satellite) on any networked computer. This special version of mental ray resides on that machine and waits for rendering tasks from Maya. It supplements the mental ray rendering capabilities in Maya with the additional rendering power provided by the networked computers’ CPUs.
A mental ray distributed rendering can speed up all of the following tasks:
The rendering process is typically initiated from the master machine (the machine running Maya or where the command-line render starts from). The slave machines (satellite rendering computers) process rendering tasks they receive over the network from the master and send back results. The master machine handles task distribution, load balancing, and the collection of received rendering tasks which make up the rendered image.
For more information about mental ray satellite, including how to set up the rayhosts file to get and receive data from Maya, see the Maya Help. In the Maya Help, navigate to User Guide > Rendering and Render Setup > Rendering > mental ray for Maya rendering > Network rendering.
Setting up the rayhosts file is required for mental ray for Maya satellite rendering to work.