Used Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) to leverage large dataset computing
Edited configuration files to allow multiple units to be spawned
Deployed system successfully with Autodesk products
Project was selected to be shown as class during Autodesk University 2014
While 3d Studio Max (and BackBurner) do render farm integration well, all the units are assumed to be local, thus making the farm a large and intensive installation.
I required a heavy-duty computer, capable of using Max and producing test renders. While stuck on a small and under powered laptop (due to being in a remote location), I was able to install Max on a large Amazon EC2 instance using remote desktop connectivity. With this in mind I went ahead and attempted the same setup with multiple computers and while Autodesk Backburner as a management machine. While the Amazon EC2 control console was helpful, minor file tweaks were required to allow the machines to all connect and unique instances. This was solved with a small amount of XML editing in the right configuration file.
