[pfeiffj]

I'm currently working on a loan proposal for a renderfarm which will be used for internal projects, as well as be available for outside use. (mostly the latter) And I was wondering, as hobbyist/freelance/small business/student animators, how inexpensive would service need to be for you to see it as an option?

I'm thinking of going with something in the neighborhood of $0.25/ghz-hour (USD), for Lightwave. (Researching support for Maya and Max as well) This seems to be about half of the average.

Also, the plan is to make it fully automated. So 24/7 you can send jobs to it over the internet, and they'll go straight into the queue.

Basically, I'm looking for feedback, and an idea of how many people would use an inexpensive network rendering service.

Thank you all very much for the help!

- John Pfeiffer

[neone]

nice idea
but personally I wouldn't be using it in the near future. Still got too much to learn.
But once i got animations that needs rendering i would consider it.

[ozwolf]

I would be interested in a netrendering service, though i would have to consider exchange rates. I would like to be able to send off work as long as it was a stable system and we could see how many jobs were in queue.

None the less a great idea.

[Mark]

Definitely a good idea, but you'll have to go a long way to beat the respower guys:

http://www.respower.com/

They have a superb, totally automated renderfarm and their support is second to none.

[pfeiffj]

Originally posted by Mark http://www.respower.com/ They have a superb, totally automated renderfarm and their support is second to none.

Yes, they do indeed have a superb setup. I came across them when researching the idea further, and it seems they had much the same idea I did. Right down to how to estimate rendertime. ^^

I have no intention of competing with them, just offering service to those who wouldn't be willing/able to pay their $0.50/ghz hour. If I weren't building my own renderfarm, I'd probably be using them too. ^^;

Though, I do certainly hope to be able to offer the same great service. That's what I'm aiming for.

Thanks for the feedback guys. ^_^
- John Pfeiffer