I recently came across the concept of grid computing...moreover, i have had the SETI client running on my pc for a while now...How about sharing CPU resources to get work done faster?...A point-based system will ensure u get what u give (in terms of CPU time). I have a P4 2.4GHz & a gig of RAM but it still takes a whole day to get a few seconds worth of bryce animation! I am familiar with C & am learning Java and would be happy to pitch in wherever i can be of use...However, I am not quite sure how to go abt doing it... any suggestions?

Bryce 5 Network renders, and it works over the net too if you have broadband connections, all you need is IP addresses of the other machines.

Is it cross platform over the net?

Yes all you need is to have Bryce Lightning launched on a client machine. one puter acts as the server and has the Bryce file open, then all the puters you want to use to network render have Bryce lightning running, then you get all the IP addresses from those puters and voila! :-)

Network rendering is only usefull for animations, isn't it? Because sometimes one of my stills will take a day to render.

No, it can do single frames too. What it does is slice each frame into little squares and sends those out to be rendered.

Attached Link: http://homepage.mac.com/dampeoples/.Pictures/smokin.jpg

cyberbeast, you render it as an animation but only select 1 frame to render.

That's pretty cool. I have a computer that is running 24/7 so if we arrange somthing I will be glad to donate some power. Only it isn't that powerfull (p3 500). My powerfull pc (athlon 2000) usually goes to sleep at night :)

If you are going to do cross platform stuff, you might want to be careful with how colors and gamma are handled across different systems. I have seen problems with pictures using orange/yellow lighting when the picture is made on a Mac. When you look at the picture on a PC its darker and there is a color shift. Not doing a network render but this might cause trouble. There is a thread on this in the forum somewhere.

macs have always been fruityer that way :P i'm interested!

never having done the lightning, are the textures handed out by the host? If the host loads a unique texture, not a variation of the bundled one's, will that info be transferred as well?

yes, everything is transferred. Gamma does not matter, since it renders the actual pixel values, even though they may look different on different monitors.

All the rendering machines would use the bryce lightning client anyway, which is just the bare bones bryce render engine with no presets or anyhting.

i am glad to see the response here!...so we're rollin' then...it seems that some of the technical problems mentioned above have a workaround...however, i reckon that some kinda measure to ensure that everyone gets a fair share of the "gargantuan", and i mean huge, amount of CPU power that we can generate here using the Net must be implemented... ...any1 worked with Bryce Lightening?...maybe we can bring in the expertise of some of the programmers among us and build on it so every1's usage/contribution can be clocked and made public...u get what u give guys - thats all i m tryin to say! OR we can work on a honour system...hmm...what do u say? suggestions appreciated as always! BTW: any1 has SETI@home client installed?..when do u guys reckon we will make "contact"?:)

Sounds good....a simple java clock/log would be great. Maybe even some kind of login site? That way your IP stays private except ro regsitered members.

that's jst gr8 madmax...like i mentioned, i m learning java and wud enjoy workin on this as my first project... now u sounded knowledgable abt this clock/log stuff...get the ball rolling buddy...i have some free space on angelfire.com...can use it for login and registration...can make u a decent frontend. any java guys arnd? suggestions appreciated.

There's some amount of risk doing a network render. Only participate in such an event if you fully trust the systems over that network. Sorry folk but it had to be mentioned, since no one else has.

All opinions appreciated!...i hope yahoo groups can do the job: Group home page : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bryceforce Group email : bryceforce@yahoogroups.com this way the IPs of all members remain within the group...more the merrier ofcourse...let's give it a shot!

Cool! I've applied for a membership. Instead of listingf th IP adrfesses, all we have to do is upload the client list. When network rendering in bryce, there is an option to save the client list. It's called clientlst in the temp folder in bryce. So we should send our IP stuff to yo0u or whoever's running it, and then you'll add them all into the bryce network list on your computer, then you'll upload that list for us to download ans simply stick into our temp folder. This is goof for three reasons. The first is that the list can only be read by bryce, increasing security. The second is that it would eliminate the need for someone to manually input all the IP adresses. The third is that if someone wanted to add a new IP, all they'd do is ad it to their list along with everyonbe elses that they already have, and then send that list to the webmaster, who will then upload a new list monthly. Of course labeled with a version number. I.E: Clientlist, version 7

i have been looking at the jxta p2p framework by Sun...seems like an efficient way to get things done...but it'll take time and effort (and contribution from other programmers ofcourse!) in the meantime, we can kick off with the yahoo groups concept...madmax u've been approved. does bryce lightning offer a logging facility?...would appreciate some suggestions on how (and i knw i have been stressing on this quite a bit) to implement a system to ensure every1 gets a fair share of pooled CPU power...any1 familiar with lighning here?

Uhm, my IP changes everytime I log on..

Cyberbeast check http://www.webattack.com/freeware/network/ for IP solutions...there are ways arnd it so to the rest of the world ur IP seems static...i m doing it and am runnin' an entire web server of my laptop! good luck!

IncliningWirefree, I will contribute to the programming side of the project if needed. Just drop me a line with what you have in mind c++,java,... no probs. You can also check out my site ttanimations

welcome aboard ttops!...appreciate ur initiative...what we have here is the following 3 options: a) build upon the existing functionality of bryce lightning to include logging/timestamp features b) build a client from bottom-up that is downloadable and can provide the required features - If you are familiar with Java then do check out http://www.jxta.org These guys have provided an entire framework specifically geared towards p2p apps c) build an applet: for e.g. I came across this login/password app on http://www.javaside.com/asp/mus.asp?page=/us/tpassword.shtml . Perhaps we could look on building a similar architecture I am acquainted with C and partly with C++...I am currently going thru Java...I have no web programming experience per se and am looking forward to a first good project...this seems quite tantalising...So it really is your call as to the route we shld take to get there... why don't u get on to our yahoo groups?...hey, nice work in 3D btw! looking fwd to working with u... BTW ppl check http://www.respower.com/ - we cud have something similar for no cost if this goes thru!

This is going good! We may even have some dedicated rendering machines in a year ot two! Sorry I can't help with the programming, I have no experience with anything. All I do know is that we definitely need an external manager, preferably running 24/7 on it's own machine (doesn;t matter the specs, as long as it's reliable and it runs) to log time for each IP, control the the signal channeling(?) (so more than one person can render at a time), and make sure that the incoming IP's are consistent with those who have signed up. I'd be willing to help out with anything but the programming which I can't do, so if yu need anything send me an email at maxikun@hotmail.com Oh and maybe we want to post in a new thread so we refresh interest in this and maybe if Agentsmith is nice enough he'll stick a link to the thread up in the top of the forum.