I like heaps of you leave a computer on for days to render a scene, but recently i found out that there are machines that can speed this up - rendering machines - does anyone know anything about these? can you rent/hire them? how much do they cost? Are they really that good? thanks! Clarissa!

They're called REALLY REALLY fast machines w/ gobs of video ram (faster update of the screen), gobs of system RAM (faster updates when you are making the scene and general ease of use) and a super horrendously fast processor (Athlon 1000 MHz is really nice ... One of the PCMAG test benchmarks was a Bryce scene and it was 10% faster than a like setup/speed PIII) Not to mention a super fast hd (10k RPM) w/ lotsa room. At least, for a PC. A Mac on the other hand, a 450MHz G4 with Gobs and gobs of RAM (most allocated to Bryce) would be REALLY nice ... :) Other wise, make the scene is several parts, render of multiple computers (each running Bryce) and then composite in an app like Photoshop ... :P An SGI running NT, would be nice as well. Any one of these will cost upwards of $2500 for the PC, about the same (I think, haven't priced them recently) for the Mac, and upwards of $5000 (min) for the SGI. Enjoy!

Are you talking about a fast render machine or a render drive? Render drives are about 10000 dollars and can be stacked in unlimited amounts. They are faster than almost every computer because they are strictly dedicated to graphics rendering. You can also make a computer to do this and is usually referred to as a render farms. They can be as fast or slowas you want and can do the rendering for you while your other computer does what it wants. My school had 4 of these stacked together and could render very complex animations in minutes. They use physical means to add radisotiy etc.....here's a link to one of them..... http://www.renderdrive.com/

Thanks guys - i think i heard about the second one - Just - is it possible to rent these? i need it for an artwork for school!!!!!!!! desperately

Try this forum link , this guy offered help by renting his services but huge files would be impossible without a high speed internet connection or sending him a cd. He may do it for you anyway .... http://www.renderosity.com/messages.ez?ForumID=2104&Form.ShowMessage=136265

Hello. Good advice Istawrz2... It seems the cost estimet on a dedicated render station might be a bit low... I build graphics machines and I can't seem to get the final cost with monitor down below $3500+. Adding a Solid State quantum drive will kick that throuh the roof... If you have any credit, or access to a willing partner with credit, you can add leasing to the machine options. Some leases can run really low per month. Btw, does anyone know if Bryce3D or Bryce four will actually address the graphics accelerator? I know b2 didn't.

As of right now, Bryce (3D or 4) will not take advantage of a graphics accelerator. More Video RAM will speed up the refresh, but the biggest help across the board is system RAM followed by CPU speed. As for the cost estimate, I've seen that system (okay, it was an Athlon 750MHZ, but hey, what's 250 MHz between friends? ) with 256 MB of ram, a Matrox GeForce 400 w/ 32MB RAM, 2 30 Gb 10k RPM Hd's, a 17" Sony monitor (.26 dp), etc. etc. for $2800. The guy added another monitor for another $180. Okay, so he didn't splurge on the monitors. The biggest cost (at the time) was the RAM. RAM prices have dropped some since then. The next big cost was the processor. Still is. The 1GHz processor is still running in the $600 - $700 price range per processor in lots of 1k. Retail is still near $800. I expect that to drop in August when they announce the 1.33 GHz PIV. Now, what does all of this nifty (drool-worthy) hardware have to do with Bryce? I WANT IT SO THAT I CAN RENDER FASTER!!!! :) Now, me and my AMD K6-2 (266) are going back to watch Bryce render a 20 MB scene in 1 hr ... :P Too much transparency. Transparency bad ... opaque, nonreflective simple color good ... :) Once it's finished, I'll post it here somewhere ... :) John

I'll be looking forward to it. Sorry about the user name mispell, that j looked like an i... See you around.

I was so fried last night I forgot to reply to the gist of the post. Good prices, hot machine. Unfortunately, a small custom builder can't get those kind of price breaks. That's why the diff in the two estimates, I reckon. Oh well... someday.

Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm still kinda shell shocked at the prices myself. Oh, well, they'll drop by Christmas, when I'll have the money to do that much upgrading ... :) John Ps - no problem about the mispelling. At least you got the last part right. That's more than most people get. Now, try and pronounce it (and yes, that's all of the name there ... :)

If the "j" is treated as the spanish "j", I could probably mangle it... Otherwise Nyah, ain't gonna happen. Whadda ya go by for short? I can get OEM rates, but that requires an order of 5+ parts from Aberdeen or TC. If I have 5-6 client machines that all wan't the exact same processor & mobo make/model i can get fairly good rates... like THAT happens a whole lot. Gaming and graphics people are about as individualistic as you can get on the hardware preferences... Not a complaint, just an observation. I actually love what I do for a living. Sorry Toad... seems like we wandered a bit off the beaten track there... what was the question? (Just kidding)

Various different machines are available to make rendering easier. With Bryce, it's still going to be a slow, tedious process regardless of what kind of speedy, snappy, bleeding edge machine you have. Let's face it, if Maya is the cheetah of 3D Renderers, Bryce falls somewhere around the house cat range. At least, it's better than Poser's (3 legged house cat trapped under a rocker type ... :)

jstawarz2: That's tacky... That's cruel, That's funny! I like it... That's why I seldom to more than trial renders in Poser... I export into bryce where it's faster snicker

Don't get me wrong, I love Bryce. In fact, I use it so much my wife has threatened to name our next some Bryce 'cause of it ... :P The renderer is wonderful. And slow. Does great work. As for Poser, I've seen some wonderful stuff that was rendered ONLY with poser, and I've seen some garbage rendered by Poser (mostly my own stuff ... :) Anywho. Think we've killed this thread yet?

Yeah, It's DEAD, Jim. You grab its wallet... I'll get its tri-corder. Hey, that was fun! Lets go find another one to kill! Phazers on max, gentlemen...