We just put together a rack mounted system of computers that work great. 8 3.2 ghz machines with 2 gigs ram each. We use an 8 port KVM switcher (like operaguy mentioned). If I'm not rendering using the Max farm, we use the RenderCondo concept. It is a bit more work and requires notes to keep everything straight but it does a good job. Personally, the easiest to use and most successful setup to date for "us" is to use Poser scenes in Max through the Reiss Studio plugin. This way we can animate in Poser (which I've done for years) and then farm everything out using 3dsMax. You only need 1 copy of Max to do this so it isn't THAT expensive. I know, compared to what? :) As for machine speed for the animator? As fast as you can afford to get. The faster the machine the easier it is to animate. It also takes less time to animate if you aren't waiting on a slow machine which saves a ton of money in the longrun. Cheers, Joe