Backburner woes

[kenwal]

No lack of problems with Backburner I see... still haven't seen this particular problem mentioned anywhere so here goes:
I'm using backburner (v3.0.0.107) for the first time with 3dsMax 2009 32-bit.. Windows XP
Trying to set up various scenes to render via BB on one system, not a network.
Manual suggests this can be done so followed the instructions (basically leaving all settings at default for Manager and Server) and got
BBManager and BBServer talking to each other.
When I check Net Render in the Render dialogue the BB window pops up as it should, scenes are in the bottom portion queu window everything looks cool.
When I hit connect button in the dialogue, no error message appears BUT no machine appears in the upper right server window so I can't highlight the machine and submit the queu to render.
Everything seems to be working except for this crucial little detail. Anybody have suggestions or answers?
thanks in advance!

[L Wood]

Check the servers connection from the server machine.

I had a similar problem what was resolved by checking "automatic search" under the general settings.

Also check the 32/64 bit settings- the job should be set to suit the servers available.

Good luck!

[kenwal]

thanks - appreciate the response. unfortunately already tried all that. New client is being added to my manager correctly as evidenced in the log and jobs are added to the queue in the manager as well but that's as far as it gets...
Kent

[L Wood]

Sorry I glanced over the part where you mentioned you were using BB (manager, monitor, server) all on one system...

Many moons ago I tried to set up a manager and server on the same computer (running a renderfarm)... it kept crashing the farm because the manager couldn't broadcast the job sufficiently.

Remembering that experience, I just ran a test on my desktop (manager/server on the same desktop)- the job registered on the manager and server but 3dsmax never launched to start the rendering... I waited about 1.5 minutes.

If you want to set up a queue of renders to run on one desktop, why not just use your batch rendering tool and uncheck network rendering (backburner)...?

[kenwal]

Because in certain cases I want to queue various different scenes (projects) overnight or over a weekend.. not just views from the same scene..which as far as I can tell is one of the limitations of the normal batch render dialogue...

[dellis]

Look into the command line rendering in the help file. You can do what you need with this.

[kenwal]

Awesome! thanks - didn't know about this feature! I'd be nice if you could directly access batch files compiled by the batch renderer itself instead of having to to use switches in the text file for scene states and cameras.. (can this be done? - didn't see it referenced in the help file) Gonna test it this wkend and see. thanks again.

[stusic]

Are the render nodes using 32-bit max? Just to clarify, the render nodes are connecting to the manager, just not showing up in the net render job submittal dialog? What version of Windows are you running (on the workstation and the nodes)?

[kenwal]

Was actually trying to use my one workstation as the render node with BB - running 32bit max 2009, Windows XP 32bit and yes, it was recognizing my workstation in the Server log, connecting to the Manager, just not showing up as an available server in the upper right window of net render submittal dialogue...

[Steve_Bennett]

Did you happen to upgrade from a previous version of 3ds MAX? If yes, you'll probably need to uninstall BB and reinstall it from your new product disk. It won't install the correct plugins unless you uninstall the old version of BB before installing your new version of 3ds MAX. 3ds MAX 2010 product install FINALLY addressed this issue and prompts to uninstall the old version of BB before continuing on.