Flatiron for 3ds Max
Network Rendering

Network Rendering

Description

The Network Rendering rollout allows you to distribute texture baking jobs across a render farm using Backburner.

Due to the way 3ds Max handles network rendering and how Flatiron synchronizes data between machines, a few important setup steps and considerations are required.

Setup

To enable network rendering:

  • Activate the Network Rendering checkbox
  • Enter the hostname or IP address of the Backburner Manager
  • Specify the port

Once configured, you can start a network baking job by pressing Bake in the Baking rollout, just like a local bake.

Flatiron will:

  • create a temporary placeholder image in the output directory
  • assign it to the scene
  • replace it with the final baked result once the render job is complete

Network Output Directory

The Network Output Folder must be a shared directory accessible by all render nodes.

⚠️
Important: All machines must access this folder using the same network path.

If this is not set up correctly:

  • temporary files may be stored locally or not at all
  • the final result may become corrupted

During rendering:

  • Flatiron creates a temporary subdirectory inside the network folder
  • this directory is used to collect and process render data
  • it is automatically deleted after the job is completed

Render Processing

Flatiron monitors the render job and processes the collected data to generate the final texture.

  • Final output is written to the standard output directory (Baking rollout)
  • This directory can be local and does not need to be shared

Multi Pass Baking

For Multi Pass baking, Flatiron uses an internal job tracking system.

  • The 3ds Max session that started the job must remain open
  • Closing it interrupts monitoring and automatic processing

If interrupted:

  1. Wait until the job finishes in Backburner
  2. Use Manual Merge in the Network Rendering rollout
  3. Select the job.desc file from the temporary network directory

Flatiron will then complete the baking process and generate the final map.

Manual Merge Warning

⚠️
Only use Manual Merge after the render job is fully completed.

Using it too early will result in a corrupted output.

Multiple Jobs

You can start multiple network render jobs without waiting for previous ones to finish.

  • The UI displays only the most recent job status
  • Flatiron continues tracking and processing all jobs internally in parallel
Texture NamesObject UV Scaling