Wednesday, June 5th, 2013 Posted by Jim Thacker

Thinkbox Software ships Deadline 6.0


Thinkbox Software’s original preview video of Deadline 6.0, posted last year. Version 6.0 has just shipped.

Thinkbox Software has released Deadline 6.0, the latest update to the renderfarm-management system, originally previewed at Siggraph 2012.

The release features a redesigned, more customisable UI, featuring live data refreshing and a new graph view showing the status of a render farm at a glance.

The backend has also been updated, now featuring a more scalable MongoDB database; and support for the Amazon EC2 cloud has been built in, with simple menu options to start, clone or stop cloud machines.

Deadline 6.0 is available now for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. Each node licence costs $185.

PRESS RELEASE (Excerpts)
Thinkbox Software today announced the release of Deadline 6.0, the latest version of the company’’s popular render farm management solution for Windows, Linux and Mac OSX-based render farms. Rebuilt from the ground up using Digia’’s Qt development framework and a MongoDB database, Deadline 6.0 facilitates identical performance, scalability, and flexibility across all platforms.

Key new features of Deadline 6.0 include:

  • New Database Backend
    With a MongoDB Database for sizable gains in scalability, Deadline 6.0 functions with over thousands of jobs and Slave configurations, and offers asynchronous access for efficient work even over remote connections.
  • Redesigned User Interface
    Deadline Monitor introduces a wide range of new features including delayed data loading; live data refreshing; a fully customizable layout that allows re-sizing, docking and floating of any panels; and a new powerful, customizable filtering system. Deadline Monitor also automatically refreshes data in a background thread, eliminating the need for a manual refresh.
  • Graphic Data Representation
    Large graphs make it easy to visualize various aspects of the farm. Artists, producers and administrators can monitor the progress of jobs and projects as well as the overall health of the farm –- all from across the room.
  • Simplified User Group Management
    Administrators can assign users to custom groups and control the available functionality and features.
  • Slave Log Streaming
    Users can directly connect to the Deadline Slave running on a remote machine and view its log in real time.
  • Scripting Improvements –
    All Deadline plug-ins and scripts now use a native Python bundle, and customizable script menus are available in almost every list in the Deadline Monitor.
  • Flexible Environment Control
    Set environment variables for a job and apply them at render time either exclusively or by merging with the Slave’s current environment.
  • Streamlined Archiving System
    Archived jobs are removed from the database and saved in the repository as a .ZIP file, which can be imported again later.
  • Amazon EC2 Cloud Support
    Cloud features built into the Monitor allow it to connect to Amazon EC2 and control existing instances. Start up, shut down or clone existing images to scale the farm up and down as necessary.

Compatible with a wide range of rendering packages, Deadline is the leading render management software in the industry with over 60,000 seats currently in use worldwide. Several major visual effects studios have already deployed Deadline 6.0 for work on upcoming blockbusters.

Laszlo Sebo, Scanline VFX Senior Technical Director noted, ““Deadline 6.0 is a major evolutionary step forward for an already mature network rendering system:– it’’s as if a Volvo got a Ferrari engine. The new MongoDB-driven core surpasses all expectations:– it’’s extremely fast and scales without effort. Even during the alpha/beta phase, Deadline 6.0 was the reliable backbone of our animation pipeline for 300: Rise of an Empire”.

Read more about Deadline 6.0 on Thinkbox Software’s website”