Thursday, March 9th, 2017 Posted by Jim Thacker

Thinkbox Software releases Deadline 9.0


Thinkbox Software has released Deadline 9.0: the latest version of its render management system, adding a range of new features designed to improve the security of a render farm.

The update is the first to be released since Amazon acquired Thinkbox to add to its AWS family of cloud-based services.

New encryption and authentication features improve render farm security
Changes in Deadline 9.0 include encryption of Remote Commands sent between Deadline applications.

Remote Commands can also now be sent indirectly via Deadline Pulse: a feature aimed at studios that have their artists’ workstations and render nodes on separate subnets.

By default, installing a new MongoDB database during Deadline Repository installation now installs an SSL-enabled version, and configures Deadline to connect to it using password-protectable SSL certificates.

Increased configurability, plus render support for new applications including KeyShot and Silhouette
Other changes include the option to specify the install locations of directories that were previously hard-coded, including logs and configuration files; and improvements to the Find dialog.

More topically, given the software’s new owner, the update also adds a new plugin to scale the size of an AWS Spot Fleet to match the jobs in the Deadline render queue.

The Spot Fleet feature enables studios to commandeer otherwise unused cloud render nodes at a reduced hourly rate, on the understanding that jobs running on them may be terminated if higher bids come along.

Deadline 9.0 also introduces support for a range of new applications, including KeyShot, roto tool Silhouette, render denoising tool Altus, and benchmarking tool Cinebench.

Pricing and availability
Deadline 9.0 is available for Windows Server 2008 and above, a range of Linux distros, and OS X 10.7 and above. Each render node licence costs $195.

Read a full list of features in Deadline 9.0 on Thinkbox Software’s website