Pulze releases new network render manager RenderFlow 1.0
Pulze has released RenderFlow 1.0, its new network render management software.
The app – a successor to Pulze’s now-deprecated 3ds Max-only Render Manager – also supports Blender and Fusion, with support due for Cinema 4D, Maya, Nuke, and Houdini.
A new renderfarm management tool with scope for use from arch viz to VFX
On its release in 2020, Pulze pitched the original Render Manager as “the first render manager for arch viz”.
The new application takes the most popular features of the original, but broadens out the potential user base, “laying the groundwork for new job types [and] applications”.
While it still supports 3ds Max, and key third-party plugins and renderers, including Arnold, Corona, FStorm, OctaneRender, Redshift and V-Ray, it also supports Blender and Fusion.
Support for a wider range of DCC applications commonly used in VFX, animation and motion graphics work is planned, including Cinema 4D, Maya, Houdini and Nuke.
That puts RenderFlow in a similar part of the market to tools like AWS’s Deadline: now free to use, and still being updated fairly frequently.
Includes built-in ‘sanity checks’ and idle detection
RenderFlow has standard features you would expect in a renderfarm manager: the capacity to submit and monitor jobs, track render node usage, and view performance metrics.
Pulze also plans to release a mobile app for monitoring a render farm remotely.
However, RenderFlow has some other interesting capabilities, including built-in ‘sanity checks’ to spot common causes of failed renders when launching a job.
The software can also detect when workstations that are used during the day become idle, and automatically switch them over to act as render nodes.
Render Manager now discontinued
Render Manager itself is now deprecated and will no longer receive updates or bug fixes.
Existing users can transfer their subscriptions to RenderFlow for no extra cost.
Price and system requirements
RenderFlow 1.0 is available for Windows 10+. Linux and macOS editions are “coming soon”. It is compatible with 3ds Max 2019+, Blender 3.0+ and Fusion 17+.
The software is rental-only, with subscriptions costing $14/month or $109/year per Professional license. The Free edition lets you monitor nodes, but not submit jobs.
Read Pulze’s blog post announcing the RenderFlow 1.0 release
Read more about RenderFlow on the product website
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