NEW: Octane X - is finally here! [MEGA FAQ THREAD] Tweet

[cjadams]

ITs not just you.. the network panel doesn't work for me either.. regardless of: Mac to Mac - Mac to pc
I'm hoping we don't have long to wait to finally after years.. be able to do MAC-PC rendering!!!

Did this ever get resolved?

Yeah.. it was the previous version.. so wasn’t done yet.. this latest alpha 2 seems to work just fine.. well for an alpha… normal be cautious with using it in production warnings apply

[bepeg4d]

So that makes it sound like even when using 10GBit Ethernet, having the render nodes doesn't really help when working in the live viewer for look dev etc.

It would be a great help, if anyone has time, to post a video showing the difference in speed and function in the live viewer when using just a mac, and using a mac and PC slave.

Sorry I have no time to prepare a Video, but trust me, Network rendering makes a huge difference in both Live View and Picture Viewer, especially at 10Gbit.

Here is a KitBush scene with ~15 millions triangles that needs 8':21" to reach 1024 samples without Net Render in Live View:

And here is with Net Render enabled, it needs only 1':02" to reach 1024 samples in Live View:

Here is the difference in scene loading time with 10Gbit in Picture Viewer, only 4" for Net render to start:

And with 1Gbit, Net render starts after 1':23":

ciao,
Beppe

[vurt]

Awesome news with Network Rendering finally arriving!
Will there be a slave for Mac?
We have a couple of Mac Studios here and it would be great to use them to speed up the work on Macbooks.
Also, as I see from the comments, Wifi6 will be not enough? The router then connected to PCs with 10G LAN, but the Macbook doesn't have a LAN port, the best I have is a 5Gbe USB adapter, but theoretically Wifi6 goes up to 9.6gbps, and the network here works well

[bepeg4d]

Hi,
yes, a Mac Apple Silicon Render-Node version is planned for future versions.

About WiFi, the connection is not constant, so always better to use Ethernet!

You need to have a 10Gbit Ethernet Switch to be able to connect the router and all machines at the same subnet.

ciao,
Beppe

[cjadams]

I do wonder these days if you’re just using two machines do you even need to switch now or can I just hook up ethernet cable between the two machines at 10 GB speeds?
classically the macs were able to auto switch their ports

[bepeg4d]

I do wonder these days if you’re just using two machines do you even need to switch now or can I just hook up ethernet cable between the two machines at 10 GB speeds?
classically the macs were able to auto switch their ports

I was wondering the same thing yesterday... probably you need to share the internet connection too

ciao,
Beppe

[cjadams]

Since this is going to be new “especially for MAC people” I figured I would relate my findings THUS FAR!

This is how I setup a MAC “master” machine.. “MAC Studio M2 Ultra with 192 GIG shared ram/vram for 3d rendering using the RTX 4090 in my windows PC “over in the corner” Once the network is setup and the OCTANE RENDER NODE DAEMEN is running I really don’t need to even touch the PC. I just remote into it with VNC/Splashtop to set up or change things.

Once the Render DAEMON is running. its kinda setup and forget it! Everything is done from the MAC side.

NOTE: IN my case I am using Cinema 4D


Here is what I have setup so far

Computers:

- Mac Studio - 10GB networking port (Built-in) or a (Thunderbolt to 10GB dongle if your on a Macbook or PC laptop that doesn’t have 10GB port) (FOR OCTANE NETWORK ONLY)
- Docking Station with 1GB network port (FOR INTERNET ONLY)

- PC with Onboard 1GB lan network port (FOR INTERNET ONLY)
- RTX 4090 GPU
- ADD-ON 10GB network card (FOR SEPARATE OCTANE NETWORK)

NOTE: We will be using THE 10GB card port for the OCTANE network.

NOTE: We will be using a normal 1GB Ethernet port i.e Apple Ethernet dongle or a Thunderbolt Docking station or built in 1GB port on a PC for NORMAL Internet
Some motherboards DO have 1GB and 10GB ports .. if your PC does than.. you can skip the 10GB network card install.

NOTE: IF you use WIFI for Regular internet you still can… if thats all you have)
(I tend to turn “WIFI OFF” After setup since this is a desktop mac in my case.

NOTE: This is a direct Ethernet port to port CAT cable connection - I did NOT need a 10GB switch since it’s just 2 computers in my case. If you had more computers you would need a 10GB switch see the Hardware list for options

NOTE: I set each 10GB network card to the following:
Mac studio 10GB port set to:
IP - 10.0.0.2 - (Manual IP address)
Subnet mask - 255.255.0.0

PC - 10GB card set to:
IP - 10.0.0.3 - (Manual IP address)

Mac Studio Apple Ethernet Dongle or Docking station Ethernet port is set to:
DHCP (192.168.x.x) network.

NOTE: - IF your router happens to use the 10.0.x.x network just swap the ip address you set for OCTANE network and INTERNET network around.. the idea is that they are separate and different networks.

BIG NOTE: Once we take over the 10GB “Built in port” - You will then have to use wifi or a 1GB apple dongle or docking station Ethernet port for your normal INTERNET going forward.

NOTE: you will likely need to go into network settings and change the “INTERFACE Order” so that WIFI / DONGLE / DOCKING STATION 1GB Ethernet devices are ABOVE the 10GB Build in Mac Studio port / 10GB Dongle or you won’t get internet!!!!!
SEE APPLE Documentation below.

Change the order of the network services your Mac uses
NOTE: Pull down the dropdown for your OS version:
https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-hel ... lp2711/mac

I Installed the PC Octane network node Daemon on the PC and configured it per OTOY instructions…..
You can get the Render NOTE - DAEMON from your DOWNLOADS area once you are logged into your OTOY account…then choosing enterprise network node and windows as the OS.. MAC daemon is not released yet for 2024.2

NOTE!!!!!! - I think for now you need to have the full subscription to use network rendering which comes with up to 10 RENDER node licenses!

Overview & Setup:
This page and the setup video was very helpful:

NOTE: Some of this might be bit different (This was from 2022) but it should be very similar in 2024.2
https://www.pixel-planet-studios.com/po ... -rendering

Once you have the networking going and the OCTANE NODE running on the PC
You should have an area for OCTANE network rendering to enable it and set the port # which should match the PC port number when you setup the Render node DAEMON
The node should show up in the node box which you then then BIND.


So for $94 bucks USD I created a single node network for Octane using the Mac Studio and my PC with an RTX 4090 and added in a 10GB networking card.

HAPPY RENDERING!



HARDWARE:

- Apple Ethernet Dongle (1GB)
- NOTE: This is for your normal internet going forward and not for the OCTANE NETWORK)

https://www.amazon.com/Apple-Thunderbol ... C95&sr=8-9

- 10GB Ethernet card - (Amazon) - $80 -
- NOTE: This is FOR OCTANE NETWORK on the PC

https://www.amazon.com/NICGIGA-Network- ... 7e17e03685

- CAT8 Ethernet Cable (Amazon) -$14
- NOTE: THIS IS FOR OCTANE NETWORK
- Yes It’s overkill (I only have a short 30ft short run)
- If needing longer runs …the USE of CAT6A might be advised)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0838 ... 14DDB&th=1

- DOCKING STATION - ???
- NOTE: You can choose your own long as it has an Ethernet port
- THIS IS FOR NORMAL INTERNET going forward


- Network switch (optional with only 1 node)
NOTE: THIS IS FOR OCTANE NETWORK CONNECTIONS NOT Internet!!!

Unless your whole network is going to be 10GB…if you want. (It is still recommended that you keep your normal Internet Traffic off the OCTANE side)

NOTE: If you have to connect to more computers with octane nodes in them you will need to get a 10GB switch like this one i’m sure there might be others out there too look around

NOTE: Just make sure switch and ports are 10GB and not 1GB or 2.5GB speeds:

QNAP QSW-3216R-8S8T-US 16-Port Half-Width Rackmount 10GbE Unmanaged Switch (Amazon) - $549

https://www.amazon.com/QNAP-QSW-3216R-8 ... 7e17e03685


NOTE for switches that use SFP+ slots ….IF you want to use those slots and run CAT6A/CAT8 cables…and not fibre.. you can get these converter adapters so you can use the CAT cable in SFP+ slots

- SFP+ to CAT cable adapter
10Gtek 10GBase-T SFP+ to RJ-45 Transceiver, 10Gbe SFP+ Copper Ethernet CAT6a Module, up to 30-Meter - (Amazon) - $50

https://www.amazon.com/10Gtek-SFP-10G-T ... BFL16?th=1


Outstanding issues:
I am still not sure how it will work on the PC side with dual network cards installed.
I suspect you will just have to setup the 2 networks and then make sure that the IP address for the 10GB card is the one you assign in OCTANE network settings for the NODE.

Maybe someone from otoy can let us know how to set affinity for a particular network card in the Node DAEMON.

[cjadams]

I have tested with the 1GB speeds.. over the next few days will test with 10GB speeds. Still waiting on 10GB network card from Amazon!

[cjadams]

Just to update everyone.. i simply installed the 10gb network card in the PC and put it on manual IP and ran a CAT 8 cable between the 10GB mac studio port and the PC 10GB card. Put them in a 10.x.x.x subnet and it just works. - on the mac studio my docking station now does normal network traffic over on the 192.168.x.x network. I have turned off Wifi. (you still should be able to use it on the 192.x.x subnet though. - So now Octane happily uses the render node on PC and my mac studio effectively has a RTX 4090!!!

So far not too many issues.. i sometimes have to Log off the PC and back in to restart the daemon if its been idle for a bit or if renders don't’ start. Not bad though for an Alpha!… Looking fwd to more updates! ..

Happy Rendering!

CJ Adams

[Padi]

Here is my demo video using Mac with network rendering on a M1 MacbookPro and normal 1Gbit LAN:

https://twitter.com/MacDaffy/status/1738192304404389924