Render farm

Updated: 04/26/2017 by Computer Hope

A render farm is a high-performance cluster of computers that collectively render CGI (computer-generated imagery). Modern photorealistic CGI requires complex optical simulations, which lends itself to distributed computing techniques.

The distribution of rendering work is controlled by a program called a queue manager which controls the assignment of render jobs and the management of software licenses. During the render, a computer may be instructed to render a single image, a set of images, or a small part of a larger image.

Note

Dedicated technicians who manage and maintain render farms are colloquially called "render wranglers."

Distributed computing, Hardware terms, Render