
Over the last year, Google has approached the VFX community in a big way. Emboldened by the Zync purchase , the Google Cloud Platform has grown past the hurdles that made us apprehensive at first to become, in our opinion, the best solution for cloud rendering.
At PipelineFX, Qube users across the world are starting to move in this direction, which means we have been getting more questions about it - namely, how do I get started and how can I make this easier on myself?
Here are 9 tips that will help blend render farm management with GCP today.
1. Pick Your Zone
Knowing your zone can help you control how fast your data is transferred to and from the cloud, how much you pay for transfers, which equipment may be available to you, and even your environment's stability.
Your data transfers more quickly when it's closer to you just like driving your car from one spot to another. Since all cloud providers offer their resources by geographic region, you should start by looking at the region you are in or that is closest to you. Within Google regions, they offer zones, and you can select zones within a region that may be physically closer to you. The closer you can get, the faster your data will transfer and the less it will cost to complete those transfers.
And if you have to transfer data from one cloud resource to another, know that transferring between zones in a region is cheaper than going across regions.
Learn about the zones available to you as it can affect the hardware and services available to you. Certain zones have Ivy Bridge or Haswell processors where others don't. In addition, zones may have different quotas on the available services like firewalls, IPs, image storage, etc.. Last but not least, for maximum uptime, Google highly recommends having instances spread out to several zones in the same region because zone maintenance and outages should be expected.
2. Pick Your Machine Type
Different machine types can offer a varying amount of processors or RAM which may render different applications more or less efficiently. It's best to do a set of test renders of your typical work on several different types to find the sweet spot in terms of price and performance.
For scale, look at Instance Groups. You can define a template for your instance image, so adding more processors to your standard render farm image is as simple as increasing the number of instances for that template. You can even set the instances to scale up automatically as you need additional resources. Instance Groups automatically load balance between the resources in the group, and if an instance crashes, it will automatically reboot and pick up where it left off.
3. Leverage Pre-emptable Instances
If you are scheduling render jobs that can afford the possibility of being paused or stopped for a period of time then Preemptible VM instances are a great bargain, running at a much lower price. By using these instances, you can save, on average, between 3050% of the hourly cost for rendering instances. You can save quite a bit of money across one or more projects, but with some added risk since there is no guarantee that the instance will be not be preempted.
4. Preview Jobs First
Optimize your use of cloud nodes. If you are going to be paying to use off site resources, then make sure the jobs are correct before you start the meter.
If you are using our render management solution, Qube!, you can leverage our Preview Frames feature to automatically split a job into two parts: the first test renders a sample set of frames immediately and the second is the remaining frames are dispatched already blocked, waiting on user approval to continue. The Preview Frames are normally rendered locally with the remaining frames destined for the Cloud.
This way, you don't start the meter on throw away work, and as you get information about the completed preview frames (render times, memory footprint, etc ), you can better determine how many cloud instances will be required to finish the project on time.
5. Don't Keep the Meter Running
A best practice in minimizing cloud costs is to pause or stop the instances when they are not in use. It can mean the difference between a large monthly bill versus the kind of cost you were expecting.
When rendering, it's best to automate. For example, Qube! offers the use of pre- and post-flight scripts that can be run at the start and end of every job. Write a script that starts your instance to run every single time a new job is dispatched to a cloud resource, and do the same to shut them down or pause them when your job completes. Your instances will only be up for rendering, and you will not be paying for cloud resources that are sitting idle.
6. Let the Network Expert Get You Connected
Connecting your network to the Cloud requires some technical expertise that's best handled by network engineers or system administrators. It's not that it's especially difficult, it's just that it takes some time and testing. It's getting better now that Google has added a more out of the
box VPN product and there is a growing online knowledge base where users are sharing their experiences.
7. Cache is King
In any network environment, whether it's on-premise or remote or a mixture of the two, the quality of experience and overall throughput depends on the strength and speed of your available cache. It makes an even bigger difference when you are using cloud nodes.
Avere's vXFT is an extremely easy way to initiate the transfer of data in and out of the Google Cloud.
Mount the Avere cluster along your file path, and your files will start transferring without changes to your pipeline. A standard three-node cluster can serve well over 100 cloud nodes, and the proprietary algorithms insure the most used files are available as the priori
Most recent headlines
13/03/2025
WASHINGTON FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced that the agency has launched a massive, new deregulatory initiative that could potentially subject virtually all ...
13/03/2025
SUNNYVALE, Calif. SDVI has announced that it has integrated its Rally media supply chain management platform with the Spectra Vail multi-cloud data management s...
13/03/2025
ATLANTA Gray Media has announced that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted a waiver of its local ownership rules to permit Gray Media to acqu...
13/03/2025
TV Tech: What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trends at the 2025 NAB Show?...
13/03/2025
Watch Student Naomi Soleils Folk Pop Performance on The Voice The songwriting major sang Stars by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals during the blind auditions.
...
12/03/2025
O Spotify acaba de lan ar o relat rio Loud & Clear deste ano, uma vis o transpar...
12/03/2025
Spotify acaba de presentar el informe Loud & Clear de este a o, una mirada trans...
12/03/2025
Ramadan, a period of profound spiritual significance for Muslims worldwide, is a time for fasting, prayer, reflection, and community. Enrich your experience thi...
12/03/2025
Spotify has just unveiled this year's Loud & Clear report, a transparent loo...
12/03/2025
More than 70% of FAST programming has been produced since 2010, according to new Gracenote report
NEW YORK March 12, 2025 Gracenote, the content data busin...
12/03/2025
GEONA, Nev. Independent digital and linear advertising rep firm Viamedia will adopt cloud-based ShowSeeker Pilot as its primary ad campaign and order management...
12/03/2025
BRUSSELS Mediagenix has announced that Wael Yasin has joined the company as sales director Central Europe....
12/03/2025
LONDON A new study highlights opportunities for shoppable TV and the massive impact online consumer spending is having on the economy, with Omdia predicting tha...
12/03/2025
CUPERTINO, Calif. Interra Systems has announced that Comcast Technology Solutions has integrated recent updates to BATON Version 9 into its operations....
12/03/2025
Nevion announces new 400G addition to its eMerge SDN media fabric offering
Brie Clayton March 12, 2025
0 Comments
High-capacity switch enhances existi...
12/03/2025
DaVinci Resolve Studio Delivers Cinematic Sound for Adam Bol
Brie Clayton March 12, 2025
0 Comments
Feature film relies on DaVinci Resolve Studio for ...
12/03/2025
SVT Leverages Ateliere Live to Pioneer 100% Software-Defined Production at Rally...
12/03/2025
Berklee Awards Fenway Neighborhood Improvement Grant to Four Organizations A total of $17,000 will be distributed among the Boston-based nonprofits.
By
Madd...
12/03/2025
TVBEuropes Jenny Priestley sits down with new SMPTE president Richard Welsh to discuss his aims for the organisation going forward, its efforts to attract a you...
12/03/2025
The new process has significantly enhanced operational efficiencies, with automation freeing up creators to concentrate on higher value tasks
By Matthew Corrig...
12/03/2025
Jellyfish Pictures, which has offices in London and Sheffield, said it has been battling hard in the face of strong headwinds over the last 12 months
By Jenny ...
12/03/2025
Visit Booth #W2213 to Experience the Latest in AI-Driven Content Discovery and Workflow Automation
Bitcentral, a leader in media workflow solutions, is set to ...
12/03/2025
CHICAGO Jeff Lilly has been named WGN-TV director of technology effective March 17, 2025, according to Ric Harris, WGN-TV vice president and general manager....
12/03/2025
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. A new study from LG Ad Solutions indicates that consumers want more features that would allow them to shop for products on the connected T...
12/03/2025
BOTHELL, Wash. The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) and the Video Services Forum (VSF) will once again present...
12/03/2025
PHILADELPHIA Comcast announced that it has upgraded Xfinity Internet speeds for more than 20 million customers for no additional cost....
12/03/2025
Create with Maxon: Cinema 4D Fundamentals Workshop - March 12-14
Brie Clayton March 11, 2025
0 Comments
Makin' Waffles with Elly Wade
During Marc...
12/03/2025
Ottawa, Canada - March 12, 2025 - Ross Video is pleased to announce the appointment of Aaron Tunnell as Business Development Director, Cloud Solutions, reinforc...
12/03/2025
12 Mar 2025
VEON to release 4Q 2024 trading update on 20 March 2025 Dubai, 12 March 2025 - VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON), a global digital operator, today confirms ...
12/03/2025
Getting set for the Winter Olympics: Inside SVT's ongoing software-based pro...
12/03/2025
THE PLAYERS Championship 2025: AI Commentary, Shared-Reality Viewing at COSM, La...
12/03/2025
Seamless SMPTE 2110: A Discussion on Making the Move to IP Less Painful Leaders from Netflix, Monumental Sports & Entertainment, LinkedI, and Megapixel address ...
12/03/2025
Opening Doors of Perception: Meta's Ajit Ninan on Rethinking AR/MR Perceptua...
12/03/2025
With the 2025 Formula 1 season set to begin in Melbourne on March 16, Sky Sports is gearing up to deliver its most comprehensive F1 coverage yet. Following a th...
12/03/2025
Unicanal and Trece TV revolutionize Digital TV in Paraguay with Rohde & Schwarz ...
12/03/2025
Honoring Service, Celebrating Sport: Rohde & Schwarz UK Sponsors NavyFit Rugby D...
12/03/2025
New HVS-Q12 Represents a Quantum Leap in Switcher Design...
12/03/2025
Telespazio and ABS Expand Partnership to Deliver Tailored C-Band Connectivity So...
12/03/2025
ABC conducts independent audits across the TAG programs. In the March 2025 TAG s...
12/03/2025
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Moonlight: ESA program to create a satellite con...
12/03/2025
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
In 2025, Thales ranks among the top 0.01% of the...
12/03/2025
Consumer show back following hugely successful first series
10 March 2025 Following a hugely successful first series, The Complaints Bureau returns to RT ...
11/03/2025
By Lucy Spicer
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival...
11/03/2025
Salsa is making a comeback, captivating new listeners with its infectious energy...
11/03/2025
For many people, music can serve as a reflection of their roots and upbringing. ...
11/03/2025
The solution delivers reliable, scalable and secure connectivity for critical pu...
11/03/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced that Weigel Broadcasting has deployed Harmonics VOS Media Software, which offers playout-to-delivery capabilities, inclu...
11/03/2025
NEW BERN, N.C. Wheatstone will introduce a Linux audio driver for its WheatNet IP audio network during the 2025 NAB Show, April 5-9, at the Las Vegas Convention...
11/03/2025
NEW YORK A new study finds that as TV viewership for women's sports surged by 131% in 2024, the programming also saw a 56% year-over-year increase in ad im...
11/03/2025
Powerful switcher for news studio
FOR-A, a cutting-edge video broadcast technology company backed by more than 50 years experience, has installed its HVS-1200 ...