Firewall?

Vegas is installed on both machines and same versions.

If it were a firewall, what would I need to adjust? I can read/write to both computers from the other now. Both are on my own network (behind the firewall).

Any other suggestions out there?

If you use something like windows firewall, check its scope to allow access to the network render app full access to your local network. Net rendering is somewhere around port 53601 (off teh top of my head - been a while), so not the usual port 80 a-la internet.

I would sugges tread/write permissions/network permissions also, but you've already done that.

Are you referring to network machien by name, or IP (and does it list the network machine in the render service as a node available)?

Here's some ideas from earlier posts:

Network render bugs, suggestions, & solutions

Also:

Network Render Directions

However, I get this message frequently and have found a few other things to look for. I found these after posting in the links above. So, here goes:

1. You MUST have valid network shares for every drive/folder that contains media in your project. Fortunately, as long as you share the parent (the root folder is the "ultimate" parent), all the folders contained below that folder are shared as well, so you don't need to share the subfolders explicitly.

2. However, if you forget to share a folder, and the network renderer on your source computer (the one with all the project files) is already running, you must close the network renderer, and then start it again!!. I have found this to be the most common reason for the problem you are having.

3. You obviously must start the network render service on the remote computer. Generally that's all you have to do on the remote computer (or computers). You don't need to map drives or specify renderers.

4. You DO have to specify the renderer manually. This is a pain in the neck, because it isn't always obvious what name to use, and you have to type it in from the keyboard. I don't know why Vegas can't present a list of names and let you choose.

I generally do things in this order:

1. Start all the remote renderers.
2. Make sure I have shared all the local drives that contain media used in the project (the sharing is done using standard Windows Explorer share commands).
3. Open the network rendering service on the local computer and specify renderers and shares.
4. Close the network rendering service.
5. Start Vegas (close it if it is already open, and then re-start it), open the project, and then select Render As, specifying that I want to use network rendering.

...

Well, here's a little postscript. I was going to attach a little visual tutorial, but in the process of creating it, guess what? I got the same network fail problem that you got. It took me awhile to remember what I did last time to get around this, and I finally hit on it. Keep Vegas open, but close the network render service (you should see it in your systray area, near the clock). Make sure it is closed, not just minimized to the tray. Next, open the Network Render Service from the Start button (i.e., NOT from the Render As dialog). Finally, go to the Render As dialog in Vegas, and select network rendering. Sometimes you end up with a duplicate of the remote renderer. Pick the first of the two. This seemed to cure the problem for me.

The whole network render thing is flaky

"The whole network render thing is flaky"

and because of that fact is why i bought a quad.. although id LURVE to run 2 quads across a network and render with both...

one question though, does network rendering still not work with MPG2? ie HDV?