Possibility of transfering timeline to rendering machine ??

jboy wrote on 12/29/2001, 11:52 PM
Does anybody know if it's possible to transfer what's on the timeline of one computer, to a networked second computer, also running VV3.0 ? It'd be nice to be able to pass along chunks of edited material for rendering to a dedicated second machine, thereby freeing up the first machine for continuing work. No one I've spoken with seems to know how to do this. Could you do it by saving your work as a vegas project file, then transfering the project to the second render box containing the same avi files as on the first computer ?

Comments

Chienworks wrote on 12/30/2001, 12:11 AM
Ummmm, i can't think of any reason why what you described wouldn't
work. In fact, even before i read that procedure you described, i was
going to say that as the answer to your question.

Definately have copies of all the source files on BOTH computers though.
Rendering through a network would make glaciers melting seem fast! I
also won't guarantee you'll have no troubles if both computers tried
opening the same .avi file at the same time. It probably wouldn't cause
any trouble, but then again it might generate some OS complaints.
Sonic_Curt wrote on 12/30/2001, 6:58 AM
Transferring project files between computers works very well in Vegas (and ACID). This was one of the prime directives in their design.

You can use several methods to transfer the files:

1. Just copy the directory structure of all media files used to the second computer. If there are descrepancies in drive letters, etc. Vegas will prompt you to resolve them...
2. Use Save As to 'copy media and trim with project file' (the checkbox at the bottom of the Save As dialog box)
3. Leave the media where it is and tell Vegas to 'find' the media on the network when it asks. As noted, if you have a slow network this can be significantly slower than copying the files to the new computer. However, there are some great cheap network options today that can help (see note below).

A few other things to note:

1. It is entirely OK to have multiple copies of Vegas accessing the same physical media files.
2. You can run multiple copies of Vegas on a single computer. By doing this, you can have several projects rendering at once on a single computer (and even in the background as you continue to work on another project).

If you use #2 to render in the background, it will obviously take computer cycles away from the foreground copy... this can make things sluggish (especially on single processor computers). But you can still 'work.'

Network options mentioned above:

1. 1394/FireWire/i.Link. It works and is reasonably fast. And you likely already have the hardware for this. Windows XP should make this easy to set up.
2. Gigabit Ethernet. It's here and fairly cheap. This is a great option for studios with multiple computers at work.

Note that using files across a network will still be slower than if those files were on local fast hard disks... but it may be fast enough to save you the trouble of constantly making copies of you media files (which in itself takes time).

One other issue: If your media is being 'read' from the computer you are continuing work on, it will slow your computer down (because it is acting as a server to the second computer). But you can do it, and it might work for some situations quite well.

-curt.
Caruso wrote on 12/30/2001, 7:25 AM
You might also want to consider external 1394 hard drives. If you keep all your files for a given project segregated to one of the drives, it's a simple matter to simply unplug that drive from one machine and plug it into the other . . . instant "transfer" of data from one machine to the other. And, of course, performance will be as fast as a 1394 connection of an external drive allows (I certainly am not expert enough to quote performance specs for you, but the difference is insignificant enough that available space considerations always overide performance concerns when this user makes disk management selections in preparation for capturing or rendering).

Works for me.

Caruso
kkolbo wrote on 12/31/2001, 12:50 PM
Stupid question. Isn't having a second box on your network rendering with another copy of VV3 a violation of the copyright unless a second license is purchased? Yes I know that the answer is yes, but I am tring to promote SF offering a reduced license fee to do just that. Either that or make avaiable a render engine for that purpose.

I am sure there are folks out there who have set up a second box to render using the same copy of VV3 without an addtional license. I will bet it does not bother SF because it is still one user etc. Just becuase of the business I am in, I do not do that because I am obsessive about complying with copyrights. I would love it if SF could issue a waiver for that purpose, make available a render engine, or offer a reduced license fee for a render unit.

Just my two cents worth.

Keith