Check out Pulze’s promising new 3ds Max Render Manager
Pulze, the tools development spin-off of architectural visualisation firm Brick Visual, has released Render Manager, its promising new render management software.
Pitched as “the first render manager for arch viz”, the software is intended to provide intuitive, streamlined tools for managing a render farm running 3ds Max and V-Ray or Corona Renderer.
An artist-friendly render management tool with a neat 3ds Max-specific features
Officially released last week after an extensive beta period, Render Manager is intended to be an artist-friendly way to manage architectural render jobs – or 3ds Max render farms in general.
Pulze describes it as “simplified and automated as much as possible” for general users, while retaining “highly sophisticated” control for IT managers.
As well as standard tools for submitting and monitoring render jobs, and for managing user permissions, it has a number of interesting specialist features.
One is automatic monitoring of add-ons: Render Manager automatically detects commmon 3ds Max plugins, including arch viz tools like RailClone, Forest Pack and Anima, and VFX tools like tyFlow and Phoenix FD.
The software’s “requirements-based selective resource allocation system” then automatically allocates space on the render farm with an individual job’s plugin requirements in mind.
Render Manager also automatically performs a set of ‘sanity checks‘, designed to catch and resolve common errors with 3ds Max, V-Ray and Corona render set-ups before a render fails.
Part of a range of professional workflow tools for architectural visualisation
Render Manager is Pulze’s third workflow utility, following Scene Manager, intended to keep large 3ds Max scenes organised, and Post Manager, which automates the process of compositing render passes.
All were developed with input from large architectural firms, including SOM and Woods Bagot, and are intended for serious visualisation work.
Pricing and system requirements
Render Manager is available for Windows only, and is compatible with 3ds Max 2014+, V-Ray 3.0+ and Corona Renderer 3.0+. It’s rental-only, with prices currently starting at £5/month (around $6.50/month).