Audi R8 interior, rendered with Nvidia Iray
Nvidia Iray, the physically-based rendering technology optimised for Nvidia GPUs, can now be accelerated across a cluster of workstations or servers.
Nvidia’s new distributed rendering software, Iray Server, is designed to co-ordinate a network of machines to reduce the time taken to render an image. Nvidia says it allows users to process images in a fraction of the time it would take a single machine.
Nvidia says Iray Server can be used with any Nvidia Iray rendering product without any overhead of the host application.
This includes tools that use Iray (SolidWorks Visualize, Catia Live Rendering, and Siemens NX Ray Traced Studio) as well as Iray plugs-ins (3ds Max and Maya – and soon Revit, Rhino and Cinema4D).
For real time feedback, interactive rendering can also be streamed from Iray Server to another machine, allowing a laptop to have ‘multi-GPU power’ when using Nvidia professional GPUs.
How it works: Nvidia Iray Server.
Iray server provides distributed Iray rendering across networked machines. It can run on Windows or Linux.
With Iray Server users from across the network can submit jobs to a Queue, which can be managed from any browser that can reach the network — even from a phone.
Nvidia says submitting jobs is fast, easy and reliable and there is no reliance on paths or naming. Previously submitted information is securely cached, so the same geometry or image is never sent twice.
Iray Server is available now as a free 90-day trial. It runs on Windows and Linux, and can coordinate with Iray client machines regardless of their operating system.
Iray for Maya plug-in
