Render farms have become essential tools for companies in the visual effects, animation, and architectural visualization industries. They provide the necessary computational power and resources to efficiently render complex and resource-intensive projects. Two prominent render farm services in the market are Fox Render Farm and 3S Cloud Render Farm. Both platforms offer rendering solutions to help companies meet their project deadlines and achieve high-quality results. In this comparison, we will explore the features and benefits of these render farms and analyze how they can benefit companies in their rendering workflows.
How do Render Farms benefit companies?
Render farms provide substantial benefits to companies by enhancing the rendering process. These companies understand the time-consuming and resource-intensive nature of rendering animations and visual effects (VFX). Companies often face challenges with long rendering times that can span from hours to days, or even months for larger studios. Render farms play a pivotal role in addressing these challenges, offering three main advantages.
Firstly, render farms significantly boost efficiency by providing accelerated rendering speeds. Projects that would normally take a considerable amount of time to render on personal computers can now be completed much faster with the assistance of a render farm. These companies utilize powerful computing resources to render projects swiftly and efficiently.
Lastly, render farm companies enable companies to achieve higher quality outputs. By leveraging advanced rendering techniques and infrastructure, companies can create more realistic and detailed artwork. Render farms provide the necessary resources and capabilities to companies’ render projects at higher resolutions, resulting in superior visual quality and attention to detail.
What are Fox Render Farm and 3S Cloud Render Farm?
1/ 3S Cloud Render Farm
3S Cloud Render Farm is a cloud-based rendering service that allows users to offload rendering tasks to a network of computers. Based on the power of the biggest cloud vendors, 3S has already supported rendering projects using Houdini, Redshift, Cinema 4D, Octane, Maya, 3ds Max, Vray, Corona, Arnold, Blender, Cycles, Eevee, Luxcorerender, and more software.
3S Cloud Render Farm offers a competitive pricing structure for its services. The price per Ghz-hr is set at $0.0042, providing users with cost-effective rendering solutions. It is worth noting that the price for CPU rendering is $0.0126 per GHz/hour, while GPU rendering is priced at $0.0042 per GHz/hour. In addition to its affordable pricing, 3S Cloud Render Farm also offers a $5 free trial to new users. Furthermore, 3S Cloud Render Farm includes the convenient feature of free preview rendering. Users can preview their renders at no cost before proceeding with the full rendering process.
It covers both CPU and GPU capabilities, coordinating 500-1000 machines simultaneously. The GPU configuration includes 8 x NVIDIA A10G cards, 96 vCPUs RAM 384GB, G2 gen GPU 8 x NVIDIA L4 96 vCPUs, and 384 GB RAM. The CPU configuration includes C3 gen 176 cpu-threads, 352GB RAM, N Gen 96 vCPU, and 384 GB memory. It also provides the flexibility to utilize other AWS models to meet different budgets and specific requirements.
2/ Fox Render Farm
Fox Render Farm is a cloud rendering service available as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution. It offers the convenience of rendering your work through any browser-enabled device or supporting design software like 3ds Max, Maya, Houdini, Blender, and C4D. With comprehensive documentation and tutorials, Fox Render Farm provides guidance on utilizing its online rendering service effectively.
In terms of pricing, Fox Render Farm offers reasonable rates, including a $25 render credit for users to evaluate their services upon registration. The pricing structure is set at $0.06 per core per hour for CPU rendering and $2 per node per hour for GPU rendering. Their rendering power is substantial, with each node having 16 cores and 2 GPUs, and an impressive total of 6000 nodes available.
Overall, Fox Render Farm combines accessibility, flexibility, and competitive pricing, making it an attractive option for artists seeking efficient and high-quality cloud-rendering services
The similarities of 2 render farms:
Both render farms share several similarities. Firstly, they are both render farms, leveraging the power of cloud computing to accelerate rendering for 3D artists, eliminating concerns about rendering speed on personal computers. With their cloud rendering infrastructure, they can harness the combined computing power of thousands of machines to deliver high-performance rendering.
Another similarity lies in their customer support teams. Both render farms have dedicated experts with specialized knowledge in graphics and computers. These support teams are available around the clock through various channels, ensuring prompt and helpful assistance for customers worldwide.
Outstanding Features of 3S Cloud Render Farm
Preview Image
Our cutting-edge technology optimizes resource allocation, minimizing wastage and maximizing efficiency, we have high-quality expense tracking that allows customers able to see the preview image and cost
Users can sign up for a free trial and receive a $5 credit to test out the services and explore the available features. Additionally, 3S Cloud offers a free preview render option, which enables users to preview their renders before committing to the full rendering process. This allows users to make necessary adjustments and ensure the desired output before utilizing their allocated rendering resources. Gone are the days of waiting for the entire rendering process to complete before assessing the outputs. Instead, 3S Cloud renders a single frame at a smaller size and promptly generates a preview image for users to evaluate the render quality, along with important details regarding render time and cost.
Estimated Cost
The Cost Estimator is a handy tool that simplifies the process of estimating the cost and time required for your rendering projects. By inputting your project details, this tool generates an estimate tailored to your specific needs.
To get started, you first select the 3D software and render engine that you will be using for your project. This ensures accurate calculations based on the specific software requirements. Next, you have the option to choose between CPU or GPU processing and select your device configuration. This allows you to align the estimation with the capabilities of your own workstation. Afterward, you input the average time it takes to render one frame on your workstation, along with the total number of frames you intend to render on 3S Cloud Render Farm. This information helps the tool accurately gauge the time and cost involved in rendering your project.
Flexible to choose methods to transfer files
3S Cloud offers three file upload methods: Web Browser, 3S Uploader Tool, or External Storage (Google Drive/Dropbox). Smooth uploading is ensured for files under 500 MB, but for larger projects, use the Uploader Tool for faster and more stable uploads.
By leveraging the auto-sync feature, artists can ensure that their render results are promptly and effortlessly transferred to the cloud storage platform of their choice. Whether it’s Google Drive or Dropbox, the synchronization process is simplified and streamlined, enhancing productivity and convenience.
Get Started Easily
Getting started with 3S Cloud Render Farm is incredibly easy. All you need is a valid email address, and you can create your account right away. 3S Cloud’s aim is to provide a user-friendly platform that allows people to access render farm effortlessly.
To ensure a smooth onboarding experience, 3S Cloud offers an introduction that guides you through the process. This introduction provides step-by-step instructions and helpful tips to make your journey into the world of cloud rendering a seamless one. Additionally, they have a tutorial video available, which visually explains how to navigate our platform and maximize its potential. By simplifying the account creation process and offering introductory resources, we strive to make it as convenient as possible for users to access and utilize 3S Cloud Render Farm. So, join 3S Cloud today and experience the power and efficiency of cloud rendering
Powerful Hardware: CPU and GPU
3S Cloud offers CPU and GPU rendering options. CPU rendering includes three server types:
GPU Servers:
- 8 x NVIDIA A10G cards, 96 vCPUs RAM 384GB
- G2 gen GPU 8 x NVIDIA L4 96 vCPUs, 384 GB RAM
CPU Servers:
- C3 gen 176 cpu-threads, 352GB RAM
- N Gen 96 vCPU, 384 GB memory
By providing a range of CPU server types and GPU options, 3S Cloud Render Farm enables users to choose the rendering resources that best align with their project needs. Whether it’s leveraging the power of CPUs for CPU-intensive tasks or harnessing the parallel processing capabilities of GPUs, users can optimize their rendering workflow and achieve efficient and high-quality results.
User-friendly dashboard screen:
With 3S Cloud Render Farm`s dashboard screen, you can easily stay updated on the progress of your render jobs. It provides convenient access to essential information, including the number of active jobs and completed jobs, allowing you to keep track of your projects efficiently. Additionally, the Dashboard displays the remaining credits you have for rendering and the credits you have utilized within the current month, ensuring you have a clear understanding of your resource usage.
Furthermore, the Dashboard provides comprehensive details about your render jobs. You can view the specific time, cost, and status of each rendered job, empowering you to monitor their progress effectively. Additionally, you can access information about the render engine and device utilized for each job, enabling you to optimize your workflow and make informed decisions.
Our rendering process is designed to be seamless and user-friendly. Once you have created an account, all you need to do is follow our instructions to upload your project files. Afterward, you can effortlessly review the settings and submit your render jobs, making the entire process quick and straightforward. Upon completion of the rendering process, you can easily download your outputs directly from the Dashboard. This streamlined approach ensures a hassle-free experience and allows you to retrieve your finished renders promptly.
Fox Render Farm:
Cost Estimation tool
Fox Render Farm provides a Cost Estimation tool that allows users to estimate the time and cost without incurring any additional fees. Users simply select the GPU/CPU type, number of frames, and display time on Fox’s workstations. Although they do not offer options for Cinebench/OctaneBench scores, the conversion process, and time may vary depending on the 3D software, render engine, and settings. Nevertheless, users will receive a preliminary estimate for their project.
For added certainty, users can utilize the free trial to obtain the most accurate results. Fox Render Farm offers $25 in free credits upon first registration ($20 automatically and an additional $5 when selecting specific software). The free trial can be extremely beneficial as users can compare the results with their own computers and determine if the service is worth the investment.
Free File Transfer
Fox Render Farm has developed its own file transfer application called Raysync. Raysync enables users to upload files of any type and size, without limitations on formats. After uploading files, users can utilize the Raysync Client to check the transfer speed and time. We tested file uploads via Raysync, and a 100MB file took approximately 5-10 seconds, while a 10GB file took around 15 minutes. With its fast speed, Raysync truly provides a high-speed transfer solution.
Multiple Packages and Reasonable Pricing
Fox Render Farm offers various machine configurations for customers to choose from. Users can select from GPU options such as 1080Ti, 2080 Ti, 3060, 3090, and Tesla T4, while CPU options range from 16/24/28 cores. The pricing ranges from $0.96 to $4 per hour, which we find to be quite reasonable..
How there are some weaknesses of each rendered farm
3S Cloud Render Farm:
Fewer supporting software
3S Cloud provides various software applications and resources to users over the internet. While it offers a wide range of software options, it is evident that not all popular software and their full versions are supported by 3S Cloud. However, 3S Cloud Workstation is a flexible solution that accommodates unsupported software, providing alternative options for users, a cloud-based platform, that provides enhanced scalability through its readily available machines, customizable workstation configurations, and the option to choose from multiple regions for optimized performance and compliance.
Less discount
Although the 3S Cloud Render Farm offers promotional discounts, it is worth noting that the magnitude of these discounts may be greater with other providers. While some competitors, such as Fox Renderfarm, occasionally provide discounts of up to 50%, the discounts offered by 3S Cloud Render Farm typically range from 8% to 30%
However, 3S Cloud Render Farm always tries to offer various promotional programs to provide optimal cost benefits to its users. The $5 free trial and free preview render are part of these initiatives. The $5 free trial allows new users to experience the platform and its features without any initial financial commitment. It is an excellent opportunity to assess the performance, features, and cost-effectiveness of 3S Cloud Render Farm before making a long-term commitment. Additionally, the free preview render feature allows users to preview their renders at no cost before initiating the full rendering process. This preview helps users ensure that the desired output is achieved before utilizing their allocated rendering resources
Fox Render Farm
Low compatibility:
Fox Render Farm supports only a limited number of design software, including Maya, 3ds Max, Houdini, C4D, and Blender, along with specific renderers like Redshift, Arnold, Vray, Clarisse, Renderman, Corona, and Katana. Users who work with other design software may find limited compatibility with Fox Render Farm.
Lack of flexibility:
Fox Render Farm operates as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), where users interact through an application or web application, and upload their projects to the provider’s server for rendering. This process follows a specific workflow and is charged based on rendering time. While this approach avoids hidden costs, it may lack flexibility for users who require more control or customization. Users must navigate through a multi-step process, and waiting times for rendering can lead to potential delays and missed deadlines.
Lack of precision:
As a SaaS service, Fox Render Farm may not fully understand the file settings that artists have made during the design process. Issues such as missing asset files can require users to retrace their steps, re-upload files, and start the rendering process again. Occasionally, job failures may occur, leading to frustration and time wasted.
Conclusion:
The information provided above offers an unbiased review of two popular Render Farms. Each of these platforms has its own strengths and weaknesses. One Render Farm may excel in areas where the other falls short, and vice versa. Ultimately, selecting the right Render Farm for your needs depends on various factors, including software design, compatibility, flexibility, support team, cost, and render time.
It is crucial to carefully consider these factors, particularly compatibility, and efficiency, in order to make the best choice for yourself. Keep in mind your specific requirements and preferences when evaluating the available options. Take your time to assess the suitability of each Render Farm based on these factors, ensuring that your decision aligns with your needs and goals.