Features

You can view a summary of the features of Smedge in the Smedge Product Sheet, which can also show you how Smedge stacks up against some of the competition.

Simple Installation

Smedge can be up and running on a machine on a download – install – render manner.
See how easy it is on the download page:

http://www.uberware.net/download.php

For many products, Smedge will automatically find the executable for you
when it is run the first time.
You can also configure system-wide default properties for Engine
settings and Product options that will be automatically applied to new
engines when they connect.
This vastly simplifies and can automate the configuration you need to
add new Engines.

Simple, powerful, central management

Any property of any Engine or any Job can be viewed and configured from
any other node.
You can configure groups of Engines at one time, and you can use
defaults and presets for both Engines and Jobs to simplify how you
configure things.
The GUI is streamlined for the kind of work your artists need to
actually do with the renders, like checking the frames and finding the
causes of render errors and problems.

The Conspectus component displays the status of all of your Engines as
an easy to read graph showing the CPU and memory usage for each node in
real time.
This makes monitoring your machines as simple as scanning a graph.
See the screenshots for a simple example.

This powerful management can be restricted for your artists, so that
they can not change things you don’t want them to change.
You can always enter “administrator mode” on any node to return it to
full system access.
Combine this with the simplified service/daemon installation system, and
you have a tool ideal for quickly deploying into a shared lab
environment so you can turn your work labs into a giant renderfarm when
no one is using them.

Handles Any Render Pipeline

Smedge ships with a large variety of Modules to control most of today’s
popular animation and compositing tools.
Most of the application specific Modules can be easily customized to add
new versions easily.
For more pipeline specific customization, a system of “Virtual Modules”
can be used to streamline Job submission and error detection.
The Virtual Modules are implemented using a very simple INI style text
file that configures the parameters and syntax needed to control just
about any command line based rendering application.

There is a component that can monitor the system and respond to any
event in the Job and Work lifecycle with arbitary actions, including
sending emails or running scripts.
You can also attach arbitrary command line operations to events on a Job
by Job basis as part of the basic Job data.
Finally, if you really want to go to town, you can use the Smedge API to
write your own Modules that can do anything you can dream of with a
computer.

Smedge currently includes Modules to control:

Production Tested

Smedge has been in production use for over 15 years and used in
production at facilities with over 1,000 nodes online.
It is currently in producton use at top production facilities, education
facilities, and commercial render farms all around the world.
Users have had hundreds of machines running thousands of jobs and
millions of frames, of all possible resolutions.

Powerful and Intuitive GUI

Smedge includes a graphical Shell application that allows you full
control over every aspect of your system, in a format that allows you to
see the status of anything with ease.
Yet it also includes integrated security that allows you to limit the
amount of control that users have.
The GUI is also highly customizable.
You can filter the list views, create your own list views, determine
which data you want to see in each list, and reorder the list columns to
suit your needs.

It has a powerful interface for editing Jobs and the ability to quickly
and easily configure all settings for all of your engines at one time.
The GUI, as with any Shell application, will automatically have the
ability to submit and control any new Products you develop, maintaining a
consistent and understandable interface for your users.

There are also extra graphic Shell programs that allow customized
interaction, including the Herald, which you can configure to respond to
Job or Work events with one of several actions.
Actions available range from displaying a message or playing a sound to
sending an email, executing a command or saving Job or Work information
to a file.

Ready for automation

Smedge ships with a suite of commandline driven Shell programs, giving
you the tools you need to deeply integrate Smedge into your full
production pipeline with simple batch scripts, built-in scripting
languages in third-party applications (like MEL), or through any
programming language you please.
Included Shells:

Seamless cross-platform operation

    Available on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

All Smedge components are designed to work seamless across platforms.
You can run any component on any type of machine and all of your
machines will automatically integrate with each other.
You can also set up automatic path translations across platforms so that
when you submit a Job from Windows with a drive letter, the Linux
clients will be able to find the same file with the correct Unix style
path.

Wake on LAN

Smedge has integrated Wake-on-LAN technology to help reduce the costs of
running your farm by allowing machines to enter a low-power “sleep”
mode when they are idle, and then waking them up when there is work.
This can reduce the overhead of running your farm by using less
electricity, reducing your costs and helping the environment.

Redundant Self-Managing Master

The heart of the Smedge system is the highly scalable Master, which
automatically expands and releases its use of your computer’s resources
as it actually needs them, in real time.
The Master manages the system and keeps the data synchronized between
each node.
The Master also keeps a real time, disk based backup of everything in
the system, and will automatically recover its own data.
Any machine can take over as the Master automatically and seamlessly if
the current Master machine goes down.
You do not have to specifically pick any machine role, nor do you have
to enforce that only a single Master is running on your network.

Automatic Engine Mode

Smedge can optimize its performance automatically without the need for
specialized training.
Smedge detects when machines are being used only for rendering, and
automatically reduces its own overhead usage of the system CPU, memory
and network by disabling parts of it that are not needed for doing work.
The system is highly configurable, at the system and machine local
level, and can even automatically detect if it is started on a dedicated
rendering machine if the machine is named “Render” or “Blade” or
something similar.

Division of Labor

Smedge has a collection of interlocking components that all work
together to actually do the work of Smedge.
This division of labor makes it possible to add, remove, update or
replace any individual component with ease, often without even having to
shut down your system.
New Job types (called “Products”) can be added, some as easily as adding
a few lines in a text file.
Similarly, all user interaction is through “Shell” programs, which allow
you to control any aspect of your system’s operation, without
interfering with the operation of the Master or the Engines that are
doing the work.

Automatic Font Synchronization

Smedge can automatically ensure that font resources that may be required
for your project to render are correctly installed on the remote
rendering nodes as needed.
Fonts are copied from a source folder that can be specified for each job
and will be installed if they are not currently available.
The system can also automatically remove the fonts after they are no
longer needed to ensure that your system does not get overwhelmed with
too many fonts over time.

Customizable Inteface

The main graphical interface for interacting with Smedge can be
customized to your needs.
You can set up new tabs (“Views”) that filter the data displayed based
on various criteria, and you can also change and reorder the columns
that are shown in the lists.
Each view can be further filtered to help quickly find the job or engine
you are looking for.

Event driven architecture

Smedge uses an event-driven internal architecture to make the most use
of your available resources.
It also means that Shells can be kept up-to-date automatically, all with
a minimum of additional overhead on your network.
Additionally, Smedge offers several ways that you can leverage these
events for yourself, allowing you to respond to events by performing any
number of customizable actions.

Easily extensible

Edit a simple text file to create your own custom Products, complete
with integrated parameters.
Some products allow easy customization for different versions, and the
Virtual Module system allows you to create your own Module to control
nearly anything.
Smedge uses a simple variable substitution system to get the data from
your definition file into the system, and allow you to access it again,
for example in reponse to the event commands or when actually performing
the work.

Multiple Job Prioritizations

Smedge includes several ways to organize and prioritize your Jobs,
including a numerical priority for each Job and “Pools” of machines that
can be prioritized for each Engine.
You can also configure Smedge to use either a “first-in, first-out”
queue for otherwise equal priority Jobs, or to perform the work
“round-robin” style, making sure that every unfinished Job gets some
machine time.

Operation as a Service/daemon

Smedge can be configured to run as a background process (often known as
“Service” or “daemon”), allowing you to operate Smedge without having to
log in and consume the extra memory and CPU processing required for a
normal user terminal.
This means that more of the machine resources are available for the
work.

Automatic Shared Disk Management

On Windows, Smedge can automatically attempt to remap network drives
that may be required for your Jobs to process correctly, even when
running as a Service.
The system can be defined as an option for specific Products, or as a
parameter of your Jobs themselves.