Set up mental ray Satellite and Standalone

To set up mental ray network rendering

1. Ensure that you have networked workstations. The slave machines must be accessible on the network where the master machine is installed.
2. Ensure that any firewall software is not interfering with the operation of your network rendering software.
3. Ensure that all necessary services (for mental ray standalone or Satellite) are running.

   For example, the Satellite installer should be used on both the master and slave machines, in order to create the correct service entries.

4. Set the environment variable MI_RAY_SERVICE=mi-raysat2016 either in maya.env for the master machine, or mentalray.mod for all slave machines, if using Satellite.
5. Set up your master machine by creating a rayhost file. Ensure that it is located in the right directory. You can set up your master machine using mental ray standalone or mental ray for Maya.

   For more information, see:

   • Set up a master machine with mental ray for Maya.
   • Set up a master machine with mental ray standalone (method 1).
   • Set up a master machine with mental ray standalone (method 2).
6. Install mental ray standalone or mental ray for Maya Satellite on each slave machine. All slave machines require mental ray for Maya Satellite or mental ray standalone.

   If you have multiple versions of mental ray standalone installed (not recommended), each must have their own TCP port number in the services file to avoid conflict. For more information, see mental ray standalone.

7. Set up your slave machine(s) by following these instructions: Slave machine setup.
8. To verify which hosts file is being read, and which render slaves are being used, use the ray command with a verbosity setting of 4 or higher. For more information, see Set up a master machine with mental ray standalone (method 1).
9. To submit a render job, follow these instructions: Submit a job to render over the network.