Step 2 - Run a Good Test!

A Good Test = An Accurate Estimate

A good test is a sampling of frames throughout your scene.  The sampling should include a mixture of less complex and more complex frames.  Sampling is important because an average frame render time is used when calculating core hours and core hours are needed to determine your project costs.  Limiting your testing to the quickest and easiest frames would result in a lower average frame render time; lower core hours; lower costs and most likely a vastly inaccurate estimate.  The good news is we offer free unlimited testing. You can run as many tests as needed for any project, or the same project.  We also provide support to help you through every step. To run a good test, please use our Free Testing.

Why Do I Need To Run A Test?

As much as we would like to tell you how long your scene will take to render, without basic information - we cannot.   There is no typical scene, frame, shot, project or customer.  Many elements can effect render time; varying amounts of scene complexity, geometry, camera angles, render layers, resolution, lighting, reflection, etc.  Each of these components will effect to how long a frame takes to render.  We also cannot assume that your machine and ours will render at the same rate.  The only real way to be sure about render times on our machines and associated costs is to run a test on our servers. 

Benefits Of Testing

Testing is great for those new to cloud rendering with Render Rocket.  It familiarizes you with our workflow and our interface.  Testing also gives you the opportunity to benchmark render times and get accurate estimates.  By testing your project you can verify the output is correct.  Additionally, testing will allow you to make any scene optimizations or needed tweaks before you purchase credits on your final render.  Testing is Free and will give you actual data that assuming just can't provide. 

But I Don't Have Time To Run A Test...  I Just Need A Price!

We understand that you are in a hurry and possibly have tight deadlines.  We still strongly suggest you spend the time it takes to create an account and submit your test render.  This will provide accurate render times and project costs.  At the end of the day we want you to have a positive experience working with us and receive exactly what you are expecting.  Testing will help make sure you are provided accurate information about your project.  If you would like a ballpark estimate for processing time and pricing options we will do our very best to help you.  Additionally, if you find yourself in a situation where you are awaiting files and don't have any data to test yet, we can also try our best to help. 

Send an email to sales@stratuscore.com with the following information for a ballpark estimate:

• Total frames in your project
• Average time to render a frame
• Machines used to render (we are looking to total cores used per machine, this includes hyper-threading)
• Date you want to start your render
• Render deadline
• Available budget

Artist Care can help you with questions regarding price estimations, and render credit purchases. We can help you find the best pricing option for your render needs, budget and deadline.

Step 3 - Calculating Core Hours

After you have run a good test for your project on Render Rockets servers, you can quickly calculate your core hours and pricing options. 

To do this, click on the Render History link from the top band.  Your "Render History" page should now be open.  Under "Mission Name", click on the completed render.  You will then be directed to the "Mission Detail" page for that project.  On the Mission Detail page, you will see the "Pricing Estimator" link as detailed in the image below.  Select this link to open up the Render Rocket Project Estimator page.  Your average frame time from your test will be auto filled into the estimator. 

Simply enter the number of frames for your project and the estimator will calculate core hours, credit package pricing, "on-demand" pricing, and economy pricing options.  Currently, Render Rocket allows you to choose from 3 pricing options. (click on the links to explore pricing options)

On-Demand; Credit Packages (details available on your "Buy Credits" link within your account); Economy

Additional payment and pricing options such as educational pricing (students or institutions),
Paypal purchases, and bulk render credit purchases are available.

Once you have generated an estimate for your project, you can start rendering without a render credit package (if you have a credit card associated with your account) or you can select the render credit package that best fits your project needs.

If you have pricing questions please contact our team (support@stratuscore.com) to help determine the best pricing option for your project deadlines and or budget. 

Where Do I Find My Average Frame Render Time? 

You can find your average frame render time on the Mission Details page.  Log into your account, click on the "Render History" link to see your project render history.  Locate the project you want to view and click on the project name.  This will open up the "Mission Details" page.  The Mission Details page (see the image above) lists average frame render time as well as other pertinent information about your render job.

Additional Mission Details

Below is an example of the information you will find on the upper right hand corner of the Mission Detail Page.  For Example: This render job used 15.36 total core hours and the Average Frame Render Time was 5 Seconds.  Time is reported as Hours:Minutes:Seconds

More Information you will find on the Mission Details page

The Mission Details page will provide a summary of running or completed render job information. 

• Render software:  Software used  
• Project:  Project folder referenced  
• Scene File:  File Rendered  
• Mission Mode:  Test Mode, Standard Mode, Economy  
• Camera:  Camera Selected  
• Total Processing Time:  If the render job is complete, this is the total core hours used.  If job is still running, this is the core hours used up to this point (This will dynamically update as the project runs)
• Total Credits:  This will be the same as the total processing time.
  1 credit  = 1 core hour  
• Average Frame Render Time:  This is displayed as Hours: Minutes: Seconds 
• Last Update:  The last time this data was updated by our system

The Mission Details page also provides frame previews.  For jobs that are actively rendering, you will be able to determine the total number of frames currently rendering, completed frames, and queued frames. You can also pause or abort a render job and view render logs from completed frames. The Mission Details Page is where you can "monitor" your running project.