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How to use Google Colab as a Render Farm
🕑 Added 2022-08-05 05:07:22 +0000 UTCThis tutorial covers using Google Colab as a render farm.
Useful Links:
Colab Rendering Notebook Download (Original Code Source)
Blender Downloads - Current/Previous Versions
❗❗ When adding Blender versions to the code the download links must be the Linux versions of Blender.
Other Useful Tutorials:
Converting Images to Video using Blender
* You also want to make sure your render is optimized correctly to help out with the render speed before you upload the project *
Blender 3.0 Render Settings - Optimize Render Time
Ultimate Render Optimization Guide featuring Cycles X
5 Tips for FASTER Renders in Blender Cycles
Notes:
Okay, let's talk more about render farms. Google Colab is such a surprisingly affordable option. I'm not kidding when I say the prices for other render farms can be soooo steep. I did a test once with Concierge Render, and it was $5 for 10 secs of animation, imagine rendering an episode/movie like that 😩
Colab has its faults tho, it's not the fastest but even more annoyingly it'll randomly not want to render anymore because of some issue with the code then you have to go on a google hunt to find the solution. Honestly, it's alright dealing with that to have a cheap render farm option.
I said there were other monthly options: RenderStreet and Render Pool
RenderStreet - The monthly subscription here should really be a last resort. It is CPU only and that is so slow. I mean really slow like 20 mins - 1hr+ per frame.
Render Pool - I was so excited when I first saw this because I'm like "Cool, another monthly subscription render farm!" but unfortunately it's not unlimited, and at the time, I believe it was limited to only CPU rendering for Blender? I don't completely remember but there was something wrong.
This is why I'm so surprised with Google Colab being so cheap and "unlimited". It's probably because it's not meant to render but for deep learning and etc. Colab might limit your usage if you render too much though. I highly recommend having multiple pro plans on separate google accounts. To have backup and more sessions to run your renders.
❗ You should also render a few test frames on your PC before rendering with Colab, just to make sure everything looks good.
❗ You also might want to upgrade your Google Drive space because the project files and rendered images take up a lot of space.
