Rendering with Apple QMaster

Apple QMaster support is enabled for Monkey Extract Volume License holders.

Purchase a volume licence

Prepare your network nodes

Install Redline on each computer in your render farm

Redline is installed as part of Red Alert. You can download Red Alert directly from Red Support.
Redline will currently only run on Intel Mac with Mac OS X 10.4 and above.

Install QMaster.app on each computer in your render farm

QMaster.app can be installed from the Final Cut Studio installation disc.
If you do not have access to Apple QMaster you can instead use the "Export Script" function in Monkey Extract with an alternate Render Farm manager.

Ensure that your shared storage is accessible

Monkey Extract sends redline commands to QMaster with fixed Source and Destination paths.
For this to work:

The same exact paths must be accessible from each computer.
Each computer must have sufficient privileges to read and write to those paths.

High network bandwidth and fast storage are essential in obtaining fast render speeds.
Your CPUs will only run at 100% if your network and storage can keep up with demand.

Create your QMaster Cluster

Create Your Service Nodes

Set aside one of the computers as a cluster controller.
On all the other computers:

Open up the Apple QMaster settings from your System Preferences.
Select Share this computer as: "Services Only"
Ensure that "Share" is ticked for the "Rendering" service.
Click "Start Sharing"

Create a Cluster Controller

On the computer you chose as a Cluster Controller:

Open up the Apple QMaster settings from your System Preferences.
Select Share this computer as: "Quick Cluster with Services"
Ensure that "Share" is ticked for the "Rendering" service.
Type in a name for your Quick Cluster. You'll need this in Monkey Extract later.
Click "Start Sharing"

Render Your Footage

Using Monkey Extract to launch QMaster jobs

After launching Monkey Extract:

Choose "Render Red Footage".
Begin the render process, selecting "Render with Apple QMaster".
Enter your "Quick Cluster Name" and the maximum number of jobs you want queued in Apple QMaster.
you should choose a value:
- Greater than the total CPU cores in your cluster
- Lower than the maximum batches allowed in your cluster
  Note: a "Quick Cluster" is limited to around 100 batches.
You should tend towards lower values for this setting. Large batch counts can cause QMaster to become slow or unresponsive.
Monkey Extract will keep track of jobs remaining and submit them when there is space in the queue.

If you open the "Batch Monitor" in Apple QMaster and select your Quick Cluster on the left... your render jobs should now be visible.

Limitations

Monkey Extract is unable to handle post-processing on footage rendered through Apple QMaster.

Rendering to DPX

Monkey Extract will be unable to update DPX file headers automatically when using QMaster. If you need the headers updated you will need to use the stand-alone "Update DPX Headers" function in Monkey Extract after rendering.

Rendering to Quicktime

Monkey Extract will not be able to rename Quicktime files after render since redline does not handle custom naming of Quicktime Files. It will instead add a number to the end of each filename to avoid overwriting.

Relinking for conform may be difficult in the case where you have multiple cuts from the same source clip. It may be worthwhile using "Render between min in and max out" instead of "Render only the frames used" to avoid this problem.

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