• Why is my render node loading a file called “.TempLW1”, and not the file I loaded into RenderFarm Commander?
• I’ve just opened RenderFarm Commander, and all of my node names are gone.
• What are all of these files in the SNCExtensions folder?
• What are all of these folders in the SNCPreferences folder?
• My render nodes seem to be working, but all I get are .flx files, rather than the format I specified.
• When I run ScreamerNet on my node, I get the message
  “Can’t open job file ‘job1’”
• My render Node appears to be working, but it doesn’t save any images.
• When using a particle emitter, the particles appear in different positions when rendered on different nodes. The result has particles flickering all over the place!
• My render Nodes keep crashing when they are loading a scene.
• Some of my render nodes work, but some don’t.
• Why do you have a picture or your face all over your website?
  

Why is my render node loading a file called “.TempLW1”, and not the file I loaded into RenderFarm Commander?
RenderFarm Commander makes a duplicate of your LightWave® file when you add it to the list. This is because RenderFarm Commander makes small changes to your files before rendering them, and these are changes that you would not want made to your original file. These files should be invisible in the finder, and are removed when you quit from RenderFarm Commander.
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I’ve just opened RenderFarm Commander, and all of my node names are gone.
RenderFarm Commander has a feature for running multiple render farms. Sometimes, when RenderFarm Commander doesn’t close properly, it believes that there is still a copy running. To rectify, go to the Setup menu, and select Commander Number. Change the commander number to 1, and your render nodes should magically re-appear. For more information regarding this feature, see “Running Multiple RenderFarm Commanders” on page 24 of the manual.
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What are all of these files in the SNCExtensions folder?
LightWave® ScreamerNet nodes need to be able to access any LightWave® plug-ins that are used for the creation of a scene, such as a hypervoxel, or a particle generator. RenderFarm Commander makes a duplicate of all of these plug-ins, and makes them available to all of your render nodes in the SNCExtensions folder.
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What are all of these folders in the SNCPreferences folder?
Because RenderFarm Commander can specify different thread and segment memory settings, and utilize different versions of the LightWave® ScreamerNet nodes, each node has its own independent set of preferences. These are located in the folders found inside the SNCPreferences folder.
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My render nodes seem to be working, but all I get are .flx files, rather than the format I specified.
If ScreamerNet cannot find the required output plug-in for saving different file formats, it will default to saving .flx files. If you are encountering this problem, it usually means that RenderFarm Commander cannot locate the plug-ins folder. Use Commander Node Checker to see whether your nodes are able to locate the plug-ins (see page 27 of the manual). If they cannot, follow the “Before You Begin” section of “Setting up a Render Farm” on page 9 of the manual, and then set up your render farm from scratch using RenderFarm Commander.

If Commander Node Checker does not locate any errors related to plug-ins, your render node may be having trouble loading the necessary plug-in. Try using the Safe Build option in the Node build section of the preferences. For more information, see “Safe Build” on page 8 of the manual.

Another possibility is that you have launched your render node before the host computer was mounted on the desktop. If your render node is accessing the plug-ins from a networked host, and the host was not available at the time you launched ScreamerNet, you will need to quit ScreamerNet, mount the host computer, and then re-launch ScreamerNet. ScreamerNet must be able to access the plug-ins when it is launched.
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When I run ScreamerNet on my node, I get the message
“Can’t open job file ‘job1’”
The “job” file is created by RenderFarm Commander, and contains instructions for the render node. If this file cannot be found, it is either because RenderFarm Commander is not running, your command directory has not been selected in RenderFarm Commander, or that ScreamerNet is looking in the wrong place for the job file. If RenderFarm Commander is running, and you have selected your command directory, and you are still repeatedly getting this message, run Commander Node Checker to see whether your node is able to locate the command directory (see page 27 of the manual). If it cannot, follow the “Before You Begin” section of “Setting up a Render Farm” on page 9 of the manual, and then set up your render farm from scratch using RenderFarm Commander.
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My render Node appears to be working, but it doesn’t save anything.
Open the Scene file in LightWave, and make sure that you have checked the Save RGB option in the Output files tab of the Render Options menu item. Also check that you have selected an output location that exists, and is contained within the content directory. Check that you haven’t selected to render to an animation file format, as ScreamerNet can only save each frame as an individual still file.

Also, check and make sure that your render nodes have the correct access privaleges that will allow them to write to the destination folder. Unless your render nodes have read & write access to the output location, ScreamerNet will appear to be working normally, but will save no images.
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When using a particle emitter, the particles appear in different positions when rendered on different nodes. The result has particles flickering all over the place!
When working with particle emitters, using different CPUs can give you jumpy results. This is related to the way different CPUs calculate random numbers. The solution is to save the motion. Create a folder called "Motion" in your LightWave content directory, then open the problem scene file in LightWave. Select your particle emitter, and then bring up the FX_Emitter control window. Select the last tab, which is called “File”. Select "Save Motion" from this tab, and save the .pfx file into the newly created Motion folder. Now save your Scene file. The Scene file will now load that motion file when it is rendering, rather than ask each CPU to calculate randomly. As long as the motion file is in the LightWave content directory, your scene should render correctly.
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My render Nodes keep crashing when they are loading a scene.
This is a problem which has been observed, and seems to occur when the Host is operating under 10.2.6 - 10.2.8. One possible solution is to switch on the Exclusive Loading option from the Build Nodes section of the Preferences window. For more information, see “Exclusive Loading” on page 8 of the manual. It is also recommended that you try using the Safe Build option in the Node build section of the Preferences window. For more information, see “Safe Build” on page 8 of the manual.
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Some of my render nodes work, but some don’t.
This is a problem which has been observed, and seems to occur when the Host is operating under 10.2.6 - 10.2.8. One possible solution to this problem is to switch on the Exclusive Loading option from the Build Nodes section of the Preferences window. For more information, see “Exclusive Loading” on page 8 of the manual. It is also recommended that you try using the Safe Build option in the Node build section of the Preferences window. For more information, see “Safe Build” on page 8 of the manual.
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Why do you have a picture of your face all over your website?
Using my picture may seem like a strange thing to do, as I realise I am not the prettiest person on earth. The reason is simple. I wanted to use an image that was easily recognizable, and very individual. Unfortunately, I am not creative enough to come up with something like this in the form of a logo or illustration, so the easiest thing was to use my own head.
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