Helios:

Helios enables the distributed rendering of 3D models building on open source technologies that are all 100% pure Java. The rendering engine is Sunflow with the distributed computations managed by the JGrid service-oriented Grid system that uses the Jini technology as its base.

About

This software kit enables the distributed rendering of 3D models building on a number of open source technologies that are all implemented in 100% pure Java. The rendering engine is the Sunflow open source rendering system for photo-realistic image synthesis, built around a flexible ray tracing core and an extensible object-oriented design. The distributed computations are managed by the JGrid service-oriented Grid system that uses the Jini technology as its base.

Using this software kit you can easily involve a number of interconnected computers into the rendering computations resulting in much lower rendering times. Due the Java technology the system is platform independent thus capable of running atop a heterogeneous environment. Moreover the Jini technology enables such a dynamic behavior that makes it possible to add and remove computers at runtime without interrupting computations and without any configuration on the client side. Using this software kit you do not require a dedicated cluster of identical computers, but a varying number of heterogeneous (both in architecture and OS) computers can be used on demand.

On this site you can find information how to install and set up your render farm and you can also download the latest release.

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