How-To Setup LightNet: Cloud for the first time

Submitted by Joe Justice on Sat, 03/12/2011 - 19:35

Want to get up and running with LightNet: Cloud? First you'll need a couple of things:

Then follow a few steps:

  1. Download the latest LightNet: Cloud
  2. Extract the zip file to a dedicated folder on your hard drive.
  3. Run LightNet-Cloud.exe.
  4. Click Change Settings, fill in all of the settings then click OK.1
  5. Click Diagnostics to make sure everything is working. (If there are any errors, reconcile them before moving forward)
  6. Run LightNet-Watcher.exe and click Server -> Initialize Server.2
  7. Copy your scene - and content zip file if applicable - to your chosen Watch Folder
  8. Click Force Server Check in Watcher. (Or simply wait for it to upload the files on its regular Check Interval)
  9. Go back to LightNet: Cloud and click "Launch Screamer"3
  10. Wait for your scene to render.

1This step by step assumes the computer being setup first is the managing system. Under settings, at least one computer must have "Manage the server" checked for the Watcher or else nothing will ever be uploaded. Each Watched Folder should have only one computer set to manage the server. If "Manage the server" is not checked in the settings, that computer can still use LightNet: Watcher to see the current state of the render queue, but it will not make any changes. It is best to allow all Watchers to check on regular intervals of 300 seconds (5 minutes) or more to limit cross communication.

2 The first time you run the Watcher you may get an FTP error because the configuration files are not yet on the FTP sever. After receiving this error, click Server -> Initialize Server to upload the configuration files.

3 If you launch the Screamer before Watcher has placed the configuration files on the server, you will get an FTP error.

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