Quick Start Guide
From a new account to finished frames. Ten steps, and the only one that takes any thinking is choosing how many nodes to rent.
SkyRender Desktop is the client for the farm. It installs a plugin into the 3D application you already use, so a render is sent from inside that application rather than uploaded through a browser.
The plugin collects the scene and everything it references, carries your render settings across with it, and brings finished frames back to a folder on your machine as they complete. The steps below are the whole of it.
1Create an account
Register at skyrenderfarm.com, or sign up from inside SkyRender Desktop the first time you open it — either way makes the same account.
Every new account gets a free trial credit for a test render. It is added the first time you sign in to SkyRender Desktop (step 2), not when you register on the website.
One trial credit per computer.
2Download SkyRender Desktop
Version 5.7.3 is available for Windows (Microsoft Store or a direct installer), macOS, and Linux (AppImage or .deb). Get it from the download page.
The app is free. You only pay for the frames you render.
3Sign in and complete the short setup
The first time you open the app you will be asked for your name, country and postal code — these appear on your invoices — and one question about how you found us. It takes about fifteen seconds and you will never see it again.
4Install the plugin for your 3D application
Open the Plugins tab. SkyRender detects the 3D applications installed on your computer automatically. Click Install next to each one, or Install All.
Then restart your 3D application. The SkyRender button appears in its toolbar or menu only after a restart.
Supported
- Blender 3.6–5.2
- Cinema 4D 2024–2026
- Maya 2020–2025
- 3ds Max 2018–2025
- Unreal Engine 5.5–5.8
Pre-Flight Optimization Checklist
Prepare a scene for a render farm rather than for one machine — it saves credits and gets frames back sooner.
External Data Packing
Always go to File -> External Data -> Pack Resources. This bundles all textures into your .blend so our render nodes can find them.
Optimize Noise Threshold
For Cycles, increase the Noise Threshold from 0.001 to 0.01–0.02. This can reduce render times by up to 50% with little to no visible impact on image quality.
Bake Physics & Simulations
Bake fluid, hair, cloth, and soft body caches, and include the cache folder inside your zip file.
Relative Texture Paths
Use the File Path Editor to convert all absolute texture file paths (e.g., D:/Project/...) to relative paths inside the sourceimages folder.
V-Ray Dynamic Memory
Set V-Ray's Dynamic Memory limit to 0 (unlimited) so it can utilize the full high-performance RAM available on our nodes.
Arnold TX Textures
Pre-convert textures to .tx format. Arnold renders these substantially faster and saves valuable node memory.
Corona Render Limits
Set sensible noise limits (e.g. 2.5% - 4%) or pass limits rather than rendering indefinitely.
Archive Feature Utility
Use the 'Archive' command under File -> Save As. This automatically collects all assets and maps into a clean structure.
XRefs Resolution
Ensure all external references (XRefs) are bound or relative paths are perfectly mapped.
Mograph & Cloners Cache
Mograph and dynamics can compute differently on multiple machines. Always bake/cache them before uploading.
Redshift GI Caching
Bake your Redshift Global Illumination map to prevent flickering issues on distributed render nodes.
Take System Setup
If you have multiple camera views, use C4D's Take System to configure multiple render passes easily.
Warmup Frames Mode
Ensure Movie Render Queue has at least 32-64 warmup frames configured to let particle systems initialize properly.
Virtual Textures (UDIMs)
Enable virtual texturing to bypass VRAM bottlenecks on heavy architectural assets.
Lumen Screen-Space Cache
Set global illumination quality variables correctly in your post process volume for flicker-free frame sequencing.
5Send your scene
Before sending, make sure textures and referenced files are saved alongside your scene file. Then click Send to SkyRender in the plugin.
The scene and its assets upload automatically — you can watch progress in the Upload tab.
6Configure the job
When the upload finishes, the submit window opens. It already knows your scene: camera, frame range, resolution, output format and render elements come straight from your render settings. Change anything you like here — the file on your disk is not touched.
Then choose how it runs:
- GPU
- RTX 3090, 4090 or 5090.
- Nodes
- How many machines work on the job in parallel. More nodes finish sooner; the cost is broadly the same, because you pay for compute time rather than wall-clock time.
- Frames per node
- Leave on Auto unless you have a reason not to. Auto reduces scene reloads, which is usually the cheapest option.
- Auto Start
- Rents the GPU nodes for you the moment the job is submitted. Blender and Unreal Engine only — a Maya, 3ds Max or Cinema 4D job has its machines assigned by the farm, so there is nothing to rent.
Click Start Render.
7Watch it render
The Dashboard shows every job with live frame progress, elapsed time and running cost. You can pause, resume or re-prioritise a job at any point.
8Get your frames
Downloads begin as soon as each part of the job finishes — you do not wait for the whole render. Files land in your chosen folder, and every job keeps the folder it started in, so changing your download location mid-render never splits a job across two places.
Need a finished job again later? Use Re-Download in the Download tab, available once per job while the output is still stored.
9Top up when you need to
1 SkyPoint = $1. Minimum purchase $5, by card.
Buying more earns more: +2% from $250, rising to +10% at $50,000. You always pay the amount you enter — the bonus arrives as extra SkyPoints. My Account shows the full table and how far you are from the next tier, and so does the pricing page.
If your balance reaches zero, any job that is still rendering is paused — not cancelled, and your account stays active. Top up and resume from the Dashboard.
10Questions?
Open Online Chat in the app, or use the contact form.