Multi-Engine Render Farm¶

🎯 Overview¶

The Multi-Engine Render Farm is a distributed computing system designed to handle high-volume video rendering across multiple rendering engines. It provides scalable, efficient processing of creative projects with intelligent resource allocation.

🚀 Supported Rendering Engines¶

Based on the Creative Production documentation:

✅ Production Ready¶

Adobe After Effects: Full support with custom template processing

🚧 In Development¶

Blender: 3D rendering capabilities (under construction)
The Foundry Nuke: Professional compositing (under construction)
Natron: Open-source compositing alternative (under construction)
Canva: Design and template processing (under construction)
Figma: Vector graphics and design collaboration (under construction)
DaVinci Resolve: Professional video editing and color grading (under construction)
Cavalry: Motion graphics and animation (under construction)

📁 File Processing System¶

🎬 Adobe After Effects Integration¶

As documented in the Creative Production module:

AEP File Analysis: Custom RUST-based parser developed through reverse engineering of Adobe's proprietary format
Custom Reverse Engineering Tools: Specialized utilities developed for format analysis (documented for reference)
Essential Graphics Integration: Direct connection to After Effects' Essential Graphics properties

🔄 Media Format Conversion¶

Intelligent Preprocessing: Automatic conversion of incompatible formats to supported ones
Example: WhatsApp JPEG conversion to PNG for optimal After Effects compatibility
FFMPEG Integration: Comprehensive codec support for input/output operations

🏗️ Infrastructure Management¶

👥 Worker Management¶

DynamoDB Indexing: Comprehensive worker registry with capability tracking
Capability Profiles: Detailed worker specifications including:
Installed After Effects plugins
GPU capacity and specifications
Processing power metrics
Available storage and memory

🧠 Intelligent Task Distribution¶

Custom Hungarian Algorithm: Modified version for optimal task-to-worker assignment
Dynamic Scaling: Automatic worker provisioning based on queue demand
Load Balancing: Intelligent distribution considering worker capabilities and current load

📈 Scalability Architecture¶

As documented in the Creative Production module:

Serverless Preprocessing: All pre-render tasks execute on AWS Lambda or Fargate
Elastic Worker Clusters: Dynamic scaling of render workers based on demand
Queue Management: Unified job queue with priority handling and status tracking

🏗️ Three-Zone Architecture¶

The Multi-Engine Render Farm operates using a three-zone architecture for scalable, distributed rendering:

🌐 Common Zone¶

S3 Storage: Central storage for templates, assets, and results
APIs: Shared API services for cross-zone communication
Database: Central database for job tracking and metadata

🖥️ Frontend Zone¶

Frontend: Web-based interface for job submission and monitoring

⚙️ Backend Zone¶

Middleware: Job orchestration and management
Queue: Task distribution and status management
Workers: Distributed render workers (Worker 01, Worker 02, etc.)
Results: Processed output management
3^rd Party Info: External service integration

📡 Communication Flow¶

Frontend → Middleware: User submits job through frontend
Middleware → Queue: Middleware adds tasks to queue
Queue → Workers: Queue distributes tasks to available workers
Workers → Queue: Workers report task status back to queue
Queue → Database: Queue updates job status in database
Database → Frontend: Frontend receives status callbacks

📊 Development Status¶

According to the Creative Production documentation: - Status: ✓ Production Ready (After Effects support)

🖥️ Frontend Integration¶

📤 Advanced File Uploader Plugin¶

The Advanced File Uploader Plugin provides asset preparation and validation for render jobs:

Key Features¶

Pre-upload Validation: Ensures assets meet render engine requirements
Format Standardization: Converts and optimizes images for compatibility
Aspect Ratio Control: Crops images to exact specifications
Quality Optimization: Reduces file sizes while maintaining quality

Benefits to Render Farm¶

Reduced Failures: Pre-validated assets prevent render errors
Format Compatibility: Guarantees engine-compatible formats (PNG, JPEG, WebP)
Optimized Performance: Compressed assets reduce transfer and processing time
Consistent Results: Standardized dimensions ensure predictable output

See Advanced File Uploader Documentation for details.

⚡ Render Submit Action Plugin¶

The Render Submit Action Plugin provides job submission interface:

Key Features¶

One-click Submission: Simplified render job queue entry
Collection Inspection: Pre-submission data validation
Custom Processing: Server-side hooks for job preparation
Error Prevention: Validates jobs before queue entry

Benefits to Render Farm¶

Simplified Workflow: Easy job submission for users
Data Validation: Ensures job parameters are complete
Queue Integration: Direct integration with Render Queue Manager
Custom Logic: Extensible processing for specific needs

See Render Submit Action Documentation for details.

🔄 Realtime Tables Plugin¶

The Realtime Tables Plugin enables live render queue monitoring: - Real-time job status updates - Live queue position changes - Instant worker activity tracking - Progress notifications

📚 Documentation Status¶

The following sections require additional information and are marked for future completion:

📋 API Specifications¶

Status: TODO - API endpoints and specifications not yet documented

⚙️ Worker Configuration¶

Status: TODO - Detailed worker configuration parameters not yet specified

📊 Queue Management¶

Status: TODO - Queue management algorithms and policies not yet documented

📈 Performance Metrics¶

Status: TODO - Performance monitoring and optimization not yet defined

⚠️ Error Handling¶

Status: TODO - Error handling and recovery procedures not yet documented

📏 Scaling Policies¶

Status: TODO - Auto-scaling policies and thresholds not yet defined