Big and Ugly Rendering Project
Encyclopedia
Big and Ugly Rendering Project (BURP) is a non-commercial distributed computing
project using the BOINC framework. It is currently under development to work as a publicly distributed system for the rendering
of 3D graphics
.
BURP also refers to the volunteer
and grid computing
software BOINC, because BURP needs BOINC in order to distribute computing task among their users. BURP is free software
distributed under the GNU General Public License V3 licence. Because BURP is used to refer to both BOINC project and BURP back-end software, some confusion can arise when talking about other services running the BURP software.
BOINC users who are considering joining BURP or ORE/RenderFarm.fi should know that they will not always have work available, as the projects depend on users to submit sessions that need rendering. This may be confusing to new users, as the BOINC client may report "Got 0 new tasks" or other error messages without explaining the reason for not getting any work.
3D images and animations submitted by the users of the BURP network - in other words to build a large shared render farm
that can be freely used by those who also contribute computing power to it. The potential processing power of a system like this is enormous—theoretically the rendering speed would only be limited by available network bandwidth.
The fundamental goal of BURP is to give users access to computing power to render animations that would take an impossibly long time on a single computer. By dividing the work among hundreds of computers, an animation that takes possibly months to render in CPU time could be completed in only a few days. BURP hopes to make animations and images public as soon as they are finished so that all participants will be able to see the outcome.
and at this time the website was very basic. In August that year it became clear that Yafray was not the best choice, and focus was shifted towards Blender
- a renderer with more features and a compact file format.
By the end of October enough tests had been done to show that not only is the distributed rendering of 3D animations possible, it can achieve performance that rivals many commercial render farms. The current trend of increasing network bandwidth throughout the world will make it even more powerful. The rest of 2004 was used to improve and develop the website frontend for the system.
Until May 2005 the Linux and Windows clients got major code overhauls and loads of tests were done to estimate and improve performance of several aspects of the data transfer systems. Most importantly, code for a mirrored storage and distribution system for the rendered output started to emerge.
In May 2010 the project entered a beta stage, requiring users to agree to a new set of licensing rules based on the Creative Commons
.
Although many people have contributed to the source code since the start of the project, the majority of the BURP code base remains authored by Janus Kristensen, who continues as the head developer of the software.
Upon its opening to a public beta in summer 2009, Renderfarm.fi claimed to be the world's first publicly distributed render farm that advocated the use of Creative Commons licensing. The main BURP project later followed suite and took up a similar licensing scheme.
Although they use similar back-end code, Renderfarm.fi and BURP have some notable differences in the way their frontends work. For example, Renderfarm.fi uses the open source Drupal
content management system
for managing information on its website, where as BURP relies on a custom solution based on BOINC's content management system.
or obfuscates the data it processes, Janus Kristensen stated in an August 2010 AssemblyTV interview: "No. The whole system is based on open ideas. When you send files to people, they can look in to the files and see what's inside. Actually that's part of what's cool about a project like this. It's community based and not closed down or DRM
protected in any way.".
Distributed computing
Distributed computing is a field of computer science that studies distributed systems. A distributed system consists of multiple autonomous computers that communicate through a computer network. The computers interact with each other in order to achieve a common goal...
project using the BOINC framework. It is currently under development to work as a publicly distributed system for the rendering
Rendering (computer graphics)
Rendering is the process of generating an image from a model , by means of computer programs. A scene file contains objects in a strictly defined language or data structure; it would contain geometry, viewpoint, texture, lighting, and shading information as a description of the virtual scene...
of 3D graphics
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
.
BURP also refers to the volunteer
Volunteer computing
Volunteer computing is a type of distributed computing in which computer owners donate their computing resources to one or more "projects".-History:...
and grid computing
Grid computing
Grid computing is a term referring to the combination of computer resources from multiple administrative domains to reach a common goal. The grid can be thought of as a distributed system with non-interactive workloads that involve a large number of files...
software BOINC, because BURP needs BOINC in order to distribute computing task among their users. BURP is free software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
distributed under the GNU General Public License V3 licence. Because BURP is used to refer to both BOINC project and BURP back-end software, some confusion can arise when talking about other services running the BURP software.
BOINC users who are considering joining BURP or ORE/RenderFarm.fi should know that they will not always have work available, as the projects depend on users to submit sessions that need rendering. This may be confusing to new users, as the BOINC client may report "Got 0 new tasks" or other error messages without explaining the reason for not getting any work.
The BURP idea
The idea of BURP is to use spare CPU cycles on participating computers around the world to renderRendering (computer graphics)
Rendering is the process of generating an image from a model , by means of computer programs. A scene file contains objects in a strictly defined language or data structure; it would contain geometry, viewpoint, texture, lighting, and shading information as a description of the virtual scene...
3D images and animations submitted by the users of the BURP network - in other words to build a large shared render farm
Render farm
A render farm is a computer cluster built to render computer-generated imagery , typically for film and television visual effects, using off-line batch processing. This is different from a render wall, which is a networked, tiled display used for real-time rendering...
that can be freely used by those who also contribute computing power to it. The potential processing power of a system like this is enormous—theoretically the rendering speed would only be limited by available network bandwidth.
The fundamental goal of BURP is to give users access to computing power to render animations that would take an impossibly long time on a single computer. By dividing the work among hundreds of computers, an animation that takes possibly months to render in CPU time could be completed in only a few days. BURP hopes to make animations and images public as soon as they are finished so that all participants will be able to see the outcome.
History
The BURP project was originally started by Danish national Janus Kristensen. The main BURP website went online on 17 June 2004. At that time the only supported renderer was YafrayYafRay
YafaRay is a free, open source ray tracing program that uses an XML scene description language. It has been integrated into the 2.49 version of the 3D modelling software Blender, but requires an exporter for the redesigned 2.5 version of Blender....
and at this time the website was very basic. In August that year it became clear that Yafray was not the best choice, and focus was shifted towards Blender
Blender (software)
Blender is a free and open-source 3D computer graphics software product used for creating animated films, visual effects, interactive 3D applications or video games. The current release version is 2.60, and was released on October 19, 2011...
- a renderer with more features and a compact file format.
By the end of October enough tests had been done to show that not only is the distributed rendering of 3D animations possible, it can achieve performance that rivals many commercial render farms. The current trend of increasing network bandwidth throughout the world will make it even more powerful. The rest of 2004 was used to improve and develop the website frontend for the system.
Until May 2005 the Linux and Windows clients got major code overhauls and loads of tests were done to estimate and improve performance of several aspects of the data transfer systems. Most importantly, code for a mirrored storage and distribution system for the rendered output started to emerge.
In May 2010 the project entered a beta stage, requiring users to agree to a new set of licensing rules based on the Creative Commons
Creative Commons
Creative Commons is a non-profit organization headquartered in Mountain View, California, United States devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has released several copyright-licenses known as Creative Commons...
.
Although many people have contributed to the source code since the start of the project, the majority of the BURP code base remains authored by Janus Kristensen, who continues as the head developer of the software.
Open Rendering Environment (ORE) and Renderfarm.fi
In 2007-2009, the Open Rendering Environment (ORE) project run by the Laurea University of Applied Sciences in Finland was created. Under guidance from Janus Kristensen and Julius Tuomisto, a team consisting mainly of undergraduate students started to do research on BURP for applications in Finnish Small and Medium sized Enterprises and third level education. For the project, an independent BURP server was set up in Finland and given the domain Renderfarm.fi, a name which the project is identified by to this day.Upon its opening to a public beta in summer 2009, Renderfarm.fi claimed to be the world's first publicly distributed render farm that advocated the use of Creative Commons licensing. The main BURP project later followed suite and took up a similar licensing scheme.
Although they use similar back-end code, Renderfarm.fi and BURP have some notable differences in the way their frontends work. For example, Renderfarm.fi uses the open source Drupal
Drupal
Drupal is a free and open-source content management system and content management framework written in PHP and distributed under the GNU General Public License. It is used as a back-end system for at least 1.5% of all websites worldwide ranging from personal blogs to corporate, political, and...
content management system
Content management system
A content management system is a system providing a collection of procedures used to manage work flow in a collaborative environment. These procedures can be manual or computer-based...
for managing information on its website, where as BURP relies on a custom solution based on BOINC's content management system.
Open by design
When asked about whether the system encryptsEncryption
In cryptography, encryption is the process of transforming information using an algorithm to make it unreadable to anyone except those possessing special knowledge, usually referred to as a key. The result of the process is encrypted information...
or obfuscates the data it processes, Janus Kristensen stated in an August 2010 AssemblyTV interview: "No. The whole system is based on open ideas. When you send files to people, they can look in to the files and see what's inside. Actually that's part of what's cool about a project like this. It's community based and not closed down or DRM
Digital rights management
Digital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...
protected in any way.".