#Farm rendering

Moray can export a scene as a self-contained package: a folder a render node renders without Blender. The package holds exactly what F12 would render (the Final settings, view layer, AOVs, denoising and EXR output) for the current frame.

#Export a package

1. Set the frame and the Final render settings as for F12.
2. Moray menu (top bar) > Export RDLA Package, then choose an empty folder. (The Moray menu appears while the scene's render engine is Moray.)
3. Read the report. Warnings (a missing texture, a VDB or other file left on this machine, an output outside the package) are listed in the report and in package.json.

The package folder:

Paths inside the package are relative; run the launcher from any working directory. Your scene's own output paths are restored after the export.

For an animation, export one package per frame.

#Set up a render node

Each node needs a Moray install for its platform: the same Moray version, unpacked from the extension zip (or installed in Blender on that node). Point MOONRAY_ROOT at the folder under the extension's native directory that contains bin/ and rdl2dso/ (REZ_MOONRAY_ROOT works too).

GPU nodes need a supported NVIDIA GPU and driver (see the system requirements). The package keeps the Execution Mode you chose; with Auto, each node uses its GPU if it has a supported one and its CPU otherwise. Images match between CPU and GPU within noise.

#Linux and macOS: render.sh

export MOONRAY_ROOT=/opt/moray/native
cd /path/to/package
./render.sh

render.sh runs the moonray command-line renderer from the Moray install. Extra arguments are passed on to it.

#Windows: render.bat

set MOONRAY_ROOT=D:\moray\native
set MORAY_LICENSE_KEY=<your key>
set MORAY_LICENSE_CACHE=<path to the node's moonray_license_cache.json>
cd /d D:\path\to\package
render.bat

render.bat runs moonray_worker --render. It writes files only with a paid licence:

• Activate Moray once on each Windows node, in Blender, under the user account that runs the render jobs. Each activation uses one seat of your key.
• The activation cache is moonray_license_cache.json in that account's Blender config folder (on Windows, %APPDATA%\Blender Foundation\Blender\5.2\config\). It is tied to the machine and the account, so a copy from another machine does not work.
• The node renders offline from the cache for 7 days after its last online check. Open Blender on the node with a connection (or reactivate) to refresh it.

render.bat exits with an error code when the licence is missing or the render fails.

#Denoising on the farm

When Denoise is set to Engine (MoonRay), or Denoise Light AOVs is on, the launchers denoise after the render with MoonRay's denoise tool and the albedo / normal guides in aovs/. If denoising fails, the raw file is kept and a warning is printed.

This needs the Per AOV EXR layout: in a multi-layer file the beauty and light AOVs are layers that the tool cannot rewrite, and the export warns.

#Shadow catchers and holdouts

The renderer itself writes the held-out beauty (with Film Transparent) and the derived ShadowCatcherShadow / ShadowDiff layers, so a farm frame matches F12. See Shadow catcher.

#Troubleshooting

• error: set MOONRAY_ROOT or REZ_MOONRAY_ROOT: the variable is not set on the node.
• file outputs need a paid Moray license (MORAY_LICENSE_KEY + MORAY_LICENSE_CACHE) (Windows): set both variables, and activate on that node under the account that runs the job.
• Missing textures or other files: check the warnings in package.json. Files that were not copied (VDBs, for example) must be reachable from the node at the same path.