As you've probably already seen (here and here in case you haven't), I'm working on a detailed animation for my next Year in Review opening. It'll be a five-or-so–minute animation, D1 NTSC, 30 FPS. On my home AMD 2100+ with 1 GB RAM, I'm averaging about one hour and thirty minutes per 16-pass frame (not including angles with reflections).

Because Shine Studio's RenderMuscle is offline and may not be upgrading to version 11, I'm looking at other options for rendering my animation. My preference is that it not take the 30 days to render as I suspect it would on ten RenderMuscle nodes. One option is to purchase NetRender, which I'll probably do anyway, but I don't have enough computers at my 24-hour disposal to get the job done. So my second option is to find another one or several other render farms.

I need the following:

• NetRender 2005
• Windows systems (for the plug-ins)
• Enhance:AM
• Simbiont:AM 2.5

And here's the perk to you. I have a budget this year, much of which I'd planned to cover the cost of rendering through RenderMuscle. If you're available to help render, I can and will pay for the services. It won't be very much since this is for a church, but perhaps you could find it in the Christmas spirit goodness of your heart to help a church. Cost-per-frame may be the best option. Sorry, I can't offer my firstborn.

The animation is still in progress and has a ways to go. I hope to be finished by end of January and have it rendered by mid-February. In the meantime, there are several scenes that can be rendered without the character animation.

Please post questions here or personally contact me through any of the means available through my profile (I like to call "EMPIM"—email, PM, IM).

Hey DJD... I helped out with the duckies, and though I only have 1 working computer at the moment (AMD 2800+, 1.5 gig RAM, A:M v11.0), I'd be happy to help. I am contracting my (extremely advanced and valuable) Windows and Cisco engineering skills in San Antonio and am away from home all week (that's why I haven't been in the recent contests). So my baby is home alone a lot and would be happy to churn out some frames for you.

Also, I'd be happy to help with the animation itself if you get behind.
Project looks good! Lemme know if I can help in any way.

-Mike M

PS... The chair you can't remember where you got...
It's from my Anniversary scene (www.tech-cubed.com/3d/ that I donated a while back. For whoever asked, the chair was modelled from a real life chair that had the exact same awkward straight back. I hated those chairs, and they mysteriously blew out of my truck bed during a move.
Also on that page are some chandeliers, and you're welcome to any models you see there.