4d render farm ( flex development notes )

few months ago, i was contacted by an friend company (cgmentor) for project named '4drenderfarm'. they were starting company to provide services in network rendering for 3dsmax(initially). i developed their client application (desktop) and 3dsmax  script to package everything from 3dsmax and send to their ftp server.

it was simple and interesting project as i am learning more and more development familiarity. most of stuff was simple, except for the fact, that first time, i had chance to touch php. huge thanks for all the guidance from my friend Alvi @ evolve. rough workflow steps were as follow

• user will register on website and then has a dedicated ftp user etc with points information(currency)..
• user will download and install desktop client ( app which i developed in flex) and install this
• on first run, he will give user information. and install 3dsmax plugin etc..
• from 3dsmax main menu, user can submit his file. all data will be collected ( textures etc) and packaged as zip file.
• maxscript will then invoke desktop client and start uploading file to ftp server and enter all data to database as well, once submission is successful.
• once file is uploaded. relevant emails were sent. user can also see status in desktop client app
• once rendering is done, desktop client will automatically download all data from server in user pc.
• for quick understanding, watch video on website.

it went pretty well. one of challenge(for me) was study sockets and add ftp client functionality via as3. in the end, it was fun.
few dev wip snapshots..