Software Alternatives & Startups

CrowdRender VS Pixel Plow

Compare CrowdRender VS Pixel Plow and see what are their differences

CrowdRender logo CrowdRender

Simple, easy to use software to create a render farm for Blender

Pixel Plow logo Pixel Plow

THE RENDER FARM SERVICE WHERE SIMPLE ACCESS MEETS LOW PRICE
  • CrowdRender Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-10

Our software is one of the easiest tools out there to combine multiple computers into a single, powerful render farm for use with the Blender 3d modelling and animation software package.

It installs as a plugin for blender and can work with as little as two computers or as many as you like! You can also combine your own hardware with rented servers from AWS to boost your rendering speed during crunch periods.

Our software supports rendering in Blender's Eevee and Cycles engine and can accelerate still images as well as animations. We fully support all the render passes of Cycles and Eevee and you can use Blender's compositor. In fact we've integrated crowdrender so that you can mostly use Blender as you normally would.

There are some limitations, you need to setup your own method for distributing files or assets external to your project, or you can pack your assets into your project file.

  • Pixel Plow Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-02-05

CrowdRender

$ Details
freemium $16 / Monthly (Unlimited downloads of latest stable version, unlimited use )
Platforms
Blender Mac OSX Windows Linux Docker
Release Date
2017 December

CrowdRender features and specs

  • Single Frame render acceleration
  • Animation Render acceleration

Pixel Plow features and specs

  • Cost-effective Pricing
    Pixel Plow offers a pay-as-you-go pricing model, which can be more affordable for smaller projects compared to flat-rate services.
  • Scalability
    The service can handle a wide range of project sizes, allowing users to scale their rendering resources up or down based on the current demands of their projects.
  • Ease of Use
    Pixel Plow provides a straightforward interface that makes it easier for users to submit and manage their rendering jobs.
  • Fast Rendering Times
    Due to the distributed cloud infrastructure, Pixel Plow can process rendering jobs quickly, reducing wait times significantly compared to local rendering.
  • Customizable Priority
    Users can set their desired rendering priority level, which adjusts the cost and speed, allowing for greater control over the balance between budget and time constraints.

Possible disadvantages of Pixel Plow

  • Internet Dependency
    As a cloud-based service, it requires a reliable internet connection to upload and download large files, which may not be feasible for all users.
  • Potential for High Costs
    While the pay-as-you-go model can be cost-effective, rendering projects with large resource demands or long durations can lead to unexpectedly high costs.
  • Complexity for New Users
    Although it offers a user-friendly interface, the initial setup and configuration might be challenging for users unfamiliar with rendering processes.
  • Limited Support for Software
    Pixel Plow may not support all 3D software or plugins, requiring users to verify compatibility beforehand, which can be a limitation for some projects.
  • Variable Performance
    Performance can vary based on the server load and user's priority setting, meaning that lower priority jobs might experience slower rendering times during peak hours.

CrowdRender videos

Short setup tutorial

More videos:

  • Tutorial - Crowdrender: How to Speed Up your Renders

Pixel Plow videos

Renderman Render Farm Impressions (Pixel Plow & Zync)

More videos:

  • Tutorial - How to Use Terragen on the Pixel Plow Render Farm

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to CrowdRender and Pixel Plow)
3D Rendering
38 38%
62% 62
Architecture
39 39%
61% 61
3D
38 38%
62% 62
Cloud Computing
20 20%
80% 80

Questions & Answers

As answered by people managing CrowdRender and Pixel Plow.

How would you describe the primary audience of your product?

CrowdRender's answer

People that use blender for modelling and animation and especially rendering. We're a part of the blender community and so is our main audience.

Which are the primary technologies used for building your product?

CrowdRender's answer

We use python a LOT, that is because Blender's scripting API is built using python, we also use some other technologies, mainly bash and other shell languages and also docker.

Who are some of the biggest customers of your product?

CrowdRender's answer

There aren't really many enterprise customers for CrowdRender since most of the folk that use it are either freelancers or small studios or hobbyists.

What makes your product unique?

CrowdRender's answer

It's aimed at simplicity rather than a ton of features. We try to do what we do as well and as simply as possible so that almost anyone can use our software.

User comments

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What are some alternatives?

When comparing CrowdRender and Pixel Plow, you can also consider the following products

RebusFarm - RebusFarm is a 3D rendering software.

Fox Renderfarm - Industry Leading Cloud Render Farm Service. Get to Production Faster With On-Demand Rendering

SheepIt Render Farm - A free distributed render farm for Blender

TurboRender - Best Cloud Rendering Service

AnimaRender - Online cloud render farm | AnimaRender

iRender - iRender: Cloud GPU Server Rendering & Render Farm Service. Optimize for (Redshift, Octane, Blender, V-Ray, Iray etc.) Multi-GPU Rendering Tasks on Cloud.