Set up a Render Farm

Installation

 * 1) Give your Render Machine a unique name.
 * 2) Install your version of AE on the remote machine(s). Follow the on-screen instructions for installing After Effects, and select Render Engine when you are prompted for the type of setup you prefer.
 * 3) * Verify it was correctly installed.
 * 4) Run the program normally as if you were to create a new project.
 * 5) * check if it's a trial or not activated copy
 * 6) * If it's a trial, the key was not properly entered.
 * 7) * If it's not activated, you're all good. (DO NOT ACTIVATE!!!)
 * 8) Install all 3rd party plugins for your render farm.
 * 9) * Some plugin keys will not work with a render farm, so search on the companies website for information on how to obtain render farm keys.
 * 10) * you may need to contact the company to obtain render farm keys.
 * 11) Install all Compression Codecs
 * 12) Install all fonts
 * 13) Create a RenderFarm shortcut of AE on the desktop so it can be run easily.

Setting up Your Farm Machine

 * 1) Start the Render Farm's After Effects
 * 2) File->Watch Folder
 * 3) * Navigate and select a network folder which both project machine and render machine can have access to.
 * 4) * You can use a local folder on either machine, but the folder must be mapped as a drive to both machines. (ex. Both machines must have the folder mapped as X: drive)
 * 5) * Make sure this path has no spaces or special characters _underscores_ and -dashes- are okay. This will prevent a lot of errors. I would use X:\RenderFarm\
 * 6) * Map your Project Drive ( ex. P: ) so that both your project machine and render farms can locate your assets using the same path.

Resources

 * Also see Using a Render Farm