# Cycles on a render farm

> Superluminal recorded the shortest render pipeline for all three Cycles scenes. Thirty nodes completed the Classroom render pipeline in 90.5 seconds.

- Canonical HTML: https://superlumin.al/cycles-render-farm
- Markdown endpoint: https://superlumin.al/cycles-render-farm.md
- Structured page data: https://superlumin.al/cycles-render-farm.json
- Primary image: https://superlumin.al/seo/charts/cycles-render-farm-time-vs-cost-2026.png
- Published: 2026-07-29
- Last updated: 2026-08-06
- Author: Superluminal Engineering

## Quick answer

Cycles animations can split across render nodes. Measured jobs show how node count, startup time, GPU memory, and settings affect the result.

### Key benchmark facts

| Fact | Value | Context | Evidence |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Classroom, 30 nodes | 90.5 seconds | Fastest recorded render pipeline. | https://superlumin.al/seo/evidence/render-farm-benchmarks-2026-08.json |
| Junk Shop, 30 nodes | 64.5 seconds | Fastest recorded render pipeline. | https://superlumin.al/seo/evidence/render-farm-benchmarks-2026-08.json |
| Monster, 30 nodes | 59.9 seconds | Fastest recorded render pipeline. | https://superlumin.al/seo/evidence/render-farm-benchmarks-2026-08.json |
| Scaling result | 4.5× faster with 6× the nodes | The Classroom render pipeline fell from 411.0 to 90.5 seconds. |  |

## Data access

- [This page as structured JSON](https://superlumin.al/cycles-render-farm.json)

- [Classroom, 30 nodes](https://superlumin.al/seo/evidence/render-farm-benchmarks-2026-08.json): Fastest recorded render pipeline.

- [Junk Shop, 30 nodes](https://superlumin.al/seo/evidence/render-farm-benchmarks-2026-08.json): Fastest recorded render pipeline.

- [Monster, 30 nodes](https://superlumin.al/seo/evidence/render-farm-benchmarks-2026-08.json): Fastest recorded render pipeline.

- Every chart below includes a full-resolution PNG and its underlying values as a Markdown table.

## Related documentation

- [Configure and submit a job](https://superlumin.al/docs/blender-addon/job-submission): Configure job naming, frames, render order, image output, and the still or animation submission flow.
- [Render-node and experimental settings](https://superlumin.al/docs/blender-addon/render-node-settings): Choose the farm Blender version and understand Finish Frame On Error and the Persistence Engine.
- [Previews, outputs, and retention](https://superlumin.al/docs/web-ui/outputs): Distinguish web previews from original render output, download safely through Blender, and plan around current retention.

## Complete report

Cycles is Blender's physically based path tracer, and each sample traces light through a scene to form the final image. More samples can reduce noise but increase render time, which makes independent animation frames a good fit for parallel rendering on a farm.

## Measured Cycles results

Our [2026 Blender render farm benchmark](/compare/blender-render-farms) used Classroom, Junk Shop, and Monster Under the Bed. Superluminal recorded the shortest render pipeline for all three Cycles scenes.

With 30 nodes, Classroom took 90.5 seconds, Junk Shop 64.5, and Monster 59.9. The margin was not close in any scene. The plot below includes the three Cycles scenes.

![Completed Cycles jobs compared by render-pipeline time and qualified cost](https://superlumin.al/seo/charts/cycles-render-farm-time-vs-cost-2026.png "Time and cost for the three Cycles scenes")

*[Open the full-resolution PNG](https://superlumin.al/seo/charts/cycles-render-farm-time-vs-cost-2026.png).*

#### Underlying data: Time and cost for the three Cycles scenes

X axis: **Render pipeline, seconds**. Y axis: **Cost, USD**.

| Panel | Render farm | Run | X | Y | Marker | Status | Recorded detail |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| All runs | Blendergrid | Blendergrid | 5123.701 | 11.73 | circle | completed | classroom: 5123.7 s render pipeline, $11.73 (displayed quote, not a final debit) |
| All runs | Blendergrid | Blendergrid | 4452.934 | 7.3 | square | completed | junkshop: 4452.9 s render pipeline, $7.30 (displayed quote, not a final debit) |
| All runs | Blendergrid | Blendergrid | 3747.635 | 4.1 | diamond | completed | monster: 3747.6 s render pipeline, $4.10 (displayed quote, not a final debit) |
| All runs | Fox Renderfarm | Fox Renderfarm | 292.833 | 3.204 | circle | completed | classroom: 292.8 s render pipeline, $3.20 (exact charge) |
| All runs | Fox Renderfarm | Fox Renderfarm | 710.566 | 2.456 | square | completed | junkshop: 710.6 s render pipeline, $2.46 (exact charge) |
| All runs | Fox Renderfarm | Fox Renderfarm | 575.033 | 1.795 | diamond | completed | monster: 575.0 s render pipeline, $1.79 (exact charge) |
| All runs | GarageFarm | GarageFarm | 163.6 | 7.55 | circle | completed | classroom: 163.6 s render pipeline, $7.55 (exact charge) |
| All runs | GarageFarm | GarageFarm | 127.333 | 3.92 | square | completed | junkshop: 127.3 s render pipeline, $3.92 (exact charge) |
| All runs | GarageFarm | GarageFarm | 88.566 | 2.73 | diamond | completed | monster: 88.6 s render pipeline, $2.73 (exact charge) |
| All runs | iRender | iRender | 1225.7 | 10.463 | circle | completed | classroom: 1225.7 s paid workstation window, $10.46 (rate-derived upper bound) |
| All runs | iRender | iRender | 1033 | 8.608 | square | completed | junkshop: 1033.0 s paid workstation window, $8.61 (rate-derived full upload-through-local-completion machine cost, 8.6083 iR at the verified 30 iR per hour rate, converted at the $1 face value per main-balance iR actually deducted; a 50 iR promotional balance from the same deposit could halve the effective rate but its spendability is unconfirmed) |
| All runs | iRender | iRender | 617.1 | 5.143 | diamond | completed | monster: 617.1 s paid workstation window, $5.14 (rate-derived full upload-through-local-completion machine cost, 5.1425 iR at the verified 30 iR per hour rate, converted at the $1 face value per main-balance iR actually deducted; a 50 iR promotional balance from the same deposit could halve the effective rate but its spendability is unconfirmed) |
| All runs | RebusFarm | RebusFarm | 445.533 | 11.45 | circle | completed | classroom: 445.5 s render pipeline, $11.45 (dated or provider-defined USD estimate) |
| All runs | RebusFarm | RebusFarm | 315.5 | 10.34 | square | completed | junkshop: 315.5 s render pipeline, $10.34 (dated or provider-defined USD estimate) |
| All runs | RebusFarm | RebusFarm | 101.133 | 3.63 | diamond | completed | monster: 101.1 s render pipeline, $3.63 (dated or provider-defined USD estimate) |
| All runs | Render Network | Render Network | 1186.565 | 14.65 | circle | completed | classroom: 1186.6 s render pipeline, $14.65 (dated or provider-defined USD estimate) |
| All runs | RenderJuice | RenderJuice | 289.333 | 1.57 | circle | completed | classroom: 289.3 s render pipeline, $1.57 (dated or provider-defined USD estimate) |
| All runs | RenderJuice | RenderJuice | 234.067 | 0.98 | square | completed | junkshop: 234.1 s render pipeline, $0.98 (dated or provider-defined USD estimate) |
| All runs | RenderJuice | RenderJuice | 204.167 | 0.91 | diamond | completed | monster: 204.2 s render pipeline, $0.91 (dated or provider-defined USD estimate) |
| All runs | RenderStreet | RenderStreet | 530.3 | 4.37 | circle | completed | classroom: 530.3 s render pipeline, $4.37 (exact charge) |
| All runs | RenderStreet | RenderStreet | 345.667 | 2.91 | square | completed | junkshop: 345.7 s render pipeline, $2.91 (exact charge) |
| All runs | RenderStreet | RenderStreet | 373.567 | 2.12 | diamond | completed | monster: 373.6 s render pipeline, $2.12 (exact charge) |
| All runs | Superluminal | 10 GPUs | 226.733 | 1.35 | circle | completed | classroom: 226.7 s render pipeline, $1.35 (exact charge) |
| All runs | Superluminal | 30 GPUs | 90.467 | 1.9 | circle | completed | classroom: 90.5 s render pipeline, $1.90 (exact charge) |
| All runs | Superluminal | 5 GPUs | 411 | 1.1 | circle | completed | classroom: 411.0 s render pipeline, $1.10 (exact charge) |
| All runs | Superluminal | 10 GPUs | 125.067 | 0.64 | square | completed | junkshop: 125.1 s render pipeline, $0.64 (exact charge) |
| All runs | Superluminal | 30 GPUs | 64.5 | 1.21 | square | completed | junkshop: 64.5 s render pipeline, $1.21 (exact charge) |
| All runs | Superluminal | 5 GPUs | 200.734 | 0.48 | square | completed | junkshop: 200.7 s render pipeline, $0.48 (exact charge) |
| All runs | Superluminal | 10 GPUs | 112.867 | 0.62 | diamond | completed | monster: 112.9 s render pipeline, $0.62 (exact charge) |
| All runs | Superluminal | 30 GPUs | 59.933 | 0.98 | diamond | completed | monster: 59.9 s render pipeline, $0.98 (exact charge) |
| All runs | Superluminal | 5 GPUs | 197.667 | 0.5 | diamond | completed | monster: 197.7 s render pipeline, $0.50 (exact charge) |

## More nodes cannot split one frame (yet)

The current farm assigns a complete frame to one node. Adding nodes lets more frames render at once, but it does not make one still image render across several nodes yet.

We are working on that limit. For current animation jobs, node count helps until the remaining frame count falls below the available nodes.

On Classroom, six times the nodes made the job 4.5 times faster, not six times. The [speed study](/how-superluminal-is-so-fast) shows where the missing speedup goes.

## One frame must fit one node

A frame renders on one node, so the whole scene must fit that node's GPU memory. Some Cycles configurations can use system memory after GPU memory fills. That fallback can slow rendering, and a larger scene can still fail. Test the frame with the highest expected memory use before submitting a long sequence.

The [Blender render farm explainer](/blender-render-farm#what-every-render-node-needs) covers this constraint for every engine.

## The Persistence Engine reuses Blender between frames

The [Persistence Engine](/how-superluminal-is-so-fast#the-persistence-engine-pays-startup-once) can keep Blender open after a node finishes a frame. The node changes the frame number and output path, then starts the next frame without launching Blender and opening the project again.

Every frame can use this path. The engine saves the most time when Blender startup and scene construction form a large share of each frame. Long frames still avoid the repeated work.

Persistence can expose scene or add-on behavior that expects a fresh process. If a short comparison produces different output, use the [render node settings guide](/docs/blender-addon/render-node-settings#persistence-engine) to test the job with the Persistence Engine disabled.

## When a Cycles farm is useful

A farm helps most when many finished frames matter more than immediate interaction. It is less useful during active look development or for one still that fits on your workstation.

For animation, submitting from Blender also keeps dependency checks and job settings next to the scene. Finished frames can return while later frames render, which shortens the wait before review.

## Sources

| # | Source | Type | Checked | URL |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Blender Manual: Cycles sampling | Official Blender documentation | 2026-08-05 | https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/render/cycles/render_settings/sampling.html |
| 2 | Blender Manual: Cycles GPU rendering | Official Blender documentation | 2026-08-05 | https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/render/cycles/gpu_rendering.html |
| 3 | Blender Manual: Cycles performance | Official Blender documentation | 2026-08-05 | https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/4.5/render/cycles/render_settings/performance.html |
| 4 | Render farm benchmark dataset, July to August 2026 | First-party benchmark evidence | 2026-08-05 | https://superlumin.al/seo/evidence/render-farm-benchmarks-2026-08.json |
| 5 | Controlled Blender 5.1 process-reuse benchmark | First-party controlled benchmark evidence | 2026-08-05 | https://superlumin.al/seo/evidence/blender-process-reuse-benchmark-2026-08-05.json |