Login Beaver is a series of C# pieces of software written to remind users when to log into an account that facilitates farm rendering. It ran through task scheduler and featured installers to create and setup the scheduled tasks.

At Designstor, as with most companies dealing with rendering 3D scenes, our render farm was a key component of our workflow. This setup included not just dedicated machines in a server rack but also the office workstations of our team members. This approach allowed us to harness additional computing power when team members were not actively using their machines, significantly boosting our rendering capabilities

However, integrating user workstations into the render farm presented its own set of logistical challenges. Ensuring that machines were properly logged in for rendering was a delicate balance. Scenarios such as team members working late remotely and forgetting to log into the render system, or forgetting to log out in the morning, could lead to complications like license mix-ups, render errors due to lack of resources, or slow-downs for their workstations throughout the day.

These situations, while seemingly minor, affected both the individual user and the overall efficiency of the render farm, and this could be particularly troublesome, especially when we were counting on all machines contributing to the workload for specific projects or deadlines.

We understood that these challenges weren't born out of negligence or malice, but were instead a consequence of the multitude of tasks and responsibilities our team members had to manage daily. It was also crucial to avoid any scenarios where team members might feel their additional hours were being overlooked, particularly if they were greeted with queries about not logging into their render accounts after working late.