If you are getting AMI errors when creating instances, you are using a version of Barista that is no longer supported. Update to the latest build.

If you are rendering an intensive scene using a lower-cost server, renders make take longer than expected. Larger systems are much faster and often end up cheaper than the slower systems.

If you are using a high end server, and the render isn't as fast as expected, verify the performance settings in your scene file. Threads should not limited, and tile settings set correctly.  

With Eevee:

Features like Eevee work best with a GPU. When using CPU instances, Blender defaults to software OpenGL. 

Yes, at this time Barista requires an Amazon account to take full advantage of Barista and cheap/fast rendering using cloud-based services. This account is not only used to store your project files, but to also use their servers to offer amazingly fast renders!

Absolutely! You will need to provide the AddOns, and if they are platform specific, they need to support Linux. In the Instance Options, select the file that provides your AddOns.

More information can be found in the Barista Documentation Help > Documentation > How-To.. > Use Add-Ons

Absolutely! You can use a custom Blender builds with your render. Barista also has direct support for E-Cycles, Fracture Modifier, and GraphicAll. 🎉

After creating a new AWS account, you may find that various features won't work right away. In many cases, API keys will not authenticate in Barista, until the account has finished initializing. The initialization process can take 1 to 2 hours after account creation, so wait until it has completed, and try again.

Barista can be used absolutely anywhere in the world! Depending on your country of origin, an additional VAT tax may be applied:

Tax Help - VAT Rates Summary Table (EMEA)

Barista is only supports the following AWS regions. While it offers limited regions, we will continue to add more regions as our user base grows:

• US-East-1 (Virginia)
• US-East-2 (Ohio)
• US-West-1 (California)
• US-West-2 (Oregon)
• AP-SouthEast-2 (Sydney)
• EU-West-2 (London)

One of the greatest features of Barista is that even if we stopped development today, the latest version would continue to work as expected. 

Because many versions include an update to the OS images, older versions will depreciate as it is replaced by a newer version. Each version is given at least a 2 week period before depreciating, and when a new version is released with such an update, supporters are notified of the depreciation date for the previous version.

Yes, and no.

Yes: The S3 Free-Tier benefits (The 5GB free storage, and 20k downloads and 2k uploads) are quite helpful when managing your files with Barista.

No: The EC2 Free-Tier benefit offers 750 hours for the t2.micro and t3.micro instances, which are both single-core instances. In order for Blender 2.8 to render and return progress, it needs at least 2 core, making these particular instances ineligible for renders in Barista.

When Barista shows you have 0 credits for a specific hardware configuration, it means that the account does not have access to that hardware. To gain access, you need to request a limit increase for that particular hardware.

To the right of the available / required vCPU count (in red), click the Limit Increase "+" button. A dialog will open giving you the info you need to use in the limit increase form, and clicking Request Increase will take you directly to the limit increase form you need to fill out. 

Projects with multiple layers and compositing filters will often repeat frames or render silently making it seem the render has stalled. Since instances automatically shutdown once Blender stops or crashes (1.6.0+), unless you see a message that Blender has crashed, Blender is still in the process of rendering and simply not returning progress output.

Eevee:

Since Eevee background rendering is not actually supported in Blender, logs are incredibly sparse and may also seem to stall when dealing with intense scenes.

Absolutely! 

Since Blender isn't automatically updated (yet), you can use a custom build to render using the latest version of Blender. Here's how:

1. Download the Linux 64-bit version of Blender you want to use for rendering: download.blender.org 

2. Upload the file to one of your project folders (S3 Bucket) within the same region.

3. Click the gear icon at the bottom-right corner of the instance list, to open the Build Customization Settings.

4. Using the Build Folder and Build File drop-down menus, choose the Blender file you uploaded in step 2, then click SAVE

5. When selecting which version of Blender to use, select the Custom option to render using the build you selected.

When your instance allowance is exceeded for an instance type by starting instances, there is time after the instance shutdown where the instance credits are still waiting to be released for use. When your account has enough credits to start an instance, but the required credits are still held by a previously run instance, you will receive this error.

While you do need to have an AWS account, you don't need a complete knowledge of AWS. AWS can be very intimidating, and Barista was made to automate a lot of the process. You are guided through the parts you need to know, and the areas you want to know more about are outlined in the documentation.

There are certainly other cloud rendering services out there, as well as render farms who use AWS for 3D rendering, but in each case you pay for the cost of AWS, but also a hefty price increase added for their service. Since Barista gives you direct access to the AWS service, using your own account, you completely remove the middleman, giving you the cheapest possible price.

The information available here is limited. You can find development updates, render benchmarks, the Barista demo, documentation, and a public community forum on our main website:

https://baristarender.com

As of 1.7.1, there is now a usable demo which can be found here:

https://baristarender.com/p/barista-demo

If you have a new AWS account, you may find it difficult to get access to the larger hardware right away. Amazon has stating that these decisions are based on the amount of usage on the account. If you are just starting out with Barista, you can do a few renders using the available CPU instances within the first few hours, and have a better chance for limit requests to be approved. The more they can see the account being used, the better your chances are to have larger requests approved.

If you still have trouble with request approval, you can reach out to the AWS Sales Team, or you can reach out to me through Barista's Blender Market support to personally reach out to the AWS Sales Team on your behalf.