Upload and Download Files on Super Renders Farm

Introduction

Moving project files to and from a render farm is the part of the workflow that most often goes wrong. A render fails not because the engine misbehaves, but because a texture path didn't resolve on the remote node, a multi-gigabyte ZIP was rejected at the gate, or a slow home connection stalled mid-upload after twenty minutes.

Super Renders Farm supports four ways to upload a project — the web interface, the SuperRenders Client App, SFTP, and cloud storage import (Google Drive or Dropbox) — and two ways to retrieve rendered output. None of them is "the right one" in the abstract; each method has a sweet spot defined by file size, network speed, how often you'll re-submit the same project, and whether your studio already runs SFTP or shared cloud storage day-to-day.

This guide gives you a decision tree to pick the method that matches your job, step-by-step instructions for each, and a reference for the upload errors we see most often in support.

Decision Tree: Which Upload Method Should You Use?

The four methods are not interchangeable. Use this short decision tree the first time you submit a project, then switch as your workflow stabilizes.

Use the Web UI if:

The total project size is under ~2 GB
You submit jobs occasionally (a few times a month) rather than continuously
You want zero installation — just a browser

Use the Client App if:

You submit jobs at least weekly and want fewer manual steps
Your project is between 2 GB and ~50 GB
You want the upload to retry automatically on connection drops
You want completed frames to auto-download to a local folder as they finish

Use SFTP if:

The project is large (10 GB and up — animation projects with cached fluids, big point clouds, dense Forest Pack scatter)
Your studio already has an SFTP client (FileZinking, Cyberduck, WinSCP, Transmit) and an internal workflow built around it
You're submitting from a Linux box or a server, not an artist workstation
You need to script uploads (CI, render-prep automation)

Use Google Drive or Dropbox import if:

The project is already in shared cloud storage because your team collaborates there
You're on a slow home connection but the file is already fully uploaded to Drive or Dropbox from a co-worker on a faster connection
The file is between ~500 MB and ~20 GB (smaller files don't justify the indirection; very large files transfer faster directly)

A small caveat applies to all four paths: ZIP archives are not supported as a submission format. The farm needs an uncompressed project folder (the scene file plus all referenced assets in the correct directory structure) so the render manager can resolve asset paths. We expand on this in the Common Upload Errors section below.

Method 1: Web UI Upload

The web upload is the simplest path and the one we recommend for first-time submissions and small projects.

Step-by-step:

Sign in to your account at and open the render dashboard.
Click New Job (or Submit Project, depending on which engine landing you arrived from).
Drag the project folder onto the upload area, or click Choose Folder and select it.
Wait for the upload progress bar to complete. The browser shows individual file progress for projects with many assets.
Once the upload finishes, configure render settings (frame range, output format, priority) and submit the job.

Practical limits. Browsers throttle individual upload sessions, so the web path becomes slow above ~2 GB and unreliable above ~5 GB on residential connections. If your browser tab is closed mid-upload, the transfer aborts — there is no resume on the browser side. For projects in that range, switch to the Client App.

What gets uploaded. Drag-and-drop preserves your folder structure exactly. If your scene references textures in \textures\ and \proxies\, those subfolders need to be inside the dragged top-level project folder, with the same names. Missing references on the farm almost always trace back to one of these subfolders being outside the upload root.

Method 2: SuperRenders Client App

The Client App is the path most production studios eventually settle on. It handles resume-on-disconnect, integrity checks, and auto-download of completed frames — none of which the browser path supports.

Step-by-step:

Download the Client App from the and install it on your workstation.
Sign in with your Super Renders Farm account credentials.
Click New Project and select your project folder. The app scans for the scene file and referenced assets.
Review the file list — the app shows missing references before upload starts, so you can fix them locally rather than after a failed render.
Click Upload. Progress is shown per file, and the upload resumes automatically if your connection drops.
After upload completes, configure render settings inside the app and submit.

Auto-download. The Client App also handles the return trip. Once you enable a local output folder, completed frames stream down to your workstation as each frame finishes — you don't have to wait for the whole job to complete before retrieving anything.

Plugin v1 vs v2 note. Studios using older versions of the Client App should check the for current install paths, plugin version compatibility, and the migration plan when Spaces (our next-generation transfer layer) supersedes the Client App. That doc covers per-DCC plugin integration, end-to-end submission, and troubleshooting steps in depth — this page only covers the upload-and-download surface.

Method 3: SFTP Upload

SFTP is the path we recommend for large projects, scripted workflows, and studios that already operate SFTP as part of their pipeline. It runs over SSH on port 22 and handles multi-gigabyte transfers reliably.

Step-by-step:

Generate SFTP credentials from your account dashboard. Each account has its own SFTP host, username, and key — these are not shared across teammates by default. (Team accounts can issue separate credentials per artist.)
Open your SFTP client (FileZilla, Cyberduck, WinSCP on Windows; Transmit or built-in sftp on macOS; OpenSSH sftp on Linux).
Connect using the host, username, and key from your dashboard.
Navigate to your account's upload directory — usually shown as the default landing path on first connect.
Drag the project folder into the remote pane and let the transfer run.
Once the upload completes, switch back to the web dashboard or the Client App to configure render settings and submit the job. SFTP handles the file transport; it does not submit the render itself.

Why SFTP for large projects. Browser uploads and the Client App both add their own overhead. SFTP runs at near-line-rate on a wired connection, recovers from transient disconnects, and works well for transfers of 50 GB and above. For animation projects with cached simulations, large textures, or proxy geometry, SFTP is almost always the right choice.

Scripting. OpenSSH sftp and rsync over SSH both work for CI pipelines and render-prep automation. Studios with internal render-prep scripts typically generate the project folder, run a checksum, and push to the farm in a single step — no human in the loop until the dashboard shows the job ready to submit.

Method 4: Cloud Storage Import (Google Drive / Dropbox)

If your team already shares projects through Google Drive or Dropbox, you can import directly without re-uploading from a local workstation. This is useful when the file is already in cloud storage and your local connection is slower than the cloud-to-cloud transfer would be.

Step-by-step (Google Drive):

In your project's Drive folder, right-click the project folder and select Get link → Anyone with the link can view. The folder must be accessible without a Google Workspace login.
Copy the link.
In your Super Renders Farm dashboard, open New Job → Import from Cloud Storage → Google Drive.
Paste the share link and click Import. The farm pulls the folder server-side; no upload from your machine.
When the import completes, configure render settings and submit.

Step-by-step (Dropbox):

In Dropbox, right-click the project folder and select Share → Create link. Confirm the link is set to "Anyone with the link can view."
Copy the link.
In your dashboard, open New Job → Import from Cloud Storage → Dropbox.
Paste the link and click Import. Same server-side pull pattern as Drive.

When this method makes sense. Cloud import is the quickest path when the file is already fully synced in Drive or Dropbox and your local network is slower than the cloud-to-cloud link. For files that aren't already in cloud storage, the indirection (upload to Drive first, then import) is slower than going direct via SFTP or the Client App.

Permission gotcha. Folders set to "Only people in your organization" or "Restricted" will fail to import — the farm's pull server isn't a member of your workspace. Switch the link to "Anyone with the link can view" before importing, then revoke it afterward if your security policy requires.

Comparison: Methods at a Glance

| Method | Best for | Practical size range | Resumes on disconnect? | Auto-download output? | |---|---|---|---|---| | Web UI | Occasional, small projects | Under ~2 GB | No | No (manual download) | | Client App | Studios with regular submissions | 2–50 GB | Yes | Yes | | SFTP | Large projects, scripted workflows | 10 GB and up (no upper limit) | Yes | No (use Client App or web for retrieval) | | Cloud import (Drive / Dropbox) | Files already in shared cloud storage | ~500 MB – 20 GB | N/A (server-side pull) | No |

Match the method to the project shape. A 200 MB still doesn't need SFTP; a 60 GB animation with cached fluids shouldn't go through the browser.

Common Upload Errors

These are the errors we see most often in support, and what to check first.

"Upload failed: ZIP file detected."

We don't accept ZIP, RAR, or 7Z archives as submission format. The render manager needs to traverse your project folder structure to resolve asset paths — if everything is sealed inside an archive, the worker nodes can't open it without first unpacking, which adds time and an extra failure mode. Solution: upload the project as an uncompressed folder instead. If you're working from a colleague's ZIP delivery, unpack it locally first, then upload the resulting folder.

"Missing texture: D:\projects\..."

Your scene references an absolute path on your local machine that doesn't exist on the farm's worker nodes. This is the single most common cause of failed jobs, and it surfaces whether you uploaded via the Web UI, the Client App, or SFTP. Fix it locally by using relative paths (most DCCs have a "make paths relative" or "consolidate assets" command — File → Reference Editor → Make Relative in Maya, File → Archive in 3ds Max, File → Pack External Data in Blender). The Client App pre-scans for absolute paths and flags them before upload starts, which saves a round-trip.

"Upload timed out."

Common on residential connections, especially over Wi-Fi with files above 1 GB. The browser path doesn't resume — switch to the Client App or SFTP, both of which recover from transient connection drops. Also check your local upload speed (most ISPs cap residential upload at 10–50 Mbps); a 20 GB project on a 10 Mbps line takes roughly five hours of continuous transfer.

"Permission denied" on cloud import.

The Drive or Dropbox folder isn't set to "Anyone with the link can view." Open the share settings, switch to public-link access, retry the import, then revoke the link afterward.

"Invalid project structure."

The folder you uploaded doesn't contain a scene file the farm recognizes (.max, .ma/.mb, .c4d, .blend, .hip/.hiplc, .aep). Common cause: dragging only the textures folder instead of the full project root. Re-upload from one level up so the scene file is included.

"Asset paths point outside the project folder."

Your scene references assets that live above the project root (e.g., a shared \Studio Library\ folder one level up from \Project_X\). Worker nodes can only see what's inside the uploaded folder. Either consolidate those assets into the project folder locally before upload (most DCCs have a "collect all assets" command), or upload the parent folder so all referenced paths resolve.

Downloading Rendered Output

Two paths exist for retrieving completed frames: manual download from the dashboard, or automatic streaming via the Client App.

Manual download via dashboard. When a job completes, the dashboard lists each output frame and offers per-frame and full-job download. For animation jobs, the dashboard zips the output (this is a download convenience — not a submission format) so you can pull the whole sequence in one transfer. For stills or short sequences, per-frame download keeps the file count manageable.

Auto-download via Client App. With the Client App installed and a local output folder configured, completed frames stream down as each frame finishes. You don't have to wait for the full job to complete — you can review frame 1 while frames 240 through 480 are still rendering. This is especially useful for long animation jobs where review cycles overlap with the render itself.

SFTP retrieval. SFTP works in both directions: once frames are written to the farm's output area, you can pull them down with the same client you used to upload. Useful for scripted post-render pipelines (auto-encode, auto-upload to a CDN, etc.).

Retention. Output files stay on the farm long enough for normal review-and-pickup cycles; specific retention windows are documented in the . For long-term archival, download to your studio's storage rather than relying on the farm as a backup tier.

FAQ

Q: Why doesn't Super Renders Farm accept ZIP files? A: The render manager needs to walk your project folder to resolve asset paths — scene files reference textures, proxies, caches, and plugins by relative or absolute paths. If everything is sealed inside an archive, the farm has to unpack first, which adds time and an extra failure mode. Upload the project as an uncompressed folder; that's what every DCC's "collect all assets" or "archive" command produces by default.

Q: What's the largest project I can upload? A: There's no enforced upper limit. We've handled multi-hundred-gigabyte animation projects with cached simulations. For anything above ~50 GB, SFTP is the practical choice — browser uploads stall, and the Client App is optimized for the 2–50 GB band where most production projects live.

Q: How do I upload if my connection is unreliable? A: Use the SuperRenders Client App or SFTP. Both resume on disconnect, so a dropped Wi-Fi connection doesn't restart your transfer from zero. The browser upload path doesn't resume — if your tab closes mid-upload, the transfer aborts. For very unstable connections, SFTP with a tool like rsync-over-SSH gives the most reliable behavior.

Q: Can I upload directly from Google Drive or Dropbox? A: Yes — both Google Drive and Dropbox import are supported. Share the project folder with "Anyone with the link can view," paste the share URL into the dashboard's cloud-import option, and the farm pulls the folder server-side. This is faster than re-downloading to your local machine and re-uploading, especially when the file is already in cloud storage from a teammate.

Q: How long are my rendered frames kept on the farm? A: Output files stay available for normal review-and-pickup cycles. Specific retention windows are documented in your account dashboard. For archival, download completed jobs to your studio's storage rather than treating the farm as long-term backup.

Q: How do I get completed frames back to my workstation automatically? A: Use the SuperRenders Client App with a configured output folder. Frames stream down as each one finishes, so you can review early frames while later frames are still rendering. The dashboard's manual download path is fine for one-off jobs, but for animation work the Client App's auto-download cuts a lot of waiting.

Q: My scene references textures on a network drive. Will those upload? A: Only if the network drive paths are inside your uploaded project folder. Worker nodes can't reach your studio's network shares directly. Run your DCC's "collect all assets" or "consolidate references" command locally first — that copies all referenced files into the project folder and rewrites the paths to relative — then upload the consolidated folder. Most failed-job tickets we see trace back to this step being skipped.