For individual users, there are two ways to add tasks to the Golem desktop app, via the Add Task button (circle with a “+” sign) on the main toolbar which allows the user to select a file through the system chooser or via drag and drop. Both single files or folders can be added.
To add a task via the system chooser, click the Add Task icon, select your file or folder and your task will be added to Golem (after you have filled out the Task Settings). To add a file via drag and drop, simply drag a file (or multiple files inside a folder, in case of tasks with multiple resources) onto the Task view, and the task will be added.
Note: On Windows users can add a folder with files using the add task button and single files with drag & drop, On Osx users can add a file and folder in both, On Linux users can add a single file with drag & drop, On Linux users can add a folder with drag & drop and add task button.
Your Task Settings and computing time will vary depending on the complexity of your Blender file, but there are some basic principles to understand and general guidelines to use when submitting a task to the network. Below is a breakdown of all you see on the Task Settings screen.
Before Golem can assign your task to other nodes, your machine must first complete a local render test. Golem prompts your machine to render a single low resolution frame of your file to determine if it is a valid blender file. This is integral to our verification process and must be completed to ensure the accuracy of computations.
You will see a small window with an icon showing the status of your local render test. Once the test is completed, you can finish up the rest of the required settings.
During local render test there might be errors:
This section includes all render specific settings:
Note: At this point you can save your settings as a preset. If your files use Cycles, there will be an option to set how many Samples you want instead of Frames. This will be implemented in future releases.
Task and Subtask timeouts are the most important settings when submitting a task. So be sure to carefully consider the size and complexity of your blender file when setting timeouts.
If you set your subtask timeout too high, you can get stuck with a weak node trying to compute your subtask which could lead to network performance issues. If your subtask timeout is too low, then you run the risk of even high powered nodes not finishing your task.
Note: If your task times out halfway through, you will still pay for subtasks computed. If you are rendering an animation rather than a still image, it is best to have your subtask amount match your frame amount. This means that if a timeout occurs, but some of your subtasks were still computed, you can re-submit the task with the previously completed subtasks removed to avoid rendering them twice (and paying for them twice).
From: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Blender_3D:_Noob_to_Pro/Basic_Animation/Rendering
“Animation rendering can take a while. Consider a short animation sequence of, say 10 seconds at 25 frames per second—250 frames. If a single frame takes 10 seconds to render, then the whole sequence will take about 40 minutes. If a single frame takes a minute, then the whole animation will need over 4 hours to render. And it gets worse the longer the movie is. And so it goes.”
This is why Golem exists, to save you time while rendering.
Once your settings are complete you can set your price.