Computer graphics and animation permeates today's society. Motion pictures such as Jurassic Park and Toy Story make extensive use of computer graphics and animation. In general, animation is produced by creating a description, usually stored in a computer file, of an object to be displayed, such as the skeleton of a dinosaur. In addition, associated information affecting how the object will appear is stored. This information may include source and direction of light sources, texture of the object, and movement the object may take. Thus, for example, the dinosaur may be displayed moving from left to right at sunset in a rapid fashion, and he may or may not have grey skin having a rough texture. Once all of this information describing how the object will appear in the motion picture is compiled, the actual images displayed in the motion picture are generated. Generating an image from a description of the object and associated information is referred to as rendering. The rendering process may generate a series of files that are stored and then displayed in a motion picture.
Rendering may involve complex mathematics, which is often addressed utilizing significant computing power. In addition, software packages designed for rendering have associated license fees. Thus, there is a fixed cost associated with maintaining computers and software used for rendering. In addition, such computers often sit idle when not performing their rendering functions, resulting in inefficient use of these computing resources. Such rendering machines are often difficult to maintain and production facilities often spend too much time and money keeping their machines operational and have great difficulty expanding their capacity, including obtaining financing and designing the appropriate software architecture.