From what I understand, using multiple processors doesn’t really help for rendering single images, only animations.
But what about simulations? (Specifically softbody, fluid, hair, etc.) Can these be run in multiple threads?
Multi-threaded or dual core processors can help when rendering stills. Just activate the “Threads” button under the Render settings. I don’t think multi-core processors speed up the fluid simulation, but I am not 100% positive on that.
DwarvenFury
By multiple processors I’m thinking more towards a beowulf or mosix cluster, ranther than dual core… I don’t know if that actually makes a difference
i just know for the fluid simulation part - there a multi core cpu could help, if the memory bandwidth is good (e.g. opterons). i have an experimental version with OpenMP, but the Blender one currently runs with only a single thread. with real clusters it might again be harder to see a speedup due to the relatively slow network connection, but I never tried that.