I saw it...

@Nick Salve , this has to be the solution to your problem ↑

Ok I got it: the temp0001.blend is generated by the original project (same name convention as in my original post). but you want the file generated by the rendering node through crowdrender: "33838c......blend". try making a "blendcache_33838c......." this filename is huge!!! but I have a good feeling about it!!

@Nick Salve , what about the file "3838c.....blend" ? looking at the time stamp, it is the last one being modified. can you try making a cache folder for this one also?

@Nick Salve ,YES!!! then you have to make a copy of your cache folder, rename it "blendcache_temp0001", and paste it next to "temp0001.blend"

that is also why you need to synchronize the master with the rendering nodes first--> creation of the folder containing "svr.blend"

@Nick Salve , I am using an old version of crowdrender, so I need to check with the latest version. Basically , copies of the original project file are automatically generated as svr.blend for the rendering node (And temp.blend for the master if it is also used to render). Unfortunately, for "dynamic paint", and probably for "smoke simulation" (in your case) the "blendcache_originalFileName" folder is not copied, so you have to copy it where needed (same folder as svr.blend) and rename it "blendcache_svr". you should try a search for "svr.blend"....

@Nick Salve , just to be sure: Do you do have a "svr.blend" file and a "blendcache_svr" folder in you z:\ drive, or maybe a sub-folder of z:/?

@Nick Salve Hello Nick, I don't see anything that look like a cache folder (blendercache_*) in your folder screenshots: different folder name conventions? I think the first thing you need to do is locate the cache folder responsible for the smoke simulation when the project is rendered locally, by checking the "Temporary Files" folder (maybe use a simple smoke simulation for that purpose), and see if this is not the missing item in your shared folder.

also, is it still needed to manually move the cache to the clients?

Hey James, Yes I really would like to test it with both 2.79b and 2.8

Here is a way to render "dynamic paint" using crowdrender. you first need to change the temp file path in blender to something more accessible: after baking all the physics in your project, next to your project .blend file, you should have a cache folder with the following name convention: "blendercache_ProjectFileName". Synchronize first the project with the rendering nodes in crowdrender, then in each rendering node, find the location of the "svr.blend" file with a size similar to your *.blend project file(found in a subfolder located in the folder defined in crowdrender settings for output files on the corresponding node...), copy the cache folder in this location and rename it "blendcache_svr". now your nodes can render correctly. If your Master is also a rendering Node, there is an additional task: go to the temp folder defined in the first lines of this lengthy explanation, and find the sub-folder containing a file "temp.blend" with a size identical to your *.blend project file. Copy/Paste the cache folder there, and rename it "blendercache_temp". Now you can render correctly. Not the best I can do in term of explanation, but I hope this will be useful to someone Kazunobu

@James ok I don't get It: For some reason, the dynamic paint cache section does not have an "external" option like the "Particle system" for example. Any Idea on how to set the path in that case?

@James I didn't, and when looking at the default blender settings, the file path is empty. I will try to point at a network folder in the user settings of the master and see how it works.

Hello Warwick, I am experiencing a problem similar to your with Dynamic Paint. Could you solve your problem? If yes, how? I tried sharing the cache folder with all other nodes and resynced the project, but it didn't solve the problem... Thanks in advance, Kazu

@James, it's done!

@James I will need an e-mail address as It does not seem possible to upload files in the forum

Ouuups! thank you!! I forgot to use my brain on this one.....

Ok, I've logged-in into my cloud account from the add-on, so you should be able to see the error from there if i'm not mistaken.

Hello James, I made two zip files from the logging directories of the server and one of the slave computer. An e-mail address where I can send them?