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Your RANCH Safe

Every RANCH user has a virtual safe (“RANCH Safe”) to securely manage their Ranch Credits (RC).

💰 How the RANCH Safe Works

Initial Balance and Top-Ups

  • Initial balance: 0.00 € upon account creation.
  • Minimum top-up to start a project: 10 Ranch Credits (RC) are required to launch a project. (New users receive 30 € in free trial credits.)
  • Top-up methods: You can recharge your account at any time via our platform using:
    • Credit/debit card
    • Bank transfer
    • PayPal

Automatic Credit Deduction

  • Whenever you launch a project, the amount corresponding to the computing power used is automatically deducted from your RANCH Safe in real time while the job is processing.
  • If the project cost exceeds your available balance, the project is automatically stopped.

Allowed Overdraft Margin

  • By default, we allow a 20% overdraft to prevent untimely interruptions (e.g., to avoid missing frames by just a few minutes).
  • Example: If your balance is 500 RC when rendering starts, your account can go down to -100 RC before the project is automatically stopped.

📉 Ranch Credits (RC) Deduction

Real-Time Operation

  • A project starts immediately after upload and validation and runs until your credits are exhausted.
  • Your account balance is recalculated in real time during project execution.
  • If the system detects insufficient credits, the project is immediately stopped.

Data Recovery in Case of Stoppage

  • If a project stops due to insufficient credits, you can still retrieve the already rendered files (e.g., partially completed animation frames).
  • Available data depends on the project type and progress (e.g., a MultiBand still image may contain black strips if stopped prematurely).

Advantages of the Real-Time System

✅ No overcharging: You will never be billed beyond your available credits.
✅ Full control: You can top up your account before credits run out to avoid interruptions. We also recommend estimating your project in advance using tests or our cost estimator.

⚠️ Special Cases and Recommendations

Long or Resource-Intensive Projects

While there is no automatic time limit, we reserve the right to interrupt a project if:

  • It exhibits abnormal behavior (e.g., infinite loop).
  • It uses excessive resources without visible progress (e.g., overconsumption of RAM).

In all cases, we will attempt to contact you before stopping the project.

💡 Tip: If you know your project will require an exceptionally long render time, please inform us in advance before submitting it.

💡 Best Practices

  1. Estimate render time and cost in advance and/or test with a few frames.
  2. Monitor your balance regularly during rendering.
  3. Top up your account in advance to avoid interruptions.
  4. Contact us for complex projects (e.g., high RAM/VRAM consumption) or if you have doubts about credit usage.

Data Retention (GDPR Compliance)

In accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):

  • We send a reminder email 5 years after your last project submission.
  • Without confirmation from you to keep your account, it will be deleted, and any remaining Ranch Credits will be lost.
  • However, we can restore your credits if you return after 5 years of inactivity and provide us with an old invoice.