If you're rendering on a single local machine, the most basic way is to create a text file containg each render command line separated by a carriage return, then chmod 777 that file and run it. The first command will be executed, upon completion the next command will be exectued, etc...
Would look something like this (for shake...)
Open kate, bbedit, ultraedit, or whatever text editor of choice...
shake -exec myfile.shk -t 1-100 -cpus 2 -v
shake -exec mynextfile.shk -t 1-30 -cpus 2 -v
shake -exec mylastfile.shk -t 1-200 -cpus 2 -v
save that as 'renderbatch.script'
chmod 777 renderbatch.script
type at prompt: ./renderbatch.script
and you'll be rendering the three commands in sequence. Same will hold for Maya...
render -proj /user/project/myproject -im /user/project/myproject/images/myimage.####.sgi -s 1 -e 10 /user/project/myproject/scenes/myscenfile.ma
like with shake example, create a file containing a a sequence of these command-line renders in the cmod777'd batchfile will run a sequence of maya renders.
Alternatively you can try muster, spider, smedge, or whatever network/batch rendering software runs on your platform.
But to get a series of renders done on a single machine, nothing more than a simple text batch script is needed.
regards,
john t.