Daily Builds 1.5

[Ryuu]

Thank´s for the information Ryuu, and what´s about this question?

Also: For Vray one thing holds still true: there is a trick to lower RAM usage, in that you use their VFB to set Image size and set the 3dsmax image size to 100x100, so 3dsMax does not create an invisible large framebuffer, that eats RAM. Is the same already true for Corona?

Ram issues (primarily VFB related) are the biggest issue for us right now. Searching for any solution/trick/optimization atm.

Good Luck

I talked about this with Ondra just this morning. It seems that this is a potential mine field in 3ds Max and I especially don't like that the user would have to manually set a different resolution for Max and for Corona VFBs.

We may try to do something about this after 1.5, but I can't make any promises at this moment since our post-1.5 TODO list is already miles long.

[Frood]

@Maru

but you can also disable VFB in Corona (or switch to Max VFB).

Memory gets allocated anyway, you need something to write in renderers result. I wonder if it would be possible to use local files instead of ram combined with a very low refresh rate - dunno. All hacks, still the best to go for 128GB ram. My daily build freaks out to some serious extend when switching off the VFB or chaning to native max btw.

@Ryuu

I talked about this with Ondra just this morning. It seems that this is a potential mine field in 3ds Max and I especially don't like that the user would have to manually set a different resolution for Max and for Corona VFBs.
We may try to do something about this after 1.5, but I can't make any promises at this moment since our post-1.5 TODO list is already miles long.

Of course it should happen automatic/invisible to the user without any UI element if possible maybe as "Supernative Corona VFB" dropdown entry in VFB settings. But no one want´s minefields of course. Depending on what amount of ram is saveable it may even not worth to look further into it.

As for the post 1.5 todo: as far as I remember 1.5 was originally aimed for the "small updates/features" and bugfixing and DR redesign - the "boring" stuff I´ve been looking really forward to. Now 1.5 is full of exciting new features so - no wonder :)

Tnx and Good Luck

[Ondra]

yeah stuff happens, right now 1.6 is supposed to be the small one :D. We were unable to do fast iteration with 1.5 because of the vacations, so some longer-running projects got finished by people who did not take vacation time ;)

[snakebox]

yeah stuff happens, right now 1.6 is supposed to be the small one :D. We were unable to do fast iteration with 1.5 because of the vacations, so some longer-running projects got finished by people who did not take vacation time ;)

Considering how stable the vast majority of the daily builds are still, it's like xmas every other week! Keep up the great work guys!

[FrostKiwi]

Considering how stable the vast majority of the daily builds are still, it's like xmas every other week! Keep up the great work guys!

Agree :]

I am not sure if that's what you mean, and I am sure you already know that, but you can also disable VFB in Corona (or switch to Max VFB).

Ohh! Let the testing commence! 8k image:

None: 3dsmax.exe - 9.4gb
Native 3dsMax: 3dsmax.exe - 9.4gb
Corona VFB: 3dsmax.exe - 9.4 gb

Well, that's inconclusive.
Let's just presume, that by using Native 3dsMax VFB, the Corona VFB and it's framebuffer get's shut off, this means, that always only one framebuffer is being created and we come to the conclusion, that everything is fine and awesome. Right?

Begs the question, how come Vray didnt figure out how to use only one framebuffer instead of 2.

Unless, in reality there are still always 2 being created... can some dev give a simple yes no anwser, just to kill my curiosity?

I talked about this with Ondra just this morning. It seems that this is a potential mine field in 3ds Max and I especially don't like that the user would have to manually set a different resolution for Max and for Corona VFBs.

We may try to do something about this after 1.5, but I can't make any promises at this moment since our post-1.5 TODO list is already miles long.

This implies, there two being created? Since... for VR the difference is night and day. There is 15gb+ of a difference if you render 16k images.

[GabaCGStudio]

just need to out of core :]

[Ondra]

yep, 3dsmax buffer is always allocated, only sometimes not shown - it is because 3dsmax still does the image saving, and we are not ready to hijack that functionality from it.

funny sidenote: Did you know 3dsmax cannot handle bitmap larger than 64k in either width or height? ;)

[Ludvik Koutny]

Even funnier side note: Did you know Maya can't handle any bitmap texture that has either side larger than 8k (yes, just 8192px) and it doesn't support it in a way that if you try to load it, Maya crashes?

[Ondra]

optimization! Somebody saved 4 bytes per bitmap at some point in the past :D

[SaY]

sorry to say, but it has been pushed to 1.6 so we can make 1.5 release under 1 month

Is there any way to add just the "Pre-run 3ds max" function to the current daily builds or 1.5 release? It would give a huge DR speed up, for the simple scenes waiting for the nodes to start max and load the scene takes longer than the rendering itself.

[Ondra]

we cannot add just this one thing as it changes a LOT internally. We will instead aim to provide the prototype ASAP after 1.5 release (we can send you a build immediately as a matter of fact, if you want to test it with the disclaimer that it might not work correctly ;)). Only reason it is not release in daily builds is that we do not want to diverge the public daily builds into "will become 1.5" and "will become 1.6"

[pokoy]

Sorry for coming back to this but I feel the '+' button functionality in the light select element could work in 2 different ways at the same time, if possible. Currently it expects you to pick a light/object (which is certainly good) but I'd like to be able to select a bunch of lights first and then pick the button, too. It would be fantastic if both methods would work. Sometimes you want to pick something but it might be hidden behind a glass pane etc. so it's easier to select the object(s) first and then pick the '+' button so it'll be added to the list.

After having taken bloom&glare through some thorough testing on production scenes I have to say you guys did an amazing job there. I've been hesitant to see where it could be useful before it was added but now see how great it is to have it built in. Excellent work.

Two questions:
- would it be possible to exclude background or even the sun disc from bloom&glare calculations?
- what exactly does 'hue power' do? I thought it would saturate the result but it adds this funky 70's disco effect. Not that I don't like it, I actually would use it occasionally, but I'd like to have a spinner which would saturate the bloom&glare a bit more, so it picks up the color of the pixel it's based on and intensifies the color saturation in the center... not sure if it's clear, tell me if you need a real-world example.

[Frood]

Sorry for coming back to this but I feel the '+' button functionality in the light select element could work in 2 different ways at the same time, if possible. Currently it expects you to pick a light/object (which is certainly good) but I'd like to be able to select a bunch of lights first and then pick the button, too. It would be fantastic if both methods would work. Sometimes you want to pick something but it might be hidden behind a glass pane etc. so it's easier to select the object(s) first and then pick the '+' button so it'll be added to the list.

Even if this was/is discussed elsewhere: Totally agree. This should get like this for all "+" buttons wherever used:

If something is selected: add it
If nothing is selected: wait for pick

Good Luck

[Ondra]

already working on the new pick button.
O.

[Pixel Folks]

Hi I was just wondering, when are you planning this release?