VFB Stuttering

[Nejc Kilar]

Hello everyone, I've got some potential bugs to report! :)

VFB is sometimes painfully slow

https://www.dropbox.com/s/myqi41tknbam5kb/20170925_103005.mp4?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0mcirisuiim01x0/Untitled%20Project.mp4?dl=0

As you can see on the two video examples above the VFB stutters. A lot. Its not a "I can't work at all" type of a problem but it is still very annoying as it happens on all sorts of scenes. It also makes spinners hard to use and the render region harder to draw.

What has been done to try and solve it?
- Kudos to the devs for sending me a private version with different thread scheduling (which I think is implemented in the latest dailies too). I tried it but it doesn't appear to help.
- I tried messing with the "Renderer" options under "Preferences" (Custom thread number, Thread Priority etc...) but it does not appear to help.
- I also tried disabling B&G effects but it doesn't help either.
- The VFB interval is set at 2000ms but again, it does not help.
- Tried deleting the C4D preference folder.

Below you can see a comparison video from 3ds Max:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/sph3qz77f8d4z9b/Untitled%20Project2.mp4?dl=0

This issue has been discussed in the past but we haven't really solved it so thats why I am opening another thread. At the time I just thought I better not waste the developers time with what appears to be a problem on my end. Turns out there are quite a few of us having the same issues though.

Oh and I really wanna say how great the devs are, the last time we tried to solve this one we've really engaged on the issue but unfortunately I had other projects to attend to so we haven't really figured out it.

Specs:
Intel Xeon 2696v3 x2, R9 390, 32GB RAM, Windows 8.1

Hope I am making sense here :)

[Matej Ovsenek]

I can confirm this, the first video is mine actually, sent it to nkilar for the post, recorded on Specs1. Tried on both configurations with large and small scenes to avoid potential lack of memory issues over both systems. Same "performace" with or without render elements.

Specs1:
xeon 2690 V3
128GB ram
quadro k4200
win 7

Specs2:
xeon 2670
32GB ram
GTX 1070
win 10

[vudumotion]

Hi!

Thanks for posting this nkilar. I'm having the exact same issue. VFB is very unresponsive / slow. In 3ds max version it seems to be a whole lot faster.
It would be awesome if you could address this issue.

Thank you!

Specs:
2x xeon 2697 V4
128GB ram
4x 1080Ti
Win 10

[burnin]

If you mean the delayed region response when moving, scaling and making new regions... no such mishap here (w7).
Also, materials preview response is normal.

Happened few times like a year ago, fixed by disabling some win.services. Dev. too did something to the code. Got smooth sailing ever since.

Does same happen if you stop winServices (update, defender...)?

[Nejc Kilar]

Hey Burning, thanks for chiming in!

Well, I haven't tried that but apparently we have Windows 7, 8.1 and 10 having the same issues. Besides, I can disable Windows Updates (Defender and most other stuff I have disabled, which ones are you specifically talking about though?) but that might not be something that could fly in a studio environment.

Also, 3ds Max doesn't have that issue so I am guessing something could be wrong somewhere in the Corona <-> C4D porting.

[houska]

Damn, this is such a weird issue. Seems like the threads are not scheduled correctly on Xeons or something... We'll need to try it out here on Ondra's PC, as Ondra is the only one with Xeon here, afaik.

[4b4]

I agree the VFB seems to be some way behind the MAX version still with B & G particularly and the general responsiveness of it

I couldn't help noticing that sharpening was on in the videos shown, I've found that slows things down by 30 - 40% at least (I'm not on Xeon - i7 4930 here in win 10). My usual work flow is to leave everything unchecked in the VFB and then play with the image editor. I appreciate that doesn't help much with render regions but maybe the sharpening might have an effect that you can try disabling in the meantime?

[Nejc Kilar]

@Houska

I'll open up another thread where I'll kindly ask Ondra to fix the bug where you guys don't have Xeons :) Jokes aside, thanks for looking into this again, I really really appreciate it. Awesome devs :)

@4b4

I hear ya but it unfortunately is the same with or without sharpening - or any of the other VFB effects. The 3ds Max video has everything enabled though.

[Nejc Kilar]

So the latest beta build (29.9) seems to have solved all of these issues for me. :) What can I say, awesome job :)

edit:
After further testing I can say that it still lags but it is definitely much much better than before.

[Mor4us]

hi there, just sneak myself into this thread.... am I the only one noticing the MUCH higher VFB refresh values (VFB Stats) in c4d in the c4d video
the max video shows vfb refresh values around 30-50ms, the c4d videos shows values around 200-600ms, is this something we can relate to?
how about the rendered resolution? Did you try using lower resolutions, did this improve responsiveness?

[Nejc Kilar]

hi there, just sneak myself into this thread.... am I the only one noticing the MUCH higher VFB refresh values (VFB Stats) in c4d in the c4d video
the max video shows vfb refresh values around 30-50ms, the c4d videos shows values around 200-600ms, is this something we can relate to?
how about the rendered resolution? Did you try using lower resolutions, did this improve responsiveness?

Hey Mor4us, thanks for participating :)

Not sure why that is so to be honest. Afaik changing the refresh rate values doesn't help, the stutter is still there. A simple scene with just a light lags pretty much like a bigger scene does. Lowering the resolution helps but only to an extent - its still noticeably worse.

With the latest beta release (29.9) the VFB works a lot better though. I still do think it stutters more than the 3ds Max one but its way more usable now. I wonder if Vudumotion and Matej are going to report similar findings.

I do wonder what has changed :) Devs?

[TomG]

In case it helps, just adding my experience with the latest build, where I do see some "stuttering" or "lagginess" in changing params in the VFB.

Changing parameter in VFB Post tab shows "stutters" where the value freezes for a short while - although the value continues to change smoothly in the Picture Viewer settings which I have open at the same time (but the PV itself is closed).

Directly changing the parameter in the PV dialog (with the PV closed in this case) does not show any stutter.

Link to video in case it helps: https://youtu.be/AOJVH0O_hRE

[vudumotion]

Hey!

I still have the same issue. It was a bit better with the beta release 29.9, but it is still miles away from what I see in 3ds Max version. I only use VFB in a shader ball scene. For everything else it is not usable at all, I'm afraid.

Developers, please invest some time to address this issue. VFB is one of Corona's key features in my opinion.

Thank you!

Specs:
2x xeon 2697 V4
128GB ram
4x 1080Ti
Win 10

Dusan

[Nejc Kilar]

I just want to +1 that a hundred times :)