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New Discussion Title: Resource Reqmnts Under 4.22 and Pink HDRI's

RenderNoviceRenderNovice Posts: 56
edited December 2023 in Daz Studio Discussion

Hey all --

Just upgraded from 4.20 to 4.22 -- with a seeming new rash of problems.  In addition to crushingly slow NVIDIA renders, frequent, 100%-CPU-Consumed hangups while previewing, all  previews/renders -- on exisiting or new creations -- now have hot-pink backgrounds where ever an HDRI of any kind has been loaded.  I'm HOPING the update pushed a new wave of absurd and rarely-used settings to account for DAZ appearing to brick itself . . . instead of DAZ actually bricking itself.  Any thoughts on how to recover?  Guessing I'm not the only one to encounter difficulties.

Thanks!

Post edited by RenderNovice on

Comments

  • RenderNoviceRenderNovice Posts: 56
    edited December 2023

    Also -- deleting Tonemapper and Environment options from the Scene tab deletes the pink background, but also the original HDRI in the existing file.  Re-loading any HDRI promptly brings back the hot-pink background.  Selecting 'Scene Only" from the Environment Mode also gets rids of the pink background -- as one would expect -- with no HDRI display option now left.

    Post edited by RenderNovice on
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,223

    I don't have these problems with 4.22.

    Is your graphics driver up to date, or at least the minimum version required for 4.22? I'm using NVIDIA studio driver 546.33.

    Are you using an HDRI from Flipmode? He recently had to update all his HDRI products because he had used a compression version that was not supported by recent Daz Studio versions.

  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 100,483

    Deleting the settings nodes resets the settings to their default values, so yes that will removed the HDR

  • RenderNoviceRenderNovice Posts: 56

    Thanks Barbult --

    I've been here with DAZ before -- seemingly hopelessly broken -- only to have someone put their finger on some setting that crept in after a DAZ (or Windows?) update got pushed.  Hoping for something similar here: 

    546.33 confirmed installed -- and reinstalled, no help there.  As for Flipmode's products, it doesn't matter which HDRI I load: if one is loaded, I get a hot-pink billboard for a background instead of the expected HDRI image.  This is a VERY specific anomaly: surely its been seen before!

    HDRI isn't the only symptom.  I've had an increasing number of DAZ crashes over the past several days -- BEFORE, I realize, upgrading from 4.20 to 4.22.  But my biggest problems -- described here -- really took off after the DAZ update.  My other primary problem is trying to preview or render with IRAY:

    When previewing in IRAY, my CPU utilization now goes to 100% and stays there -- even though I've only selected the GPU at the Render Settings tab for Photorealistic and Interactive modes.  Normally, I'd attribute behavior like this to exceeding my meager 8GB GPU memory capacity, eliminate some elements from my scene and render away.  But these are existing files which previewed and rendered normally only a week ago.  While all Windows 10 tools tell me the graphics card is working properly, I usually cannot get an IRAY preview at all now if I disable the "Allow CPU Fallback" option under render settings.  Unchecking this box (then restarting DAZ) leaves my CPU unencombered, as you would expect -- but getting an IRAY preview in the Viewport often never happens. (it occasionally still previews)   Here's where it gets really confusing: my overclocking software -- EVGA Precision EOC -- tells me the GPU is loading properly -- temps increasing, etc., -- even when I cannot get an IRAY preview. 

    When attempting a full IRAY render, my overclocking software says the graphics card is loading, (clock speed amps up, temps and fan speeds rise) and the Render happens  -- but often at roughly 20% of the speed it did one week ago on the same DAZ file.  Windows says my CPU loads to around 35%, while my GPU only loads to about 1% during a full render.  (i.e. according to Windows, it still seems like the GPU isn't doing much)  If I attempt to render with the "Allow CPU Fallback" option unchecked, the render fails completely.

    I'm obviously having a very hard time discerning what's happening: Windows and overclocking software seem to tell me different stories.  The HDRI "pink screen of death" is truly one of the most bizarre anomalies I've ever seen.  Really could use another brain to crunch on this -- mine hurts!  Many thanks to any and all who might be able to help!

  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 100,483
    edited December 2023

    Do you have the updates just recvently released for the Flipmode sets - most, if not all, have been resaved and don't go pink anymore (though they do take up more space on disc).

    Task manager is not, with its default settings, a good inidcator of GPU usage - at least go to the Perfomance tab and turn one of the GPU grpahs to CUDA, if available, or Compute_0

    Post edited by Richard Haseltine on
  • RenderNoviceRenderNovice Posts: 56

    Well, I'll be, Richard --

    The HDRI I've been fighting with is INDEED a Flipmode product:  however, it does not show as having/needing an update in DIM or via DAZ Connect.  Sorry for the blatant ignorance -- the pink screen problem still remains -- but how do I get these updates?  

    With a graph set to CUDA in the performance monitor, the load spikes right to 100% on the GPU and stays there.  Same thing during a full IRAY render.  Again this seems corrobrated by the overclocking software, which seems to show the GPU loading up at the same time as well.  Can I rejoice that my graphics card hasn't died?  All of this said, I still get hang-ups on my PC (100% CPU loading) when IRAY-previewing in the ViewPort for DAZ projects that previewed with no such drama last week -- before DAZ 4.22.  Any insights here -- thngs I can do to restore previewing and render speed?  I've been mulling uninstalling and reinstalling DAZ completely . . . 

     

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,223

    If you will be specific about what Flipmode product you are having a problem with, people could better advise you of whether an update for it is available.
    There are also self-fix methods posted in various places in the forum. It involves opening the EXR file in an application like Photoshop and resaving it. Sometimes a Google search is all you need to resolve your problem. As you will see, DS 4.22 did not "Crush Iray".

     

    DS 4.22 No Longer Supports .EXR

    https://www.daz3d.com › ... › Daz Studio Discussion

    Nov 12, 2023 — After upgrading to DS 4.22, I was about to render a scene with Flipmode's (vendor) HDRI products and it just gave me the whole scene lit in ...

     

    Some HDRI not working

    https://www.daz3d.com › forums › discussion › some-...

    Nov 2, 2023 — Flipmode needs to submit those new exr files to Daz in product updates. ... Flipmode has fixed it november 12 but apparently DAZ takes a while to ...

     

    Had to install latest DazStudio, now renders are pink

    https://www.daz3d.com › ... › Daz Studio Discussion

    Nov 18, 2023 — exr files from Flipmode's sets (so far no others have been reproted as affected) - this is an Iray issue, it can be fixed by opening and ...

     

    Daz Studio Pro BETA - version 4.22.0.1! (*UPDATED*)

    https://www.daz3d.com › ... › Daz Studio Discussion

    Dec 22, 2022 — I opened Flipmode's EXR in Photoshop with OpenEXR plug-in. The color space is sRGB and Wavelet is used to compress the file. The colorspace ...

     

    FMA EXO HDRI just showing purple

    https://www.daz3d.com › forums › discussion › fma-e...

    Nov 7, 2023 — The fix is to use some graphics program to re-save the HDRI. Search the forums for Flipmode, you will find several discussions about the problem ...

     

  • RenderNoviceRenderNovice Posts: 56

    Thanks Barbut!

    Apparently I'm not only a 'RenderNovice,' but a novice at searching the right answer I need on a forum -- the links you sent are JUST what I was looking for!  (for the HDRI problem)  The key realization here is that NVIDIA gives DAZ their stuff in a 'black box' -- if they want to crush older functionality, there's nothiung DAZ (or DAZ users) can do but grope in the dark for workarounds.

    It might also be confusing when I discuss TWO distinct problems is a single post (where I erroneously attributed both to 4.22,  since that's when the trouble with each largely started.)  If you look at my exchange with Richard above -- and completely separate from pink HDRI's -- NVIDIA previewing in the Viewport and actual IRAY renders have also become almost un-doable for me since upgrading to 4.22.  But so far -- and thanks to your's and Richard's help -- it appears that both the card driver and the card itself are good.  Maybe GTX 1080 (8 GB) is just too easy to overload in a post-Genesis 9 DAZ environment?  Still trying to recover to the IRAY functionality I had before 4.22!     

     

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,223
    If you install the free GPU-Z program, it give you an easy way to monitor GPU usage. 8 GB on a non-RTX card is going to be a struggle for anything complex or characters with high subD values, clothes, hair, etc. While you are dealing with changes due to DA 4.22 and its Iray version, watch out for crashes with OOT hair. Those products also need to be updated. Forgive me if this was already mentioned here. I can't view earlier messages while replying. Google search is far far superior to the Daz forum search engine. You can even restrict the Google search to the Daz forum with Site:www.daz3d.com/forums. We don't care if you ask here when the question has already been asked and answered a dozen times. That is normal; people want individual attention. But searching first can often get you back up and running much faster than waiting for a response and going back and forth to clarify the problem.
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,223
    The issue with being unable to preview or GPU render a scene that previously worked, probably means you were close to your limit before, and now some recent DS and or Iray changes pushed you over the edge. You may not be able to handle those same scenes now. If you can create a new scene with a simple primitive sphere and preview and render it OK, it probably means your card is fine. Make sure you haven't pushed the DS compression setting values up too high, because that will use more graphics card RAM. Those settings are on the Render Settings Advanced tab.
  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 100,483

    Sadly an 8GB is pretty marginal with recent versions of iray, especially if it is a pre-RTX card (as emulating the RTX features takes about a GB in itself). It has been several versions since my 6GB 1660 Super could handle even a base, nude, Genesis 8/8.1 figure. Optimisation might help but you are going to face limits.

  • RenderNoviceRenderNovice Posts: 56

    Barbult/Richard --

    Phenomenally helpful commentary -- thank you!  The HDRI workaround worked great -- those FlipMode HDRIs work again now.  Did not know about OOT hair -- perhaps that's behind some of the crashes I'm having, will try to search the forum for the info and update process.

    I was thinking the same thing about 4.22 possibly eating up just a bit more resources and pushing me 'over the edge.'  Some of my previously quick-rendering scenes still are -- in fact, some might be rendering faster with 4.22. (possible?!)  If I'm within my card's memory limits -- not pushed on to the CPU -- I've been getting 20-30 interations per minute using 4.20.  The new behavior under 4.22 seems to be less that 10/minute -- but, crazy as this sounds -- I also seem to be converging to a low-noise render in less than half the iterations . . . so total render times are actually not that much longer.  (And no, I didn't changed the render settings I typically use at the Render Settings tab when I switched to 4.22)  Am I imagining this, or is 4.22 that different?

    Richard, I believe you and I have discussed Texture Compression in the past -- and I saved those pointers in my 30+ page DAZ "diary" of advice and techniques.  I normally leave Medium and High Thresholds at 512-1024.  If I still can't get a render on the GPU -- right or wrong -- I usually break my scene up into pieces and perform multiple renders, re-assembling in PS later.  (yeah, painful -- but I don't risk image quality by driving the High Threshold lower, right?)     

    At 8 GB, I've been forced to render busier scenes in parts for years now -- you know tech people, pinching a penny until Abraham screams for mercy.  I'm undertaking the research project of learning to build my own machine and will spring for a higher-end RTX card for sure.  TONS of gouge out there on how to do that, thankfully -- but, as DAZ experts specifically, and in that context -- do either of you have any insights on the benefits/downsides between having a two-card configuration, verses getting a single, uber-high-end card?  Basically a two card configuration renders a lot faster, but doesn't increase your memory cap beyond that of a single card's, right?

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