[Released] LAMH2Iray Catalyzer: 1.8 update available [Commercial]

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Comments

  • dreamfarmerdreamfarmer Posts: 2,128

    Perhaps this 'Safe Mode' checkbox is the answer. Hmmm. 

  • ACueACue Posts: 114

    Managed to recreate my scene - rendering with the fox+wolf + Fern Lake.  Seems to be going faster (though it's a hefty scene in terms of the two animals and the lake).  I do like the look of the hair more.  I think I'll stop it before completion - the animals look fine now, but the background still has noise (only because I haven't finished the render, nothing to do with the catalyzer).

    Comparison below (didn't render either to completion, but it's the foreground I'm looking at now).

    First with 'convert to obj' Iray render

    Second with Catalyzer - much faster and the fur looks better.

    Agree. It looks much better. Thanks for doing this. I saved me the trouble of doing it for myself!

  • SaiyanessSaiyaness Posts: 715

    Haven't got a render to show, but I did some tests with a few of your critters (and I have lots O_O) and holy crap, it's so FAST!! And the fur looks awesome.

    I also LOVE that you can still pose the model. Bloody awesome! And no awful memory hogging viewport issues or having to wait ages for .obj export. SO good!!  :)

    Awesome work, Alessandro!!

    Still looking forward to being able to convert out own presets to the spline-y thing, but I'm very patient :)

  • luci45luci45 Posts: 2,649

    Wow, the Catalyzer is awesome! Fast renders and so much easier to use! I'm really glad I got it and the Foxes and Wolf today (and wishlisted a bunch of others.) 

    I had some crashes also. A couple times I think it was from leaving the Aux window opened in Iray after using it to pose figure in HDR dome. The Squirrel was very tricky. I accidentally clicked on it before the fur loaded and it crashed. Another time I accidentally tried to pose the fur insted of the squirrel and it crashed. A third time I just tried to move it and it crashed. It seems to have a lot more fur than the other animals and use more memory. 

    Here are a couple of fast render tests. 

    cheetah in park.jpg
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    fox and racoon.jpg
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  • ACueACue Posts: 114
    edited August 2017

    One tip that might work for folks who are experiencing crashes: load the figure first and build your scene around it. My work still crashed several times, but I saved the file after each major change or addition to the scene. After it became stable, rendering was super fast and the results are indeed amazing. Here is the excellent Beaver model and it renders great with the new plug-in. 

    beav1finweb.jpg
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    Post edited by ACue on
  • Silent WinterSilent Winter Posts: 3,610

    Perhaps this 'Safe Mode' checkbox is the answer. Hmmm. 

    I read the pdf - 'Safe Mode' apparently limits the multi-threading to make it more stable.

    So I'm guessing it means 'slower but more stable' - anyone tried it?

  • L'AdairL'Adair Posts: 9,479
    edited August 2017
    Taoz said:

    I have only 8 GB RAM in my render machine but swap file is 10 GB and I'm not getting any low memory warnings so you may be right about the swap file thing.

    I saw in another thread that you have 32 (64 now?) GB RAM, sounds strange though that you would get low memory warnings even with a small swap file unless you have some huge scenes that exceed those 32/64 GB. It shouldn't start swapping unless you run out of RAM. But Windows memory management has the annoying habit of moving RAM from open programs that are idle to the swap file even if there are lots of free RAM, and maybe that's what causing the low memory warnings, and not DS, as long as DS is active.

    I did a bunch of research on this. It isn't that you are running low on RAM, it's that you're running low on memory in the page file. Windows allocates memory from the page file based on what the program states it will need, then "commits" that memory for the program, even if the program doesn't use it. So if your page file doesn't have enough room left to allocate more memory for another open program, you'll get the out of memory error. (That's not particularly technical, but it is the gist.) I ordered more RAM before finding the info on page files. Otherwise, I probably would have saved that $300 towards a new monitor...
    sad

    Post edited by L'Adair on
  • LAMH2Iray Catalyzer is crashing my Daz3D 4.8 Pro until today.

    I used the newest Wolf2 for LAMH2Iray Catalyzer.

    Then i used the newest Fur for Big Cat 2 for LAMH2Iray Catalyzer.

    The Errormessage shows an Access Violation again.

    It is crashing if i use the renderbutton.

    To use the Savemode-button has no effect for me.

    I have many, many VRAM and RAM.

     

     

  • 3Ddreamer3Ddreamer Posts: 1,276

    It crashed a couple of times with different animal in 4.8, so I tried 4.9 Beta (not the latest one either) and it worked great. All I had was the Bison (crash), then just the Black Bear cub (crash) - no scenery, lights etc. In 4.9 Beta it was just the bear cub and worked fine. So 4.8 might be optimistic.

  • Alessandro MastronardiAlessandro Mastronardi Posts: 2,593
    edited August 2017

    Hello, after collecting feedback, here are a few tips and workarounds that might help:

    - I think everybody was able to install and activate by now; if not, after you install the Catalyzer, check these instructions: http://www.alessandromastronardi.com/blog/lamh2iray-catalyzer/
    - go for DAZ Studio 4.9+; lot of changes were done especially to Iray handling routines, and behavior on DS 4.7 or 4.8 is unpredictable and most likely to crash
    - some have pointed out the fact that loading a scene .DUF and successively adding a Catalyzer item may lead to issues; I'm looking into it as we speak. A workaround, for now, might be to load the Catalyzer item(s) first, and then merge the scene.duf
    - if for some reasons you crash while rendering, make sure you have DAZ Studio 4.9+. Also, please enable the 'Safe Mode' checkbox and try again; that should reduce the risk of data overflow especially on systems with low specs
    - in order to pose Catalyzer models more efficiently and have a responsive Studio viewport, I suggest you configure preferences like in the attached image; also, you may want to enable 'Hide preview hair', so that is easier to grab joints and pose them.
    - using the Aux viewport may also overload the system; if not really needed you might want to turn it off
    - as mentioned in the brief manual, go easy on 'Hair density' and 'Spline quality', as they may cause massive use of memory. Go gradually, understand what your system can take (using a single Catalyzer item on an empty scene is usually the best way), so that you get an idea of how it works

    This project is really new and I apologize if there are things that don't work well for some folks. With the beta-testers (which I thank for all their precious help) we spent several hours and efforts trying out all the possible combinations; but it goes without saying that no program is perfect and bug-free, especially at its initial release. If you have the patience to bear with it, I will improve things in further releases, and add more features as well.
    If you need assistance or questions of any kind, don't hesitate to email me directly at: [email protected]

    PS: if you like to help with development and debugging, in case of issues please email me at the address above sending a brief description of the problem and:

    • the Catalyzer log file (/Documents/DAZ 3D/Studio/LAMH2Iray Catalyzer/LAMH2IrayCatalyzerLogFile.txt)
    • the DAZ Studio log file (menu Help->Troubleshooting->View Log File)

    Thanks.

    DS-settings.jpg
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    Post edited by Alessandro Mastronardi on
  • Silent WinterSilent Winter Posts: 3,610
    If you have the patience to bear with it, I will improve things in further releases, and add more features as well.

    Now I wish I'd bought the bear / cubs so I could do a 'bear with it' render - any takers?

  • jakibluejakiblue Posts: 7,281
    edited August 2017

    Trying different things to see what makes it the most stable. Took Alessandro's advice above - I set up the scene including lights and render settings, saved it, closed DS. Reopened DS, loaded the wolf, posed him, then merged my previously saved scene with him. No crash - I had done it the other way around before...added the wolf to the scene (instead of loading him first and then merging the scene to him) and that had crashed immediately.  

    I clicked "safe mode" to see if that would make a difference, then hit render. Then I tiptoed very very quietly away from the computer so it wouldn't feel me leaving and went and started reading a book. laugh Render was successful. Took about half hour or so. 

    It seems there are a few thing that can be done to reduce crashes. It may also be a case of luck too. I've had it crash as soon as i hit the catalyzer render button, when it was just the wolf and nothing at all in the scene. Maybe as we go along we'll be able to narrow down most of the causes. 

    Final render. It's kind of a dull scene (she needs a cub!), but it was more of a test to see what I could get to render. 

     

     

    Wolffinal.png
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    Post edited by Chohole on
  • The product description states: 

    All Alessandro_AM's animal libraries have been updated for Iray/Catalyzer compatibility. Make sure to download the free updates!" I have used DIM and searched for the LAMH products I previously bought from AM. I redownloaded them but they only come with LAMH and Delight preset folders as before, not with 'iRay Figures' folder for the Catalyzer-compliant LAMH models with Iray. Please advise where they are. (this is a paste from a separate discussion into this threat as the moderators asked I should do this).

  • JoepingletonJoepingleton Posts: 746
    edited August 2017

    Thanks for the tips and the great product Alessandro

    I gave it another try and was able to get another image out of it. I am so loving the results.  

    It crashed many times, the biggest problem is that sometimes when it crashed it corrupted the DUF file (or maybe when I saved it before the render it got corrupted) . This never happens with my other DUF files, except I use to have this problem with LAMH files when I accidentally saved them with the hair as objects.  Good thing I made many different save files as back-ups.  But I had to start over a few times before I learned this lesson. Any tips or is this happening to anyone else?

    Amazing results jakiblue, very impressive

    catalyzer04.jpg
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    Post edited by Joepingleton on
  • algovincianalgovincian Posts: 2,562
    edited August 2017
    jakiblue said:

    Trying different things to see what makes it the most stable. Took Alessandro's advice above - I set up the scene including lights and render settings, saved it, closed DS. Reopened DS, loaded the wolf, posed him, then merged my previously saved scene with him. No crash - I had done it the other way around before...added the wolf to the scene (instead of loading him first and then merging the scene to him) and that had crashed immediately.  

    I clicked "safe mode" to see if that would make a difference, then hit render. Then I tiptoed very very quietly away from the computer so it wouldn't feel me leaving and went and started reading a book. laugh Render was successful. Took about half hour or so. 

    It seems there are a few thing that can be done to reduce crashes. It may also be a case of luck too. I've had it crash as soon as i hit the catalyzer render button, when it was just the wolf and nothing at all in the scene. Maybe as we go along we'll be able to narrow down most of the causes. 

    Final render. It's kind of a dull scene (she needs a cub!), but it was more of a test to see what I could get to render. 

    Well, it looks amazing, jakiblue! Here's to hoping that it can be worked out for LAMH in general in the future.

    - Greg

     

    Post edited by Chohole on
  • jakibluejakiblue Posts: 7,281

    I have the squirrel, the wolf, the black panther and white tiger adn the real fur for the big cat 2. All of them were updated with catalyzer figures. They're not in separate folders - they are called "Rodent European Grey Squirrel Catalyzer" and are in the 'figures' folder with the rest of the figures. See screenshot. It took me a bit to realize they were correct as I was looking for a folder called "catalyzer" or something like that. LOL.  Screenshot is for Smart Content, but should be findable in the content library. 

    The product description states: 

    All Alessandro_AM's animal libraries have been updated for Iray/Catalyzer compatibility. Make sure to download the free updates!" I have used DIM and searched for the LAMH products I previously bought from AM. I redownloaded them but they only come with LAMH and Delight preset folders as before, not with 'iRay Figures' folder for the Catalyzer-compliant LAMH models with Iray. Please advise where they are. (this is a paste from a separate discussion into this threat as the moderators asked I should do this).

     

    catalyzer.jpg
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  • jakibluejakiblue Posts: 7,281

    Just checked the data -> cloud folder....they should be in breeds->am->iray figures (not the materials folder). The black panther is located there, as should the others be. 

  • jakibluejakiblue Posts: 7,281

    Just checked the data -> cloud folder....they should be in breeds->am->iray figures (not the materials folder). The black panther is located there, as should the others be. 

    edit: oh in case you missed it, Alessandro said in this comment: https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2703596/#Comment_2703596 that he has done these animals: Alces alces, Bear Cubs, Beaver, Bison, Cervidae, Fox, Giant Anteater, Kangaroo, Koala, Raccoon, Easter Hemisphere Squirrels, Porcupine, Skunk, Tasmanian Devil, Thylacine, Warthog, Wolf2, Woolly Mammoth and the Real Fur for BC2. Is it possible you have the animals not on that list?

  • jakibluejakiblue Posts: 7,281

    thank you @joepingleton ! and i'm impressed to see you got 4 of those wolves in your image! :D 

    and thank you @algovincian! I really liked how the wolf looks using the catalyzer. Render times were MUCH quicker than the old way of doing it in iray too. I'm thinking it might be worth the crashes, if it renders this quick in iray and looks so good. 

  • Silent WinterSilent Winter Posts: 3,610
    jakiblue said:
    Final render. It's kind of a dull scene (she needs a cub!), but it was more of a test to see what I could get to render.

    Beautiful!

    And yeah - wolf-cubs would be awesome!

    I gave it another try and was able to get another image out of it. I am so loving the results. 

    Cool image :)

  • dikatindikatin Posts: 33
    edited August 2017

    Very nice looking and super fast in rendering compared to original LAMH and 3Delight. Upping hair density and spline quality made me decide to have my next workstation set up with 32 Gigs at least. And lots of cores. And the hopes that DAZ's decission on trusting nVidia regarding the rendering engine doesn't backfire.

    It has some quirks still - trying to set up the bear cub first made my DAZ Studio just crash without a warning or any message and posing the cute little guy afterwards reminded me of good old Poser-"there's kind of more than 2 vertices in the scene. Let's update the preview with like, oh say, 0.2 frames per seconds. Real-time posing is overrated anyways"-times. While other animals, like the squirrel, wolf and fox pretty much seamlessly work at least on my rig.

    Personally, I can live with the teething troubles. Though I hope that the whole ordeal will be wrapped up properly in due time. LAMH 1 never really worked on my rig to the point it was unusable (crash here, crash there, crash everywhere because why did you dare to pose a limb?), and I kind of have the feeling that DAZ might be having a problem providing a managed framework for extensions. I know that sounds harsh, sorry for that, but after all these years this kind of criticism is in order.

    Also, one last question to the devs, for future reference: is this regarded as "LAMH 2 - Iray Catalyzer" or would it make more sense to reference it as "LAMH to IRay Catalyzer"?

    Post edited by dikatin on
  • JStryderJStryder Posts: 168
    edited August 2017

    First use out of the box, the error "there are no catalyzer compliant assets to render" pops up when I push the render button. But I have loaded the "Beaver Catalizer Group" into the scene (see attached screenshot). What am I missing?

    Running Studio 4.9.4.117, 64 bit with Windows 10 OS.

    Beaver Iray.JPG
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    Post edited by JStryder on
  • Pack58Pack58 Posts: 750

    I got that. Had forgotten to enter the serial  and restart.

  • L'AdairL'Adair Posts: 9,479
    edited August 2017

    I have three of the supported animals, Wolf 2, Raccoon, and the Eastern Hemisphere Squirrels. As I used the European Grey Squirrel in my last render, I decided to work with that scene. What I wanted to see was how Catalyzer worked with an LAMH/Fiber Mesh hair animal also in the scene. Long story short, I couldn't make the squirrel work.

    I had issues with the squirrel before Catalyzer. Trying to pose it with the LAMH group installed would cause DS to crash. Ultimately, I found using the hair-free version of the squirrel for posing and shaping the way to go. Once I had the pose and shape as I wanted, I created both a pose and shape preset. The pose included the translations, so applying the pose placed the squirrel on the fence. I then deleted the hairless squirrel and added the LAMH squirrel to the scene, applied the two presets, and spot rendered, (due to what I now know was a Page File issue, I couldn't render both the squirrel and the house cat at the same time.)

    After installing Catalyzer and the animal updates, I opened the scene and tried to add the catalyzer squirrel. As others have reported issues adding animals to the scene, I didn't really expect it to work. And it didn't. I reopened DS and loaded the catalyzer squirrel. I applied my two presets. At this point, the squirrel is the only thing in the scene. I used Catalyzer to render just the squirrel. Even after more than 1400 iterations, my render was blank. DS reported image was being written, but nothing ever showed up in the render window. I closed DS, reopened and tried again. Again nothing. I started a New scene, added a different squirrel. Without posing, moving, or shaping, I hit the Catalyzer render button. The squirrel rendered fine. I started another New scene and added the European Grey Squirrel, again without posing, moving or shaping, and it also rendered. I applied a different pose preset, that didn't move the squirrel. I tried to tweak the pose, and DS crashed.

    I went back to my original scene and added the LAMH squirrel, applied the pose and shaping. I opened LAMH and attempted to create the Fiber Mesh hair, (which I was able to do with the scene, as loaded, since increasing my Page File.) It crashed DS.

    One thing I noticed when I was able to render the squirrel: Even though I had deleted the long tufts of hair behind the squirrels ears from the scene, (the Western Grey Squirrel we have here in Oregon does not have those,) Catalyzer rendered them anyway. And while I don't know if it makes any difference, there are two for the inner ear tufts, one labeled inner ear, the other labeled main body. They appear to be identical, but perhaps they are not...?

    At this point I am very frustrated with the squirrel.

    I did load both the wolf and raccoon, and they rendered fine. Although I did pose them, I didn't move them from world center. I'll have to try that, see if it causes any issues.

    ETA: Windows 10 Pro 64x, 32GB RAM, 8-core Intel i7-6900K CPU, Daz Studio 4.9.4.117 Beta.

    Post edited by L'Adair on
  • Does LAMH2 Iray Catalyzer work with The Hunters for Genesis 2 bundle? https://www.daz3d.com/the-hunters-for-genesis-2-bundle

  • BeeMKayBeeMKay Posts: 6,982
    edited August 2017
    EquisVoid said:

    Does LAMH2 Iray Catalyzer work with The Hunters for Genesis 2 bundle? https://www.daz3d.com/the-hunters-for-genesis-2-bundle

    No, it currently just works on some of Alessandro_AM's animals. Check out this post by Alessandro for a full list: https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2703596/#Comment_2703596

    Post edited by BeeMKay on
  • JStryderJStryder Posts: 168
    Pack58 said:

    I got that. Had forgotten to enter the serial  and restart.

    Thanks! In this case I created the scene before I registered the Catalyzer, but I had registered it before attempting to render (or the Catalyzer window would not have appeared). So I tried creating a new scene. The Beaver took longer to load and appeared in the viewport with hair unlike the first scene. Render works fine. Same result (it worked!) in the old scene when I deleted the model and reloaded it. So the Catalyzer needs to be installed and registered BEFORE you load the model, or the model will not load completely and Catalyzer will not work.

    I'm pleased to be able to render long hair on AM's models in Iray with so little work.

    I own LAMH for Studio 4.5+ and am curious to know whether this product will be updated to allow adding Iray-renderable hair to various models, similar to how LAMH works with 3Delight.

    Beaver Iray headlamp only.png
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  • RGcincyRGcincy Posts: 2,805

    Here's my first render using Catalyzer and Wolf 2. I made the landscape with Infinito. Render time was 3.5 minutes plus a couple more minutes that Catalyzer used to setup the scene. I've had my share of crashes (mostly DS just disappears) but I make sure I save the scene multiple times as I make changes. No consistency to the action that causes a crash (it's ranged from clicking on a geoshell, to changing a pose, to adding a shader). I can reload and do the exact same action and no problem. 

    "There's a Smell in the Air"

  • RGcincyRGcincy Posts: 2,805
    jakiblue said:

    Final render. It's kind of a dull scene (she needs a cub!), but it was more of a test to see what I could get to render. 

    Nice one jakiblue!

  • RGcincyRGcincy Posts: 2,805

    A question: is Husky for Wolf 2.0 going to get the Catalyzer update? I hope so.

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