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Aside from Scene Optimizer and Memory Assistant, are there any other tools to reduce scene size?

dennis.d.t2972686dennis.d.t2972686 Posts: 81
in The Commons

Hi All,

Are there any other tools that you found useful in reducing the scene GPU memory footprint?

 

Comments

  • Matt_CastleMatt_Castle Posts: 3,004

    Decimator is currently on an 80% discount (and that's before DO or banner discounts) if you pick up two new items, and can make a significant difference to VRAM usage, particularly if you've got a very high poly model that doesn't need to be close to the camera and can't have its SubD turned down any lower.

    I will say that I've heard some people say they've had problems with it in newer versions of DS but, as someone struggling with a low VRAM card, it's something I wish I'd been able to afford earlier, so I'd recommend not missing out on it at this price. (Worst case scenario, if it doesn't work for you, there is Daz's 30 day return policy).

  • SlimerJSpudSlimerJSpud Posts: 1,456

    There's this for textures:

    https://www.daz3d.com/resource-saver-shaders-collection-for-iray

    I also found on some sets that the textures are way too hi-res. Walls and floors do not generally need 8K textures. On one set, I pulled the large texture files into an image editor, reduced them 50%, saved them back out, and the scene plus props and characters fit nicely into 6GB VRAM. It made no difference in render quality. For GPU VRAM, it's mostly the textures that hog memory, not geometry.

  • marblemarble Posts: 7,500
    SlimerJSpud said:

    There's this for textures:

    https://www.daz3d.com/resource-saver-shaders-collection-for-iray

    I also found on some sets that the textures are way too hi-res. Walls and floors do not generally need 8K textures. On one set, I pulled the large texture files into an image editor, reduced them 50%, saved them back out, and the scene plus props and characters fit nicely into 6GB VRAM. It made no difference in render quality. For GPU VRAM, it's mostly the textures that hog memory, not geometry.

    Thanks - just grabbed that as I was not previously aware of it. Looks like it could make quite a difference in addition to Scene Optimizer.

  • SlimerJSpudSlimerJSpud Posts: 1,456

    I think it was the free Irfanview I used to reduce texture resolution. Especially when you turn on DOF in a render, the background people, props and walls do not need hi-res textures!

  • Matt_CastleMatt_Castle Posts: 3,004
    edited December 2019
    SlimerJSpud said:

    For GPU VRAM, it's mostly the textures that hog memory, not geometry.

    That may depend on your system. On my system at least, I find that above a certain reported threshold of geometry memory usage, the scene gets increasingly likely to drop to CPU, even if that portion is relatively low compared to the texture consumption (and the full scene is a long way short of the total VRAM of the card), so I often have to optimise both separately in order to keep the scene on the GPU.

    Post edited by Matt_Castle on
  • kenshaw011267kenshaw011267 Posts: 3,805
    SlimerJSpud said:

    For GPU VRAM, it's mostly the textures that hog memory, not geometry.

    Depends on theSubD of the object. Each step in SubD doubles the geometry. That can get massive quickly.

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 26,215
    kenshaw011267 said:
    SlimerJSpud said:

    For GPU VRAM, it's mostly the textures that hog memory, not geometry.

    Depends on theSubD of the object. Each step in SubD doubles the geometry. That can get massive quickly.

    It quadruples it. It doubles in two directions, so each polygon is divided into 4 each time you increase SubD by 1.

  • PetrichorianPetrichorian Posts: 11
    Matt_Castle said:

    Decimator is currently on an 80% discount (and that's before DO or banner discounts) if you pick up two new items, and can make a significant difference to VRAM usage, particularly if you've got a very high poly model that doesn't need to be close to the camera and can't have its SubD turned down any lower.

    I will say that I've heard some people say they've had problems with it in newer versions of DS but, as someone struggling with a low VRAM card, it's something I wish I'd been able to afford earlier, so I'd recommend not missing out on it at this price. (Worst case scenario, if it doesn't work for you, there is Daz's 30 day return policy).

    I bought Decimator not long ago and haven't even been able to figure out where it lives in the current version of Daz. The only documentation seems to be a quick start guide that points to obsolete menu paths. The install manager says it's installed, but after much poking around in the Daz menus, I can't seem to track it down. Does anyone have any idea where to find it nowadays? 

  • Matt_CastleMatt_Castle Posts: 3,004
    because789 said:

    I bought Decimator not long ago and haven't even been able to figure out where it lives in the current version of Daz. The only documentation seems to be a quick start guide that points to obsolete menu paths. The install manager says it's installed, but after much poking around in the Daz menus, I can't seem to track it down. Does anyone have any idea where to find it nowadays? 

    You need to activate it in Help -> About Installed Plugins by putting in the serial number from your Daz account, which you should find at this link here: https://www.daz3d.com/downloader/customer/serialnumbers

    You'll then need to restart DS, at which point it should show up under Window -> Panes (Tabs) -> Decimator and can be added to your interface.

  • PetrichorianPetrichorian Posts: 11
    Matt_Castle said:
    because789 said:

    I bought Decimator not long ago and haven't even been able to figure out where it lives in the current version of Daz. The only documentation seems to be a quick start guide that points to obsolete menu paths. The install manager says it's installed, but after much poking around in the Daz menus, I can't seem to track it down. Does anyone have any idea where to find it nowadays? 

    You need to activate it in Help -> About Installed Plugins by putting in the serial number from your Daz account, which you should find at this link here: https://www.daz3d.com/downloader/customer/serialnumbers

    You'll then need to restart DS, at which point it should show up under Window -> Panes (Tabs) -> Decimator and can be added to your interface.

    You're a rockstar! Thanks for the help!

  • PadonePadone Posts: 4,003
    Matt_Castle said:

    Decimator is currently on an 80% discount

    Also don't forget the texture atlas that's included with daz studio for free and it may be a good way to resize and pack textures for characters and props as well. Especially if they're in the background. As for geometry itself the decimator addon may be useful, but personally I've found that in most cases geometry takes low vram unless you turn on high-level subdivision for HD characters.

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 26,215
    Texture Atlas does not work well with Iray Uber surfaces. It is so old it doesn't know anything about them. I wrote a help request about it years ago, but as far as I know, nothing has or will be done about it.
  • PadonePadone Posts: 4,003
    barbult said:
    Texture Atlas does not work well with Iray Uber surfaces.

    The only issue I know is it doesn't support udims, so you have to save and reload via obj. Are there other issues ?

  • nicsttnicstt Posts: 11,715

    My favourite tools are the mouse and keyboard.

    Select items with mouse, then hit delete.

  • GalaxyGalaxy Posts: 562

    Try CPU render. GPU renders are not for big projects.

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 26,215
    Padone said:
    barbult said:
    Texture Atlas does not work well with Iray Uber surfaces.

    The only issue I know is it doesn't support udims, so you have to save and reload via obj. Are there other issues ?

    My memory is fuzzy, because it has been so long since I tried it. I remember that when checking the opacity selection, it did not handle Iray cutout capacity. I changed my Daz account email address at one point, and I lost access to any helop request I submitted on the old email address, so I cannot even pull of the request to look back at what all my complaints were. 

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