Playback/Render
by Michael Cozy
on
Oct 13, 2009 at 4:43:42 pm
Hello,
I have been trying to work in Toxik/Maya Composite for a few weeks now, and have found it potentially quite powerful. However, I cannot get anything approaching a decent playback or render speed. Also, whether I get any playback at all, or just the "I'm working" spinner seems to be luck of the draw (if I move down the timeline while it's thinking things really grind to a halt). My playback problems aren't at all related to complex node trees, just playing back a tiff sequence I've loaded up is problematic. I have read the bits about playback optimization in the manual, and I wouldn't be bothering you for just a tweak, few fps here or there. Something is seriously off. I'm seeing hardly any action in Activity Monitor when I playback/render. Could it be where my cache is located/caching options? Do I need to utilize scripts to use all my system resources properly (for playback and render)? I've got a Mac Pro 8-core Nehalem, running 10.5.8, w/ 14gb RAM and a RAID that does +950mb/s read and +700 write.
Thanks in advance, any hints to drop about the release of your comprehensive dvd tutorial, Ken??
Re: Playback/Render by Kenneth La Rue on Oct 19, 2009 at 1:38:29 am
Hi,
Where is your media cache install? Also do you have the IR on for any nodes? If so you will see a bright orange dot on the bottom right of the node. If it is off it will be a dark orange dot.
Re: Playback/Render by Michael Cozy on Oct 19, 2009 at 4:12:47 pm
Ken,
My media cache is located on my RAID. I did not turn on IR for my nodes. It is my understanding that this function caches the results of the enabled node(s), so they can be utilized on playback. I figured this would speed things up over the long run (does toxik only cache the IR of a node only during playback, or in the background)
Basically, it seems to me that the problem is very large. Right now, I'm trying to play back a 32bit, 720 tiff sequence at 1:1. After playing through and caching the first 30 frames (my composition length), it plays back at .2-.33 fps. no nodes aside from an "image import" and the output.
Re: Playback/Render by Kenneth La Rue on Oct 22, 2009 at 1:37:01 am
Michael,
I have now seen this playback issue while visiting a client using Mac and it has been reported to the Dev Team. We believe we have found where the problem is thanks to some other Mac users. It has been reported that is you disable the Hyper-threading the playback issue is solved. I know this is not a solution but if it can get you using Maya Composite it is a start. Try it and let us know what results you see.
Re: Playback/Render by Michael Cozy on Oct 22, 2009 at 4:39:23 pm
Ken,
Thanks for giving me an interim solution, and glad to hear your guys are working on this. My playback jumped immediately, nothing impressive, but with IR it will be better than it was. My foreground rendering is improved as well with the hyper-threading off.
My question to you would be: how can I remain informed of software updates/workarounds regarding this and any other issues as a Maya Composite user?
Re: Playback/Render by Kenneth La Rue on Oct 23, 2009 at 1:13:54 am
Michael,
I'm glad you see an improved performance but at the same time sorry for the issue in the first place. I will be posting information here at the COW whenever there is update and if you are on subscription for Maya 2010 you will receive automatic updates whenever a patch or update is released.
