Hi everybody :
Lately, I've noticed that TFP v15 has been using (according to Task Manager) 100% of my CPU. I looked at the PROCESSES, and saw nothing else running. Except Turbo Floor Plan 3D. In Task Manager it read 99%. But, in the PERFORMANCE tab, it read 100% (for both CPUs). I've never noticed that before. In the past, when rendering, the process went fairly quickly. At first, I thought it was because I was rendering in ANIMATION mode. But I noticed the same speed in (regular) rendering. I thought of the possibility of "bloating" within TFP. I've only added a couple of things to the library in the past. But, I DO have a number of projects in the PROJECTS folder. (Usually, when they are to my satisfaction, I put them on disk). I'm not sure what to check. This is just a recent incident.
garystan
Hi Garystan,
TFP does use a huge amount of resources when rendering, which is no doubt why they recommend not running other programs at the same time. The contents of the Catalogue or Projects folder should not have any effect on the rendering resources required as far as I know. If there is some PC issue involved however I will have to leave to one of the experts in that field.
Allan
Hi Garystan,
Try this --> restart you computer --> Start TFP (but don't open any file) --> create a file with just 4 walls --> save it --> render in regular mode --> check the task manager --> let us know the results
BTW, can you inform the size of the file using 100% of the CPU resources?
Pat
DraftCad
Allan: I did some "searching" in my System. I found out that I had a couple of "Automatic Updates" for some software running (they start at Logon). A couple of them I rescheduled for times later in the day when the computer isn't busy. The other was a Google Update. That I can manually update myself. Then I checked the Performance Tab / Performance Options/Advanced Tab / Virtual Memory. Checking the Paging File. Sometimes, that'll slow things down (if you get short on Memory---the System will use the Hard Drive as extended Memory Space). Apparently, mine was set to a "set amount"....something like 2048 Mb. So I switched it to "System Managed Size". Letting the System "expand" and "shrink" the Page File size to meet the need. Now, TFP is rendering a little faster. But, in spite of the CPU reading 100%, the rendering was moving along fairly smoothly. At first it read 100%, the bounced between 97% and 100%. But, when the "top half" of the scene was rendered, it came down to 50%......the bottom half of the scene rendering fairly quickly. Being TFP divides the scene to be rendered into 2 halves......the top and the bottom. The project I was working on is 2.0 Mb in size. Plus, I think the "complexity" of the project has something to do with it as well. By complexity, I mean a lot of objects used (furniture.....lights...etc....) Also, I noticed a difference when I switched from a width of 1700 Wide / 700 High to 1000 Wide / 700 High. The latter rendering more quickly. Also....not forgetting making sure my Hard Drive was "defragged".
garystan
Hi Garystan,
The complexity of a model will always make things slower and use more resources as a result. The more lights you have and the more objects, mean many more calculations. Adding a second light would in effect double the calculations required and a third would triple them, as it has to calculate the light and shadow of every part of every object in the scene - from every light.
I do all my test renderings at 640x480 or even less if it is very complex. Only when I have the lighting correct do I render to a large size. It saves a lot of time!
Allan
My guess is you have two cores (or one core and it hyper-threads and acts as 2 virtual cores)...because for basic render, TFP splits the rendering to each core...mine splits to 4 (or 8; I can't see it rendering the bottom portion on screen but is clearly in many parts as I have an i7 4 core (8 virtual).
When I render in Carrara Studio 3D it renders similarly; breaking the render into 8 simultaneous squares (size of each is user setting such as 64K 128K etc) and each "core" renders a square till done, then goes to next square till render is all complete....or can even be split among multiple PC's, even mixed between PCs and MACs as a render "farm" or over a network.
This is typical of most renderers. Even Corel Painter (ver. 12.2) has user selectable cores for user from 1 to max. available; I use 7 cores for brush stroke rendering. Photoshop does similar and now also uses the GPU for certain operations to make faster results.
Advanced render seems to only run one core. You can see the activity by running Task Manager on screen, then start TFP render and watch the CPU activity, by core, on performance tab.
If you use any other 3D or render programs, check prefs for cores/renders settings. It is desirable to run CPU at 100% for renders to get them done ASAP (tho some CPU may be used to ensure the OS is still operating OK; but likely partly suspended unless user is trying to do other things at same time....i.e. multi-tasking...but then the render slows a bit and other uses are very slow.
Best to run no other programs when doing a long render...or plan to wait. Stuff like a 4 or 8 hour render (like a movie) may be best run over-night....and only as the "final" best render.