We have identified a rare but potentially severe performance issue for those using Terragen on a Windows system with an Nvidia Quadro graphics card. When the drivers for these cards are in their default configuration, there can be up to a 10x slow-down in rendering performance, although the general UI remains responsive. This is an issue that has been reported for some other apps as well.
Fortunately there is a fairly easy fix. Make sure you have the latest Nvidia Quadro drivers and the Nvidia Control Panel is available. Open the Control Panel and go to the Manage 3D Settings area from the left-hand menu of options. On the right under Global Settings, Global Presets, select one of the 3D App presets, here we're using "3D App - Video Editing", then click Restore on the right. This will change numerous settings to the preset selected, and will immediately resolve this strange performance problem. To verify the issue is resolved, you can run the Terragen 4 benchmark (https://planetside.co.uk/terragen-4-benchmark/) before and after this fix, and compare your results to other similar CPUs in the results list (https://planetside.co.uk/terragen-4-benchmark-results/).
quadro-settings-performance-fix.png
If you would rather not change your general, system-wide preset, you can also setup a Terragen-specific one based on the 3D App presets by using the Program Settings tab (outlined in blue in the above screenshot)
Also note that we have seen an instance where the Quadro drivers and Nvidia Control Panel no longer functioned correctly, without warning or clear cause. The only way it was noticed was due to the sudden severe performance hit in rendering. Reinstalling the drivers and re-loading the "3D App - Video Editing" preset quickly resolved the problem.
Please let us know if you encounter any issues yourself on a system with a Quadro card and the above solution does not help.
- Oshyan
I am supposed to get a Quadro card to drive my monitors only tomorrow (03/20/21). Its totally random coincidence that I need to know this information! LOL Glad I found this!
Strange actually, that rendering (CPU-based) is influenced by GPU drivers, isn't it?
Quote from: Dune on March 20, 2021, 02:43:52 AMStrange actually, that rendering (CPU-based) is influenced by GPU drivers, isn't it?
3D Preview uses GPU (on my system at least). I think it literally means "3D" as in GPU/IGP based.
So perhaps they mean rendering of the preview instead of the 'real' renders... otherwise I wouldn't know.
Anything drawn to the screen uses GPU. Terragen uses the CPU to calculate the content and then the content is drawn to the screen as pixels using the GPU. In the most basic terms that is.
Quote from: SuddenPlanet on May 02, 2021, 08:23:48 AMAnything drawn to the screen uses GPU. Terragen uses the CPU to calculate the content and then the content is drawn to the screen as pixels using the GPU. In the most basic terms that is.
It is actually a 3D preview. GPU tag is only flagged for actual GPU rendering, whether 2d, 3d, or video. With TG it is labeled "GPU [Unit ID] 3D", which means it's doing 3D geometry computation. Programs that are just drawing with WDM API and stuff doesn't flag this (as obviously everything in windows active would be drawing for the buffer and it would be confusing).
For example with Photoshop, when you use it with GPU support, it will say "2D" when you're doing basic pixel manipulation and drawing (unless you're using the 3D features in new suites, though I don't have those in mine).
If your scene is basica enough, you can move around in real-time with the 3D preview, which wouldn't be possible for 2D drawing I don't think strarting from scratch for each frame. Geometry even creates holes where data hasn't been loaded, but for what has, it pivots and warps with perspective in 3D