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General => Terragen Discussion => Topic started by: masonspappy on November 19, 2021, 05:12:45 PM

Title: GPU vs CPU Rendering?
Post by: masonspappy on November 19, 2021, 05:12:45 PM
In the past there were a few discussions of Terragen being able to use GPU rendering in addition to CPU rendering. Does anyone know if GPU rendering for TG will ever be implemented?
Title: Re: GPU vs CPU Rendering?
Post by: WAS on November 19, 2021, 08:51:20 PM
I thought something was being worked on for accelerating renders via the GPU (off-loading certain tasks) but I don't think TG will become fully GPU driven. GPU driver compatibility/etc for a full render engine, I imagine would be a helluva lot to maintain as one person. I mean Blender is just now getting AMD support decades later, and only for latest series of RDNA2 cards.
Title: Re: GPU vs CPU Rendering?
Post by: Matt on November 19, 2021, 10:30:29 PM
Yes.
Title: Re: GPU vs CPU Rendering?
Post by: Dune on November 20, 2021, 02:07:04 AM
:) :) :)  if indeed. That would be great news!
Title: Re: GPU vs CPU Rendering?
Post by: masonspappy on November 20, 2021, 05:12:08 PM
Thanks  guys!
Title: Re: GPU vs CPU Rendering?
Post by: WAS on November 20, 2021, 05:19:56 PM
I sure hope atmospherics is the first thing to benefit. That would make stuff sooooo much faster.
Title: Re: GPU vs CPU Rendering?
Post by: Dune on November 21, 2021, 01:50:45 AM
If Matt can pull off something like NDunes does - even with less quality - it would be an amazing new feature, and open doors for much faster animations. I'd sacrifice sharpness/detail for good lighting (like PT), as frames usually blur into eachother anyway. If you look at the enormous speed of GPU rendering in NDunes; just a few seconds for a screensize frame, well......
Title: Re: GPU vs CPU Rendering?
Post by: WAS on November 21, 2021, 02:41:35 AM
Yeah, and it even runs pretty darn well even on my RX 580 even though it's below spec (though wasn't for beta, but I guess they want to ensure quality and review)
Title: Re: GPU vs CPU Rendering?
Post by: paulcurtis on November 25, 2021, 04:12:10 AM
Not that it needs any more encouragement but GPU rendering could be perfect for something which is basically all procedural. 

I've used VRay GPU extensively for volumetric rendering and we're talking an order of magnitude faster. 2K and 4K frames of volumes can be rendered across a bunch of 30xx nvidia cards in a production environment - something that cpu based needed external render farms.

So i am all for GPU - even if it only supported nvidia/RTX cards to start with

Cheers
Paul
Title: Re: GPU vs CPU Rendering?
Post by: beataprieto on April 08, 2022, 12:53:34 AM
I understand. Thank you for your answer.
Title: Re: GPU vs CPU Rendering?
Post by: Jeremy on April 30, 2022, 05:23:58 AM
I wonder if GPU rendering for clouds will be available when new powerful rtx4000 released in autumn. Would be very nice to have almost real time rendering  :)  Also which GPU to use for more speed, when you have 2+ GPU.
Title: Re: GPU vs CPU Rendering?
Post by: WAS on April 30, 2022, 12:30:57 PM
Hopefully. It would be nice. I just hope it's general use, not like Blender and stuff, written for specific cards.
Title: Re: GPU vs CPU Rendering?
Post by: Jeremy on May 11, 2022, 10:53:14 AM
Quote from: WAS on April 30, 2022, 12:30:57 PMHopefully. It would be nice. I just hope it's general use, not like Blender and stuff, written for specific cards.
Just curious about progress of GPU rendering. Theoretically, when will the update can be released? I know this is a lot of work. Maybe in this year, two or 5. This info would help me plan future hardware purchase.
Title: Re: GPU vs CPU Rendering?
Post by: zaxxon on May 11, 2022, 11:47:06 AM
I think everyone here is curious as well.  Except for the cryptic 'yes' from Matt 17 months ago there hasn't been any further word from Planetside regarding any progress (that I know of).  Personally, while I have a true affection for Terragen and respect Matt's genius; the availability of so many world building software options with GPU support and the recent price drops in graphics cards make this a good time to purchase hardware. Given the World situation who knows what's up the road. To wait on purchasing hardware for Terragen to update,  may not be the best way to go.  :(