Recover completed unsaved render after TG2 crash

[jo]

Hi Erwin,

Thanks for that. I tried rendering it. I suspect your problems are down to running out of RAM. When that happens the computer starts to use virtual memory which can be much, much slower. I rendered it using the Full Render settings. When the image was about half way through it was using 7.25 GB of memory. I suspect if I'd left it to continue it would have gone over 8 GB. I'm positive that would have happened if rendered with the settings you mentioned before, such as a detail of 0.9 and AA of 7. You may find things improve when you have more RAM.

Using the settings in the file you attached the render was about half finished in 3 hours and 20 minutes (I have 2.26 GHz dual quad core Xeon, 16 cores). It's quite a simple scene and I think probably the problems you are having are down to settings which were too high and/or not enough RAM to handle those settings.

It should look good when it's done at least!

Regards,

Jo

[Dune]

I had a look at the file as well, and it didn't look very heavy at all. The one thing that struck me is your use of the surface shader for the distribution of trees. You're better off using a distribution shader and use the fractal as its blending input instead of the breakup of the surface shader. You'll have better control.

[Erwin0265]

Jo,
I understand what you are saying; although I won't be able to get my RAM until next week [one of the problems of living "in the sticks".........].
I am amazed that your render went so much faster using the same settings.
My system: Intel Core i7 2.8GHz, 16 core, 8GB RAM - so I think my system is on par with yours [except for the RAM; which will be 32GB next week]................

Dune,
I got lost after, "The one thing that struck me is your use of the surface shader for the distribution of trees. You're better off using a distribution shader and use the fractal as its blending input instead of the breakup of the surface shader. You'll have better control."
So, yeah, I really am very new to TG2.
The setup is totally as per Ryan Archer's "The making of Golden Forest" tutorial.................
I would dearly love to learn all about how to distribute populations, textures, etc [it was also one of the issues I had with Vue - although TG2 looks to have far more/varied control]; but, as we all know - we need lots and lots more tutorials..........

Actually, on that topic; I understand that by the nature of the program, TG2 is difficult to write a user manual for.
However, one thing that I believe would be able to address that a bit is the creation of "Making of" tutorials.
I think it's a great way to learn. Rather than having page after page of boring guidelines; tutorials that guide the user through the creation of an image would not only instruct but also inspire................

The making of "Golden Forest" is the only one of that type of tutorial I have been able to find for TG2 [there's a bit out there for Terragen Classic, but it's a different 'animal'.......].

Anyway, any further guidance with respect to distribution of a population would be much appreciated [I'm sure that there are other tutorials spread throughout the forums, so links would be great. I am going through the forums but there is a lot there......].
Thanks
Erwin

[Erwin0265]

Just one other thought:
I know there is a copy of all completed renders in the temp folder, in App Data; but where would the "in progress" render be filed - before it is complete?
I mean, the entire render [6400px x 4000px] would be about 100 MB; surly that can't all be held on the clipboard [or similar]?
Any ideas; or am I just grasping at straws?............

[bobbystahr]

Erwin..the way I control pops is I initially make a Surface shader with a Distribution shader as its Blend shader.
Click the plus sign at the Blend by shader slot then, Create new shader>Colour shader>Distribution shader
I then click enable test colour and tweak till the blue is everywhere I want my pop to appear.
From there it's simply a matter of adjusting tree (obj)  density and tree (obj) size till you have your scene in scale.
So populate the scene but disable the Surface layer via it's check box unless you also wish to put a ground texture
everywhere there is trees (obj)s
In your population obviously you simply go to the Use density shader>Assign shader>Distribution shader from the list that appears, to assign the Distribution shader you made in the Surface shader to the population.
Did this help...hope so.....

[Erwin0265]

Hi Bobby,
I'll have to add that to my list of things to try.................
I'm currently not at the stage where I can just read some instructions and think to myself, "yeah, OK, I get that........right, ah, yes - that makes sense.........etc".
I'm still at the, "huh?" stage - and then have to give myself an hour or two to play around............
Thanks for the tip.
I will let you know how I go............
Now it's time for me to stop this render again [sob] and retry it when I have more RAM [I may also change the render settings as recommended by Jo and see what happens overnight............]
Cheers
Erwin

[Dune]

I made you a quick setup.

[bobbystahr]

I made you a quick setup.

heh heh heh...then I won't send mine to keep confusion at a minimum...yer fast man

[Erwin0265]

Thanks all!
I have been coming back to this post every time I get notified of a new post and still miss some people's reply [I missed Dune's response from April 19th - sorry about that; useful info to try out too............].
I am now rendering in 4 parts and have dropped some of the render settings [I was, after all, only going by Ryan Archer's settings..... I'm doing this as a hobby; Ryan as a living; his computer is probably faster than mine and probably wouldn't have this issue. I'm learning anyway, and that is what matters............ ].
I'll see how that goes.
I also have a few more things to try out [thanks, Dune & Bobby      ].
Thanks again for all your efforts.
This forum is THE BEST!!!..................
Cheers
Erwin
PS. I'll post again when I have completed this render...................

[Oshyan]

Just to note, in-progress renders are held in RAM, they're one of the many aspects of rendering that use up your system memory. It's only once the render is complete that it's written to disk. So an in-progress render could not be found in the temp folder, unless you cancelled it, at which point the render is considered "completed "and written to disk in the temp folder.

- Oshyan

[bobbystahr]

Just to note, in-progress renders are held in RAM, they're one of the many aspects of rendering that use up your system memory. It's only once the render is complete that it's written to disk. So an in-progress render could not be found in the temp folder, unless you cancelled it, at which point the render is considered "completed "and written to disk in the temp folder.

- Oshyan

Whew, thought I was going to have to say,"I think the rendering happens in RAM and only saves on legal termination, cancelling or finishing"good thing I'm slow on the uptake or I'd look like I actually understand this lovely program....

[Erwin0265]

Thanks, Oshyan.
I had always wondered about that [with TG2 as well as any other 3D app].
Makes sense how having more RAM allows for more complex scenes.
Oh how did we manage before 64-bit OS'?
The PC I use for 'everyday' stuff [emails, forums, net surfing, budget, etc] is only 32-bit and has 4GB RAM [although the max XP can recognise is 3.5 GB] and it is all I had up until just on 2 years ago.
About the only graphics stuff I can do on this machine [yeah, I'm on it now, obviously......] is making some DVD disc art for all the TV series, etc that I download [shhh.......].
Everything else, I use my graphics 'rig'..........
Anyway, I'm waffling again............
Cheers
Erwin