Quote from: Oshyan on January 02, 2015, 08:23:33 PM
As I've mentioned, the fact that the 3D preview restarts its update cycle when you simply move a node in the node network is a definite bug. Some of these other issues and concerns are also valid, and we're aware of them and hopefully can fix the most clear issues in the future. But there is nothing Terragen can do that will break your hardware unless the hardware itself is not properly configured (e.g. power supply too small for the given CPU/graphics card combo, CPU not properly cooled, etc.). Any 3D rendering program that is multithreaded will use your hardware as much as TG is, if not more (for example renderers that make use of GPU+CPU, TG only uses CPU).
- Oshyan
Well that is not entirely true. A lot of programs have governors in place that prevent 100% load, TG uses literally all it can, and anything to spare. For example, rendering a scene for me in Cinema 4D, I will never see my CPU spike above 91%. This was definitely not a hardware issue. CPU runs hot at 52c, safe-zone is 32-60c, max temp is 73c for a
24 hour rotation. It never hit 43c before dying. Everything was well in the green in temperatures, not even in the yellows or oranges. Then, my system has a full 250watts of energy to spare on a GPUless rig with a 5x original OEM PSU (on a 3 year warranty). That indicates nothing was strained what so ever power wise, or overheating.
However within a fraction of a second, while the load was at 100% I changed a PF, that creates immense strain on the system that has no room to recompute (at 100% already). Like your computer manual states "anything above 90% CPU usage can cause harm to your computer". They don't state "your hardware may suck" it's the fact that the hardware is not suppose to run at those levels consistently. Why rendering voids a lot of warranties if you actually dive into your computers manual further.
I've worked in computer repair with data centers (including a render farm) for several years (mainly servers and render nodes for web deving), I know when something has been killed from a program, and when something under warranty shouldn't be dying, especially well out of it's max temp. It's how we charge people. In data centers, we expect every rig to die from a user not correctly managing the 'application' not the computer. As the application is the source of the "kill" By the end of a season theres usually only 50% of the original rigs left... because of people sending in projects with whack settings. It's a very dangerous field. I think that's why a lot of applications have all those warnings, correct usage, and try to prevent stuff like that from happening.
It's no biggy, I'm not blaming anyone as I due know the risks very well, but of all things I am familiar with, it's code, and hardware. I'd put a hideable warning when hitting the render button that it's highly discouraged to edit the project while rendering. Maybe the consistent reminder will help me remember when I minimized a render. xD I've been rendering on a Rasberry Pi and Netbook for crying out loud. I just haven't accidently messed up and edited a project while it's rendering yet. If the simple render was causng my system a progam, both those machines should be long dead. Lol
Quote from: jaf on January 02, 2015, 07:21:18 PM
Quote from: WASasquatch on January 02, 2015, 05:57:31 PM
Also, as far as nodes and rendering.... I don't think the preview should be restarted unless you are plugging/unplugging nodes, as simply moving a node from a group, or
I just lost a PSU from Terragen spiking CPU/RAM usages (specifically forgetting a render was going and changing a PF scale is when it audibly went "POP") because of these issues, and I should have a whole 250 watts to spare. The fact TG can send my computer way past it's hardware limits and programmed restraints is very bad and can kill a computer from something as simple as accidentally changing a node while forgetting a render is underway. Luckily all the seemed to have popped was the PSU, and a single RAM card.
I started using a program today, which I've used in the past, call Project Lasso Pro. It's free today at: http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/ It can be a bit complicated but has potential and has a nice Task Manager type view. I believe you could set limits to keep those "spikes" from frying your system.
Below is a screen capture of Lasso when I running TG3 "full bore". The CPU's are up at 97% and using a pretty high ram load. I believe you can "throttle" down processes with Lasso. My cpu temp is 38C and rarely goes above 40, but that with water cooling.
I use ProcessHacker, I am wondering if they're based on each other cause looks almost identical. I'm going to have a look at that.
