We (or at least I) check all the forums quite regularly. So while this would be better in the Support section (where I have actually just moved it), it will still be seen in other areas.
Jimjabbo, I presume you're using the free version of TG2? Do you have the latest public version, 2.0.3.1? You get no error messages? Have there been any software or driver changes? Try navigating to the install folder for TG2 and running tgdcli.exe and see if any useful information comes up on the log that pops up.
Quote from: kaisersuzuki on May 05, 2009, 12:20:56 PM
I have this vanishing problem as well. I am currently wiling to accept that it is due to over aggressive render settings (which if it is is the case is ridiculous, one should be able to choose any settings they wish and it should just result in greater render times not disappearing applications).
I have a i7 920, 6GB RAM, vista 64bit. I am in the process of pinpointing what exactly causes this, but my suspicion is that it is any scene with water and or reflections and high render quality settings.
I should say when i say say high render settings they are not that high, AA=12, GI 3/4/8, GI surface details.
Before I get all of the responses telling me I dont need to use those settings, If we dont need them and they dont work why do they exist?
Kaiser, your "vanishing problem" sounds like it's completely different. If I'm reading what you've said correctly, you are able to use the application, but once you get to rendering, sometimes it will simply vanish in the rendering process. This is probably a memory issue, and before you start to mention your system specs, keep in mind that TG2 is not a 64 bit app yet. So it can use only a maximum of 4GB of RAM.
Your settings are definitely high and, depending on the scene, possibly unnecessary. Even if TG2 wasn't crashing at that level, it would still not be advised to use such settings simply for the probably unnecessary render time increase. GI above 2/2 for example is seldom necessary, as is GI Surface Details. They're provided for the times they are necessary, because different scenes have different requirements, but making the assumption that turning up all quality settings high in every scene to get "best quality" is definitely not a good idea.
That being said I would generally agree that, in normal circumstances you should be able to render with those settings just fine. The biggest pieces of the puzzle you haven't mentioned are what resolution you were trying to render at, and what elements are in the scene (how many objects, object textures, populations, heightfields, etc.). If you're using very high settings *and* rendering at high resolutions, you're more likely to run into problems.
In the future we will definitely be improving error handling, as well as moving to a 64 bit architecture that should minimize these sorts of problems. But you will nonetheless want to know how to conserve memory use and CPU cycles for greatest efficiency, and now is a great time to experiment and learn about what works best in practice. There is a lot of discussion around the forums about recommended render settings for "normal" scenes.
- Oshyan