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Yikes, that is a lot of crashes! When I say I have had a lot in DS lately I mean 2 or 3 times a week using it 12 hours a day 6 days a week.
If you are able to submit the crashes to DAZ I would really appreciate it. If it is the lights doing it I think the issue is something beyond me as all the viewport display and moving of the light parts is handled automatically by DS. Sorry, I'm not trying to pass the blame hehe. I just mean I did not code anything to make that aspect of the lights work. Not saying something about the lights isn't aggravating it but the error is probably something deeper.
...interesting, I experienced the same thing occurring since yesterday. Had two crashes while working on the scene above both occurring while transitioning the lights. Resulted in nearly three hours of work lost. as all the periodic saves I was making apparently went to memory instead of to disk and thus were lost when the programme crashed.
When I brought this up on another thread others thought it might have something to do with my system but this has rarely happened before unless I had a large scene that had lots of content with smoothing, a tonne of lights, and lots of large highly detailed textures which seriously impacted viewport performance.
Also working in 4.6.1.17.
Yes. I'm running 4.6.1.17. I've had crashing when looking through the ASL and positioning it with that positioning cube in the viewport. It doesn't crash every time, though. Normally DS is very solid for me, so crashing like this is unexpected.
I put in a ticket. It is order: 153804.
This is a neat product. hopefully the crashing problem can be looked into. I don't have an overly complex scene, and plenty of memory 16 GB- so no reason for crashing that I can tell!
Thank you thank you!
I don't know anything about OpenGl (though it's on my list of things to learn) but I'm guessing something about the viewport display of the light is not always getting through correctly or a divide by zero. I have no idea, just a stab in the dark.
Crashed again while moving the Advanced Spotlight. I filed Request #153807 with the crash info attached.
Finally got around to compositing my renders. Render one was regular camera, one AAL, one ASL. Render two was Volume Camera, AAL off.
Not completely satisfied with the results, but it took care of the Volume/Ambient problem.
Don't know if this has anything to do with it, but I'm still running 4.6.0.18, and haven't had any crashes that weren't directly connected to overloading memory while rendering to screen.
Now that I know I'm not running the latest general release, I'm afraid that if I update to the new one, I'm going to start getting some crashes.
...quite possibly.
Two of the original 3 options, Diffuse Strength 99%, and Index of Refraction 1.1 should not be there. You now need to pick the parameter you want to flag, then set the value you want to be flagged in the slider directly below.
I'm looking into the cause but, at first glance it appears one of the new files did not get into the update. This file is the least important of them though so it should not affect performance or appearance as long as you don't select one of the last 2 options. I'm double checking right now.
I just finished testing with Garibaldi hair, UberSurface, DS Default and the AoA Susurface shaders. All the flagging is working as intended in the updated version except the who last options "Diffuse Strength 99%, and Index of Refraction 1.1" but they aren't supposed to. They should not even appear in the dropdown menu but It looks like I sent QA a wrong file when they built the last installer. :red:
Again that is just one file that tells what options should be in the dropdown menu. Everything on the light appears to work fine. Just don't use the last two flag options since that part off the internal code was removed.
Bit confused: I just re-downloaded (DIM) to update Advanced Spot. The drop down "Flag Surface Shaders With" lists the following (Top to Bottom):
None
Diffuse Strength Value Of
Ambient Strength Value Of
Index of Refraction Value Of
Garibaldi Hair Shader
Any of these
Below the dropdown is a "Diffuse, Ambient or IOR" slider. So are you saying to use the slider instead of the items in the "Flag Surface Shaders With" dropdown box???
Sorry about the confusion. My previous comment was about the ambient light. The spotlight drop-down flagging menu is all as it should be.
The flagging method for both lights is now to select a parameter you want the light to look for in surface shaders, like Diffuse Strength or Ambient Strength, then set a value in the slider below which the light should look for.
For instance, let's say you have some transmapped hair in the scene and you want it to use a lower AO or shadow sample count than everything else in the scene;
Step 1 - You select the hair surfaces and pick a setting that would not make much or any difference fi it were changed such as Ambient Strength and set it to something unique like 17%. If the ambient color is black then changing the Ambient Strength will not make the hair glow or anything.
Step 2 - Select the light and change "Flag Surface Shaders With" to "Ambient Strength Of..."
Step 3 - Set the "Diffuse, Ambient or IOR Value" to 17% to match your hair surfaces unique surface Ambient Strength value.
Step 4 - From the "If Surface is Flagged" menu choose "Use Alt Samples"
Now when you render the hair will use the Alternate Samples value and everything else will use the AO samples value.
Originally on the Ambient light there was not the option to pick Ambient Strength or 17%... you only had the option to set Diffuse Strength or IOR to exactly 99%.
While I was coding the Advanced Spotlight, Dimension Theory was testing the ambient light and suggested more flagging options would make it easier to flag specific surfaces in complex scenes with lots of lights. I coded the spotlight to use the new method and DT was right, it made things a lot more flexible.
I recoded the ambient light's flagging method to match the spotlight and submitted the new code to DAZ but, with all the installer issues, and the split release dates, the update didn't get through QA until after the Advanced Ambient was already in the store. This is why some of the earlier posts in this thread may look confusing since the flagging changed a little bit since the thread was started.
Now, to confuse things further, the ambient light update included one Version1 file which adds some of the UI Parameters to the light. In addition to the new flagging options it also added the old options of "Diffuse Strength 99%, and Index of Refraction 1.1" settings to the UI. Those last two options no longer do anything and will be removed in a future update. All the options higher than those two in the list work as intended.
***edit*** I just cross-posted Age of Armour... so deleted the stuff that he's talking about (way better than I ever could anyway) ***
Incidentally, for anybody that's interested, I just posted my first DAZ video to YouTube taking a wee look at the Advanced Ambient Light...
http://youtu.be/zOBX7wcvGpQ
Hopefully it might be quite handy for some folk... but if it isn't, well, that's just tough then I suppose :lol: :lol: :lol:
Thank you thank you Jabba. The video is a great overview of the ambient light!
Regarding the crashes, I have a few of them now and than, always in combination with moving the light, or re-tinting it. I did plan to actually open a report to Daz about it.. however when clicking the button to get to the send bugreport thingie... I got a screen with a red warning sign saying something about it not being the right adress, and than my anti-virus program shut down Everything...
Needless to say, I decided to not bother sending off any reports to daz after that. However, I don't have many crashes, just a few now and than, they also don't seem to be in regard of the size of the scene, so quite hard to track down what exactly it is that causes them. As they sometimes happens when moving the light, sometimes when re-tinting it and so on, other times moving and re-tinting works flawlessly so no idea what actually causes it.
I do like the ligths a lot and am happy to have them, I also learnt to save the scene more often than before just in case :)
..did that occur with the Mantis site?
no idea KK, I just had that crash down to desktop, and got that little window up where we can save the file thingie, it has a bug report button on it, that was the one I pressed. And I am not sure where it led me, cause once that red warning text came up it all went to darn fast for me to actually read the adress in the bar
Yup, thanks from me too sir. Nice voice, clear and concise. Thanks for the vid, much appreciated.
....what AV do you have?
Sorry about the confusion. My previous comment was about the ambient light. The spotlight drop-down flagging menu is all as it should be.
The flagging method for both lights is now to select a parameter you want the light to look for in surface shaders, like Diffuse Strength or Ambient Strength, then set a value in the slider below which the light should look for.
For instance, let's say you have some transmapped hair in the scene and you want it to use a lower AO or shadow sample count than everything else in the scene;
Step 1 - You select the hair surfaces and pick a setting that would not make much or any difference fi it were changed such as Ambient Strength and set it to something unique like 17%. If the ambient color is black then changing the Ambient Strength will not make the hair glow or anything.
Step 2 - Select the light and change "Flag Surface Shaders With" to "Ambient Strength Of..."
Step 3 - Set the "Diffuse, Ambient or IOR Value" to 17% to match your hair surfaces unique surface Ambient Strength value.
Step 4 - From the "If Surface is Flagged" menu choose "Use Alt Samples"
Now when you render the hair will use the Alternate Samples value and everything else will use the AO samples value.
Originally on the Ambient light there was not the option to pick Ambient Strength or 17%... you only had the option to set Diffuse Strength or IOR to exactly 99%.
While I was coding the Advanced Spotlight, Dimension Theory was testing the ambient light and suggested more flagging options would make it easier to flag specific surfaces in complex scenes with lots of lights. I coded the spotlight to use the new method and DT was right, it made things a lot more flexible.
I recoded the ambient light's flagging method to match the spotlight and submitted the new code to DAZ but, with all the installer issues, and the split release dates, the update didn't get through QA until after the Advanced Ambient was already in the store. This is why some of the earlier posts in this thread may look confusing since the flagging changed a little bit since the thread was started.
Now, to confuse things further, the ambient light update included one Version1 file which adds some of the UI Parameters to the light. In addition to the new flagging options it also added the old options of "Diffuse Strength 99%, and Index of Refraction 1.1" settings to the UI. Those last two options no longer do anything and will be removed in a future update. All the options higher than those two in the list work as intended.
Thank you for your very understandable answer :-)
DAZ still links to the Mantis site in the crash reports, even though the Mantis site is no longer available to us. What I did was click on save to save the crash report in a zip file an the attach that file to a Zendesk help request.
..back to a sample pic..
Here is what should be the final test render of the pic I attached above prior to doing the full size render.
Added UberVolume cones with cloud effect to the spotlight on the streetlamp (density 0.0020) and the one over the elf figure (density 0.0002). Next used an Atmospheric camera with medium vignette, fog colour set to 33,33,33 distance 100 meters, and overall colorusation to 240,240,224.
The ASL on the streetlamp was also set to a custom falloff (10meters).
A linear point light with a falloff of 50 - 150 was added just below the lens of the streetlamp to brighten it.
Best viewed by clicking on the pic and minimising the browser screen.
....what AV do you have?
I am not entirely sure truth to be told, I usually have my brother helping with that *sheepish look* I think I have Microsoft Essentials Security, but it might be some other there too.. knowing how picky my brother is when it coems to these things :)
@Barbult - I will do that the next time it seems like a good idea :) Though I admit I had expected that link to work properly *shrugs*
Here is a picture I created with the Advanced Ambient Light. I kept all the settings as is except that I changed the Light Radius to 0.00. Does anyone have any simple suggestions for making the picture better? Personally, I'm not crazy about the shadows around her eyes and the part of her hair behind her neck that is black. I turned off the shadows for the hair and the head but that hasn't made a difference.
Any ideas would be welcome. Thanks.
I am not entirely sure truth to be told, I usually have my brother helping with that *sheepish look* I think I have Microsoft Essentials Security, but it might be some other there too.. knowing how picky my brother is when it coems to these things :)
..I'd check your programme listing in your start menu. It should be listed there, and there should be an icon on your applications tray. If it is a yellow globe or yellow square icon with a black circle, you have Norton.
If you're just starting out with these lights, or if you want to learn more about how to use them, or just see some experimental step-by-step renders, I've started a learning thread here. (I'll be posting there a lot, and didn't want to derail or monopolize this thread!)
Thanks, Age of Armour, for the coupon (I grabbed the Spotlight which I had resigned myself to wishlisting) and for your helpful responses to our questions and issues. :)
Just posted another video for anybody interested...
http://youtu.be/OgDmM-YFPmY
(another look at flagging and first look at the "Set Light Strength With Surface Ambient Strength" feature)
...finally ran the full size render last night only to discover the skin tones on the girl with the Katana are all grainy. Checked the occlusion samples on the AALs they are fine (128 which is what I also use with UE). Cannot find an occlusion sample setting on the spotlights though.
Not using SSS as this is a third party V4 skin map that uses a special makeup texture. The character is built on Genesis "Classic", not G2F. In OpenGL mode it looks nice and smooth but in the render all blotchy if not almost pixelated. It's as if I am rendering in UE with occlusion samples set to only 8 or 16.
Thanks for posting tutorials, Scott-Livingston and Jabba101.
They are great resources for learning the usage of AoA lights.
Made this for "Día de Muertos"( November 2) with the wonderful new Advanced Spots (used 2). Highly Recommended.
Thanks for the tutorial thread Scott-Livingston. And to Jabba101 for the second video. I've been visiting with family the last couple days so haven't had a chance look them over closely but will be sure to do so when I get some time.
Humm... So that grainy surfaces aren't flagged right? Just asking to be sure they aren't using the Alt Samples setting. Shadow Samples is the spotlight equivalent to AO samples in the ambient. Keep in mind that Shadow Samples in the render settings will have no effect. You should only need to turn the spotlights shadow samples up if your using soft shadows.
Another thing to maybe try is to turn off Adaptive Sampling, especially on the spotlight. On the spotlight it really only looks good when the samples are really high. Adaptive sampling works a bit better on the ambient light and people also tend to use higher samples for AO than directional light shadows. This is why it is off by default on the spot but on for the Ambient.