NOTE: I am using Vue 7.4 (waiting for 8.0)

OK, I am seeing a very bad issue with version 7.4 on the Mac and PC pertaining to a problem adding any number of "Clouds" in the "Atmosphere Editor". It does not matter the size of the scene, anytime you try to add a "Cloud" it will cause these outcomes every time:

1. The scene will slow down at times to a near crawl and make using it nearly impossible. Meaning it nearly locks-up the scene totally. Clicking on your "render preview" window shows this every time because there is delay in the render preview window that seems longer than it should.

2. When saving a file that has any "cloud" added from the "cloud" tab in the "Atmosphere Editor", it may at times corrupt the saved file. This is random and does it only at times. Again, the sign this happens is the HUGE slow down of everything in the scene.

3. If there are any "clouds" in the "cloud" tab of the "Atmosphere Editor", it slows down render times a LOT. Personally I think it seems to almost halt, but it takes way too long.

An example can be recreated of this issue. If anyone wants to follow a video tutorial, go to:

http://www.geekatplay.com/flvplayer/player.php?pathinfo=vuelighting/sunset

When you get to the part of adding "clouds" in the "Atmosphere Editor" this is where it hangs up for me and either crashes or so slow it is not useful.

Solutions to work around:

Simply delete ALL "clouds" under the "cloud" tab in the "Atmosphere Editor". This will save your scene and allow it to function as normal with no slow down at all and it also fixes the file save corruption issue that happens some times as mentioned above. The scene also renders at a MUCH quicker pace too and the "render preview" is fine as well.

My system resources for the scene above WITH the clouds is at 92% in Windows 7 RC running Vue 64 bit and 79% under Mac OS. So, resources is not the issue here. It is a little better overall with the Windows 7 RC, but only slightly VS Mac OS which is downright unusable with this problem.

I have tried to turn down the settings from "better" to "faster" and even disabling the background draw, but it still is there. It did help the view ports draw a little better and the render preview going all the way down to "faster", but certainly still noticable with any "clouds" in the "Atmosphere Editor".

Currently we are looking into this and just wondered if anyone else has seen this?

I don't have this, but maybe your system can't handle the openGL cloud preview, You can disable this in the options panel, display tab and see if it gets better.

Quote - I don't have this, but maybe your system can't handle the openGL cloud preview, You can disable this in the options panel, display tab and see if it gets better.

No, I tried that and also a few other options as well turned off as suggested by the e-on support and it did not solve the issue. Like I mentioned, it did help a little to turn them down to "fast", but not nearly as good as without any "clouds" in the "Atmosphere Editor".

Right now it is being looked into as a possible bug or may be some sort of configuration problem. The question is, does it just happen in 7.4 or is it there in 7.2 and 7.5 versions too? Also, it may or may not be others, no one is sure at this point. A copy of several source files were sent for private testing and when done I will report back any findings on this.

If anyone has Vue 7.4 and can test with either Mac OS 10.5.7 or Windows 7 RC it would help to know what you get. But please follow the link in the first post and do those steps as outlined in the video tutorial and post the results. It would be helpful to know:

1. Your system specs - like motherboard, CPU, video card, video card driver, amount of RAM, etc.

2. Your Vue 7.4 settings.

3. Your system resources after completing the scene in the video tutorial as reported by Vue 7.4.

4. How much time does it take to render the finished scene linked to in my first post using "Final" settings at 800X600 or better and at least 120DPI, 16X9.

Like I said, I know its not the OS because the render times are VERY much increased with any "cloud layer" in the "Atmosphere Editor" regardless and the system resources report 92% for Windows 7 RC Vue 7.4 64 bit and 79% in Mac OS 10.5.7 with Vue 7.4 32 bit.

OK, this is my last update until I return on the 5th, heading out for a BIG 4th of July weekend with friends and family.

Update -

Here is the time it takes to render the scene linked to in my first post, using the "Final" settings, in just the standard size view port window:

WITH the cloud layer added in the "Cloud" tab in "Atmosphere Editor" -

Windows 7 RC - 46 Minutes to finish.

Mac OS - Not possible so far.

WITHOUT any cloud layer in the link above but same scene otherwise -

Windows 7 RC - 7 seconds

Mac OS - 12 seconds.

Obviously there is some sort of strange issue going on and we are still working on it. Once I get back I will report any updates from them or other findings.

Well, I'm on Vista so can't be much help.  I don't get any slowing down or crashing but here's some sample render times - just a small 640x400 at Final render setting:

no clouds     11 secs
spectral1 'Storm Clouds'   51 secs
spectral2 'Dark Cumulus' 2m 57 secs
non-spectral clouds
Aggregated Cumulus  13 secs
Swirly Cumulus (volumetric) 13 secs

Quote - Well, I'm on Vista so can't be much help.  I don't get any slowing down or crashing but here's some sample render times - just a small 640x400 at Final render setting:

no clouds     11 secs
spectral1 'Storm Clouds'   51 secs
spectral2 'Dark Cumulus' 2m 57 secs
non-spectral clouds
Aggregated Cumulus  13 secs
Swirly Cumulus (volumetric) 13 secs

Gill,

Thanks for letting me know.

If you could followup and let me know what your system specs are and if you are using Vue 7.4 it would help. I am still in the process of trouble shooting this with them.

It has got to be something strange because I checked with one other person that has the same Apple Mac Pro 2008 I do with the NVIDIA 8800GT and he too is having the same problem.

It may not be on other Apple models, graphic cards, etc.

I am sending more data in I have collected from other posters on some sites later this week.

Quote - > Quote - Well, I'm on Vista so can't be much help.  I don't get any slowing down or crashing but here's some sample render times - just a small 640x400 at Final render setting:

no clouds     11 secs
spectral1 'Storm Clouds'   51 secs
spectral2 'Dark Cumulus' 2m 57 secs
non-spectral clouds
Aggregated Cumulus  13 secs
Swirly Cumulus (volumetric) 13 secs

Gill,

Thanks for letting me know.

If you could followup and let me know what your system specs are and if you are using Vue 7.4 it would help. I am still in the process of trouble shooting this with them.

It has got to be something strange because I checked with one other person that has the same Apple Mac Pro 2008 I do with the NVIDIA 8800GT and he too is having the same problem.

It may not be on other Apple models, graphic cards, etc.

I am sending more data in I have collected from other posters on some sites later this week.

I'll try also.

Here are my times on the same settings as Gill,

no clouds     4 secs
spectral1 *'Storm Clouds' * not available to me, used Cloud Puffs   14 secs
spectral2 'Dark Cumulus'  39 secs
non-spectral clouds
Aggregated Cumulus   4 secs
Swirly Cumulus (volumetric) 4 secs

I am using 7.4.  System specs as follows:

Intel Q9550 Quad-core
8 GB RAM
ATI Radeon 4850 w/1 GB RAM
Vista Home Premium 64
Vue Infinite 7.4

Hi Jeff,
I'm on the laptop at the moment but as I recall:
AMD Dual Core (can't remember the exact prod #)
2 GB RAM
NVIDIA GEFORCE 7500 512RAM
Vista Home Premium 32 bit
Vue Inf 7.4 latest build

Update -

A problem has been confirmed and it is being looked into as the specific cause. It has to do with HUGE render time discrepancies between the Mac and PC using the same file I sent to e-on, with several causes to investigate.

1. It is affected by both Mac OS 10.5.7 and Windows 7 RC running on Macs.

2. At this time no one has reported with PC hardware and Windows Vista either 32 bit or 64 bit have this render time problem.

3. Since both Mac and Windows 7 OS seem affected it may point to hardware rather than the OS or Vue (unknown though at this time). Otherwise if it was just one or the other OS that would narrow it down more. It may be:

A. The Mac hardware running Windows even in native mode via Boot Camp.

B. The graphics card NVIDIA 8800GT having a defect of some sort.

1. If the graphics card is the problem, it must be determined if it is the 8800GT model made specifically for Apple or if it is an issue with the 8800GT on the PC as well.

They have looked at my file and are continuing to examine the cause since they found the render time issue as well. I will keep this thread updated as I learn more.

I tried some - no scene just added clouds, 640x480 final.
My pleasure to say I have no problems with that. Very similar to Gill's results:
no clouds 11"
Dark Cumulus (spectral 2) 2'38"
Swirly cumulus (volumetric) 12"
Large cummulus 2 (spectral 1) 47"

My computer is a macbooc pro intel core 2 Duo, 2.16 GHz, 3GB memory
ATY,RadeonX1600

I hope they sort it for you - good luck!

Quote - I tried some - no scene just added clouds, 640x480 final.
My pleasure to say I have no problems with that. Very similar to Gill's results:
no clouds 11"
Dark Cumulus (spectral 2) 2'38"
Swirly cumulus (volumetric) 12"
Large cummulus 2 (spectral 1) 47"

My computer is a macbooc pro intel core 2 Duo, 2.16 GHz, 3GB memory
ATY,RadeonX1600

I hope they sort it for you - good luck!

Hi,

I will note your results and send to them as I do at the end of the week from other sites as well. If you would not mind, could you do the tutorial link in my first post at "geekatplay.com" and post your render times with that file? That would help because if you see MUCH better speeds than myself on your Macbook then obviously it has to be something funky with my Mac hardware, be it graphics card or otherwise.

Right now I am strongly leaning to the 8800GT being the culprit as I have yet to hear from anyone with that same card, especially on a 2008 Mac Pro. I know there was some issue with NVIDIA in the Mac notebooks but nothing that pointed to Mac Pro graphics cards. We are still trying to narrow it down more but if you have success with your hardware then I will certainly pass that along.

Also, can you confirm the model year of your Macbook and OS version?

Thanks for letting me know, hope it gives us some more clues.

Its a 2007 model, that's the info it gives me about itself:
Model Name:    MacBook Pro 15"
  Model Identifier:    MacBookPro2,2
  Processor Name:    Intel Core 2 Duo
  Processor Speed:    2.16 GHz
  Number Of Processors:    1
  Total Number Of Cores:    2
  L2 Cache (per processor):    4 MB
  Memory:    3 GB
  Bus Speed:    667 MHz
  Boot ROM Version:    MBP22.00A5.B01
  SMC Version:    1.12f5

I'm still running 10.4.11, reluctant to upgrade unless I have a specific good reason otherwise 'if it works dont try and fix it'.

As for the tutorial scene - sorry I dont have the time to follow it and set it up, when I'm at the computer its flat out on a project. But if you e-mail  me the .vue file I'll be more than happy to try it.