limit mipmap size

[R2J2]

Is there a way to limit the size of mipmaps loaded?(ie: cap the load to 512 instead of 8K) I would like VRay to only load small versions on certain passes. I'm using tiled .tx atm.

[Svetlozar Draganov]

This is currently not possible but we could add a feature request about it if you give us more details about how it should work.
As simple workaround you can make two(or more) versions of the textures and use the appropriate resolution for the corresponding pass.

[Joelaff]

With tiled tx memory should be much of an issue. Why do you want the lower res version only? If it is for softening could you up the blur amount in the VRayHDRI ?

You could use a shell material to load in both a small and large version, and then control which is used for viewport or rendering. It does seem that max loads any bitmap nodes attached to the shell material regardless of whether or not they are used. Not sure if VRayHDRI is smarter about that, but I would guess it would be.

[vlado]

There is a control to reduce the mip-map detail of textures for secondary bounces (GI/glossy rays), but not globally. Can you explain a bit more why you need this?

Best regards,
Vlado

[R2J2]

Thanks for all the replies.
I'm working on a massive scene atm where memory is a big issue, CG environment, characters and fx so there's no way it will all fit into memory together.

I can get smaller textures of course and replace full size on passes that don't need it, but I though it would be handy to just have a tag that limits their size for passes when objects are matte and resolution isn't an issue. I figured mipmaps already have lower resolution. Also would keep the scene simpler and less cluttered.

Vlado - do you mean filter maps for GI? I have that on atm or is there something that I'm missing?


On the blur texture issue I would really like to have sharper textures
I have been turning down the textures blur value for a very long time now but have left that on default so the mipmaps work correctly.

[Joelaff]

I thought you were using .tx files though. Those are tiled and only the needed tiles load into memory. My understanding is VRay will never use more than the amount of memory set as the tile cache to store these textures (tiled .tx and tiled exe files). I suppose loading smaller versions of the images might allow better use of the tile cache, but it shouldn't affect memory usage much with tiled images... Right, Vlado?

We are working on a big CG world shot as well. Talent on green with a TechnoDolly. Lots of VRay Proxies to help with the memory. All textures are .tx or tiled exr. The Embree conserve memory option helps as well, and doesn't have a massive render speed impact in our scene.

[vlado]

Well, if you want sharper textures, there's a new elliptical filtering mode in VRayHDRI designed for exactly that purpose. It's still somewhat experimental though.

Best regards,
Vlado

[R2J2]

That's great Vlado, I'll have a go when it comes in here,
as far as my original question I'll just resize the maps manually.

[giovani.meneghel]

Hi,

We ran into the same issue here and I would like to share the reason we think the creation of a tag that limits texture resolution is a good idea.

We also have huge scenarios and many close-ups to hero characters, so even using tiled EXRs, memory consumption is very high. Artists asked if they could choose texture resolution when they have the scene opened (ideally in the farm textures must load at proper resolution), because:

1- many times they have other heavy softwares opened on the same machine (Photoshop, Nuke, for example)

2- sometimes they are working specifically on lighting, so texture full resolution is not a big concern, but they still want to see roughly the color bleeding.

Does this make sense for anyone else?

Giovani.

[Joelaff]

Could you use Shell nodes ( I mention way up above) to use the lower res textures in viewports? Bitmap nodes DO seem to load tetxures that are attached to unused portions of the Shell material, though. So this could increase memory usage at render time. If you use really small textures it likely would not matter much. You could use VRayHDRI for these as well, though VRayHDRIs do not update image sequences correctly in the viewports.

You are using VRayHDRIs, right, not Bitmap nodes? Bitmap does not take advantage of tiled textures, and loads the entire map at the start of the render, regardless of wether or not it is used at all. Also, multiple Bitmap nodes of the same image file each load a separate copy in memory. VRayHDRI is smart enough to only load the texture file once.