Dev Diary, July 5th, 2024
Added 2024-07-05 12:00:12 +0000 UTCSeems it's Friday again, and I hope all the Muricans had a nice 4th yesterday.
Progress
When you are making a game like this, there will always be stuff you dread having to do. And I had this scene with everyone in the same room, which is always going to be an annoying and time-consuming thing to do. So, I decided to start it this week and almost completed it, which is such a load off my shoulders.
Below is a composition image of the primary process of creating these scenes with many people in them. That setup took a whole day to finish, which included posing all the people, setting up lighting so that every character was properly lit, and setting up the 'bubbles' (lower left image) where all the heads are so that everyone can look at the right spot when talking to people off camera (who aren't actually there). I also had to take care of the reflection in the window behind them.
The reward for spending time setting up a scene like this correctly is that you can always load separate instances depending on what happens during the scene. It's a lot of balls in the air simultaneously, and doing scenes like this is much more draining than spending time alone with one person.
I ended up with new 170-story renders, and I am very pleased with the progress.
Hardware problems
Three times this week, my posing rig refused to start up after sleep in the morning. All three times, I got it back up after several hard resets, saving bios settings, and windows trying - and failing - to repair whatever was wrong. The bottom line is that I don't know why it's happening. The event log shows nothing. The only change in hardware is a new keyboard and mouse, but I doubt that caused this.
To add further, this morning, I saw that the render rig had restarted unexpectedly. And the event log on that computer had several critical errors on one of the SSDs. I ran a check, and it's supposedly fixed, but I expect a major breakdown soon, so I've ordered replacement SSDs, motherboards, RAM, CPUs, and power units just in case.
Ironically, I have several spare GPUs as I always expected they would go first, but so far I haven't had a single GPU failure.
But if both computers survive a bit longer, I should have the spare parts here by the end of next week. Fingers crossed.
Have a nice weekend, everyone, and stay safe out there.
// Drifty
Comments
When you write and delete a large number of files, the service life of the hard disk is greatly overdrawn, so for people who use computers to work, the hard disk is what they most need to pay attention to
Angilina Fin
2024-07-12 05:39:45 +0000 UTCYou may also want to test the RAM, since I've seen RAM go bad on occasion.
Targonis
2024-07-07 14:47:47 +0000 UTCYou should be absolutely fine with a 850W power unit for a single 4090. They draw less power than the 3090.
Drifty
2024-07-06 12:09:27 +0000 UTCThe 3d software can't handle many characters simultaneously, so I pose three at a time. For the next image, I have to delete a character and load another character. Rinse and repeat until they are all done. Render all of the partial images, then finally put it all together in Photoshop for the end product. The 'bubbles' are there for closeup images of a single group of people looking at an off-camera character. That way, they will always be looking in the right direction when talking to someone.
Drifty
2024-07-06 12:04:36 +0000 UTCI have an air-cooled setup, as the temp never goes above 70C on the hotspot and 65C on the card otherwise, and the fans never exceed 35%, so I can't even hear them. Should be good on power too with a 1600w supply. :) CPU is not an issue for rendering itself, other than doing simulations and similar. But I'll give the bios update a go.
Drifty
2024-07-06 11:58:26 +0000 UTCGood catch. :)
Drifty
2024-07-06 11:53:02 +0000 UTCYou must run too close to the rating of those power supplies then. My current Thermaltake 850W has been doing well for me since 2018. If I were to go to something like a RTX 4090, I'd want at least a 1200W UPS though, and I always run my important systems on a UPS without fail. Going with something like an APC BR1500G with the external battery pack to provide the extended run time for outages would be a way to go as well. I've seen power supplies go before, which is why I've gone from those cheap 500-600W power supplies to always going to 750W and above.
Targonis
2024-07-06 09:47:01 +0000 UTCfirst thing to break on my PCs is usually the power supply, had to replace them countless times
Schobbob .
2024-07-05 23:52:27 +0000 UTCInteresting post. Nver thought about the "bubbles". Do I understand this right: You seem to create the scene in parts (2 or three persons at a time, them hide(?) two of them and add a new person next to the third person. Is it in order to save time at test-renderings in which you verify the correct positioning als lightning for this group only (and not the whole bunch of people)? PS: By the way: You should update your "about"-page since it only does tell about your completed game and not Euphoria.
Dennis
2024-07-05 22:46:22 +0000 UTCFor the hardware issues, many problems can come due to power supplies degrading. If you run a power supply at 90% of its rated power capacity, it may degrade over time, which is why I always go overkill. Go to a 1200W power supply if you only need 900W of power(from video cards going at max). Then you have cooling for the video cards. Have you blown the dust out of the cooling for your video card(s) recently? Your RAM may also be having issues(I've seen individual sticks of RAM go bad before, even though it's unusual, it does happen). For the CPU, I'd hope you have a good AIO cooler at least for the CPU. If your case supports it, going for a 360 or 420mm radiator over a 280 can also help. It's difficult to help pinpoint the source of issues without knowing more about the system specs, but you should also check for an updated BIOS for your motherboard(s). I'll keep an eye out for responses if you have any questions, but I've had to address a LOT of strange issues, and blue screens CAN come from video cards that are starting to fail. MSI has had issues with weak solder on video cards, and putting a card through a reflow oven can resolve those at times(but I don't suggest doing it yourself if you've never done it yourself, because it requires disassembling your video card(melted plastic doesn't do good things).
Targonis
2024-07-05 21:06:52 +0000 UTCGood luck for the HW replacement
Jacky
2024-07-05 16:29:39 +0000 UTCThat is amazing work Drifty. That is insane the work involved in a scene like that. Hopefully your computers hold on a bit longer for you. Have a great weekend!
Shane Ducharme
2024-07-05 16:28:15 +0000 UTCit is 2024?
WannaPlay
2024-07-05 14:58:54 +0000 UTCIt's better. I'm a bit into PC for a profession and let me tell you sleep mode can mess with your PC quite a bit
Jacek Wiśniewski
2024-07-05 14:05:56 +0000 UTCThank you for the update. Hope the hardware issues work themselves out and have a good weekend. :)
The Greggen
2024-07-05 13:58:49 +0000 UTCHopefully there won't be any major failure. Have a good weekend
Jacek Wiśniewski
2024-07-05 13:41:26 +0000 UTCI've never seen so many characters in one room before. That looks very good. 😊 I hope your computers can hold on a bit longer. I don't like to put my PC to sleep. I do a full shutdown and a fresh start usually. Not sure if this better or worse to be honest... 😂
Calhoun28
2024-07-05 13:06:13 +0000 UTCWow, dang it. So sorry to hear that you have so much trouble lately with your Hardware. I hope it's all sorted out now and you can be a bit more at ease and finish your next Chapter smoothly. I'm crossing my Fingers for you and good luck.
WolverineCTX
2024-07-05 12:13:31 +0000 UTC
