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Update on Friday (8th of June)

Important stuff.

Update on Friday (8th of June)

Postby Aaron » Mon Jun 04, 2007 6:06 am

Hi Everyone,

This coming Friday there will be a minor update to L3DT (v2.5a). Some of the more interesting changes are:
  • Texture anti-aliasing, for smoother interfaces between different land types.
  • Support for custom map layers.
  • Multi-threading is now enabled by default for the normals, light map and texture map calculations (for multi-core systems).
  • Improved stability of the activation system for 'L3DT for Torque' users.
For a full list of changes, please consult the dev plan.

Early adopters and/or beta-testers can download the update now from the downloads page (under 'developmental builds'), in either Standard or Professional flavours. Feedback and bug-reports are most welcome!

Best regards,
Aaron.
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Postby Madcowthomas » Mon Jun 04, 2007 7:47 am

Wow, Arron your one busy person!
From the mad cows desk to yours,
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Postby monks » Mon Jun 04, 2007 8:44 am

Great stuff! Is there anything you particularly want testing on multi core Aaron?

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Postby Aaron » Mon Jun 04, 2007 10:28 am

Hi Monks,

I think the best test would be to make a dirty-big texture (4x resolution or greater). Ideally, you should see four little cursors running around in the map display. If you don't, can you go to 'Settings->Local settings', then 'Calc->ThreadManager->MaxThreadCount', and tell me what the number reads?

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Postby Madcowthomas » Mon Jun 04, 2007 3:21 pm

Version: Pro 2.5a build 3
Build date: 29-May-07


MaxThreadCount (int) = 1
From the mad cows desk to yours,
Peace
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Yo...Reggie vacation mom!

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Postby monks » Mon Jun 04, 2007 3:34 pm

It defaults to 1 thread on the quad- I checked before starting a new terrain and it was set to 1 thread and indeed stayed with 1 throughout the terrain build.
After going into settings and changing the threads to 4, everything worked just fine - in fact on running the tex I went into my PC probe and all of the cpus were maxed out, things began to get hot!

I get visual evidence of multi core on the normals, calculating lighting and tex calc.

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Postby Madcowthomas » Mon Jun 04, 2007 4:31 pm

I just switch mine to 4 and running a 1024 map
The CPU at 81 to 84


Added

Running a 2048 map here and the cpu at about 89 to 90
Calculating a 4k x 4k texture map right now and see the four dots clearly, reminds me of pacman

First time hear my computer kick the fans on high when processing the lightmap.

Running Pentium D CPU 3.00GHz duel core with 2 gb of ram
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Postby dr_boom » Mon Jun 04, 2007 10:34 pm

I must be blind, where is the developmental builds section?
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Postby Aaron » Mon Jun 04, 2007 11:31 pm

dr_boom wrote:...where is the developmental builds section?


It's directly beneath where you downloaded the stable build.
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Postby Aaron » Tue Jun 05, 2007 1:18 am

Thanks Monks and Madcowthomas,

Clearly my code to detect the core count doesn't work on all machines, so I'll have to revise this before release. On the up-side, it's good to hear that the thread manager ran as expected on your systems. This will be rolled out to a number of other calculations in the subsequent release (v2.5b), starting with the attributes map generation.

By the way, if you're worried by the sound of the fans, the dimming of the room lights or the smell of burning silicon, you can limit the processor utilisation via the CPU throttle dialog.

Cheers,
Aaron.
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Postby Madcowthomas » Tue Jun 05, 2007 4:52 am

By the way, if you're worried by the sound of the fans, the dimming of the room lights or the smell of burning silicon, you can limit the processor utilisation via the CPU throttle dialog.



I say "Bring it on!" , more dimming light more feels like a mad scientist lab.


I search the forum for a topic that brings interest and found my answer. Its on the use of other computers to help speed up the process of your project. Note: that your comments that this was a future feature to come when got over certain points in the process.

I'm Looking forward to this feature and many others to come.
From the mad cows desk to yours,
Peace
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Yo...Reggie vacation mom!

"Without imagination we would cease to exist"
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Postby dEaThMaStEr » Tue Jun 05, 2007 9:02 am

Hello guys, remember me? :)

I decided to come back and try out some terrain stuff again finally, just downloaded this build. I haven't had time to really test it out, however the multithreading is simply badass! :D Tried it last night with no problems. I'll mess around a bit more today when I get home. But I think the multithreading is a great feature to have in there.
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Postby Madcowthomas » Tue Jun 05, 2007 7:46 pm

Code: Select all
CMosaicMap::GetPixel error
 - cannot get SubMap handle from MemTable

zeofunc_calc_TX_area_AA error:
 - cannot get AM pixel

CZeoFunc::CallFunction error:
 - The function 'CalcArea' in the plugin 'L3DT-CORE' returned an error.

threadman_TileThreadProc error:
 - call to tile function failed (threaded case)



This pop up when running a 32k texture map
From the mad cows desk to yours,
Peace
Madcowthomas

Yo...Reggie vacation mom!

"Without imagination we would cease to exist"
William Thomas
(1970-)
Warning!
Burping Babies are the Cause of Global Warming!
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Postby Aaron » Tue Jun 05, 2007 9:35 pm

Hi William,

Can you please send me the complete error log? It's in the start menu, under 'All programs->Bundysoft->L3DT Professional 2.5a->L3DT log file'.

Best regards,
Aaron.
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Postby Madcowthomas » Tue Jun 05, 2007 10:53 pm

Sent the log to you by email
From the mad cows desk to yours,
Peace
Madcowthomas

Yo...Reggie vacation mom!

"Without imagination we would cease to exist"
William Thomas
(1970-)
Warning!
Burping Babies are the Cause of Global Warming!
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