Disable direct rendering of material preview?

[sigrid]

Hi,
I've been working with Vray 3.6 for a few weeks now and I found that Vray causes my cpu to be active a lot more while just working in sketchup (it sounds the same as when I'm rendering an image).
I think/suspect it's the constant rendering of the preview of the materials that's causing this. In heavy models it causes sketchup to slow down, even to a point where there's a bugsplat and sketchup crashes.
Is there a way to disable the constant rendering of the material (like there was in V2?)
(or any other ideas why the cpu goes crazy while just working?)

Many thanks!

Sincere greetings,
Sigrid

[Mousa_SA]

Hi,

If this issue come to you just go to the task manager and click the processes tab, then check which software is using all of your processors, if SketchUp seem stable, click on "Show processes from all users" button and check which software is causing this issue.

Hope this helps.

[matthewg]

I have also noticed this since installing 3.6

As far as i was aware Sketchup only uses a single core (2 threads) so would never go over 25% CPU usage nativly. Since installing 3.6 i have noticed high CPU usage for a little while after switching material in the Asset library. Its like its trying to get a high quality render on the 150x150 pixel preview which is not necessary.

Personally its not caused me any major issues but i guess its unnecessary stress on the CPU?

An option to turn it off/lower the quality threshold of the preview would be awesome.

[Peter.Chaushev]

This is not something new which came with v3.6. The material preview is set to never exceed more than 50% CPU thread usage and is not a high-priority process.
The majority of users seem to prefer having detailed material previews but I'll pass along the suggestion to add some control over its resource usage.

Kind regards,
Peter

[sigrid]

Hello, sorry for the late response...
I'm not quite sure if it's the material preview that's causing the CPU (and memory) to sky rocket when using sketchup with Vray 3.6... But I have noticed that the numbers go up as soon as I pick a material (even just with the sketchup material picker), AFTER I've opened the Vray Asset editor for the first time in that model. They go up and then they go down again after about half a minute to a minute...
BUT when you're continuously working and applying materials, the numbers stay up and the computer keeps working at full force...

I have tried out some things:

1. opening sketchup model: numbers shortly increase, and return to normal quickly (first image)
2. picking a materials using the sketchup picker, WITHOUT activating the Vray asset editor: numbers stay low (second image)
3. opening the vray asset editor: CPU usage increases tot 75 to sometimes 80% and then goes down after about a minute (image 3)
4. Picking a material, with the asset editor open: numbers go up again (image 4)

In addition, once the asset editor has been opened in a model, the numbers keep going up when picking a material, even when the asset editor is closed...

I've tried it a few times, so I'm sure it's not a coincidence..

Hope this helps?

Greetings,
Sigrid

[matthewg]

Like peter said its in the design of the software.

I wouldn't worry to much about your processor running at 70-80% as long as its not causing your processor to overheat or causing performance issues on other programs. And if it is perhaps look at maintaining/replacing the cooling system. Im pretty sure the hardware is designed to run at those sorts of usage for prolonged periods of time. Id only be worried if its affecting the performance of other apps.

But on the other side, the option to turn it off in the event that it WAS causing issues could be helpfull.

[Peter.Chaushev]

What you experience is expected, as already mentioned. The Material preview begins rendering the moment you open the Asset Editor (unless there are no materials in the scene).

Kind regards,
Peter

[sigrid]

Hi, thanks for the response.
I just notice that it slows down my workflow and slows down sketchup compared to V2. It causes sketchup to crash from time to time (I must say I have a real quick way of working, so I guess sometimes it can't keep up because it's always trying to render)
I'll have someone look at my cooling system, but it used to be no problem before so I can't see why it would be now...

Greetz,
Sigrid

[Peter.Chaushev]

(...) It causes sketchup to crash from time to time

Does your system crash or is it a SketchUp bugsplat? If you could provide any further info about this, please email us at support@chaosgroup.com

Kind regards,
Peter

[matthewg]

Hey Sigrid, not sure how this forum reacts to external links so i wont post it , but there is a program called Coretemp which i use regularly for diagnostics. (Im actually the it techie not a designer) The program is from ALCPU which im sure you can find from a quick google.

Its really handy because it lets you know how hot your cores are running. It also tells you what the max temp your processor can run at before it will turn its self off for safety. But i would say between 50-70 degrees whilst rendering is fairly normal, Ive included a screenshot of mine whilst running at 100% load.

If the cores start running too hot i believe it with throttle the cores to try and reduce the heat which will defiantly slow the machine down.

I personally don't have any problems with the preview causing issues.