PwToon (and pwEffect/pwSurface/etc.) questions

Sphinx Magoo

I'd recently downloaded the new version of DS 4.5 and was trying to use pwToon, but I got memory errors that caused DS to crash. So I downloaded and installed pwToon. DS still crashed but not as often. I figured it was the strain of using DS4.5 on my 32-bit Windows XP PC, so I gritted my teeth, shrugged my shoulders and forged ahead.

Then I installed Install Manager. While playing around in it, I noticed that pwToon, pwSurface 1 and 2, pwGhost, and pwEffect didn't show up in my list of downloadable items. Curious.

Then I got word from the bug tracker that said that DAZ was waiting for the new version of 3Delight. This leads me to a bunch of questions...

1) What's the status on the pw family of shaders? Will they be updated once the new version of 3Delight in integrated into DS (especially since I've spotted errors while rendering that state that the pwToon shader should be recompiled)?

2) If it's true that my days are numbered using DS 4.5 on my old PC, what can I do to forestall the moment that I need to get a new PC? Might more RAM help? I have about 3GB now, but what might be optimal?

3) Is anyone else using DS 4.5 on a 32-bit PC? What configuration are you using? Can any of the pw family of shaders work on your system?

4) This one's more of a technical question. I have pwToon for DS 4, but I have presets originally created for DS 3. If I apply any of the DS3 presets in 4.5, does DS have enough sense to still use the DS 4 shader instead of the DS 3 one in my scene? This was one of those crazy questions I had when DS 4.5 would crash when I'd try to render.

Thanks in advance for any help.

v3rlon_7354dd516e

I can answer exactly one of these questions. Adding RAM to your 3GB 32-bit PC will do you no good whatsoever.
A 32 bit PC has, among other things, a 32 Bit address space. This means that it can assign memory address from 0 to 4,294,967,296 which accounts for exactly 4GB of RAM.

Now, you are thinking I have 3GB, but the system can address 4GB, so why don't I add 1GB? RAM is so cheap that I could probably get a GB in a box of cereal or something. Well, the catch is that the system can address 4GB of RAM TOTAL. That means your 3GB or RAM plus any other RAM in your system (the video card being the big one, but some other things, too.

If you want to use more than 3GB of RAM, you really need to go 64 bit. Now you get the pleasure of an OS install, all your old applications install, finding drivers for all that stuff (if you are a musician using older equipment, brace yourself for nasty surprises about driver support), and so on.

Richard Haseltine

1) DAZ owns the shaders and has been updating them to work in new versions of DS. The versions of 3Delight used now can recompile sahders on the fly, so they shouldn't need updating - whether they will be optimised I don't know.

2) Yes, rendering in 32 bit seems to be getting trickier - and of course one tends to get more ambitious over time.

4) Yes, presets will work in the new version - the preset calls the shader files by name, and the different versions of DS have the same name and relative location for those so they always grab the right file (in theory).

Mattymanx

My 30 pwS2 presets were made in DS2 and work just fine in DS 4.5.1.56

ReDave

I still use 32 bits computers. The latest versions of DS 4.5 seem to have plugged quite a few memory holes. I can get a single figure with UE2 (or rather indirect camera), LAMH hair and highres textures (i.e. the typical 4000*4000 textures) using under 700 MB of memory according to Task Manager. Remember to enable the 3GB switch and you should be able to at least make a complete scene with two clothed figures without any particular problem.
I only own PwEffect of the pw line and it does work. I've been meaning forever to get PwToon but something else of higher priority always came up when it was on sale.

Sphinx Magoo

I just did a nice long render in DS 4.5 using pwSurface2 so I had a long time to see this message:

Rendering...
3Delight message #45 (Severity 1): S2072: the shader 'C:/Program Files/DAZ 3D/DAZStudio4/shaders/pwSurface2.sdl' uses a different interface version. Automatic conversion was successful. It should be recompiled for better performance.

This message is similar to one I get when using pwToon in my scenes. Anyone have a clue as to what DS is referring to?

Mattymanx

Ignor it.

You can recompile the shader if you want to avoid the message but in short, you're fine.