Jump to content
3DCoat Forums

Switching tools has occasional delay in retopo room


Recommended Posts

  • Advanced Member

Hey,

I read this was something that happened in past 3D Coat versions and was supposed to be fixed in some later update in v 4.x , but it happens to me now during retopo.

First, as there was only like 1k or 2k or even 4k faces, everything worked fine. But when I got around 7k, now am at 12k faces, quickly switching between tools sometimes lags for a few seconds.

It happens seemingly randomly ,at least for me, sometimes everything goes quick, but then, occasionally when I switch for instance to "Add/Split" or "Delete Edges" tool, it hags a bit until it has switched.

Not sure whats causing this, this is my first time doing a full character retopo in 3D Coat.

I remember int he past that happened to me also during painting in paint room, when I have had a lot of alphas in my brushes folders. The more alphas I had there, the slower it was to switch tools. But there, it was at least predictable and happened every time. So I got rid of the problem by keeping number of alphas reasonable.

Not sure if this is related somehow or helps.

I would love to see this resolved, as I fell deeply in love with 3D Coats retopo room, it is a dream come true. The occasional lag is a bit distracting though. Not sure if maybe also I am doing something that's causing this, but wouldn't know what really.

Here is the file for investigation. You notice when you switch for instance after a longer time of working with one tool, it can happen. I can not see any predictable pattern unfortunately.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lo1ugq43c07cwca/et_retopo_119.3b?dl=0

 

Edited by Henry Townshend
fix typo
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Advanced Member
8 hours ago, Carlosan said:

To perform retopology, did you import it as Import reference or huge reference ?

image.jpeg

If model polygon density is high, import huge references will give better performance.

Hey, thx for the swift reply. I go via applink. I bring my model from zbrush to Blender first via GoB addon (inofficial Blender Zbrush bridge, works well).

I then go to the 3D Coat applink addon in Blender, and choose "Reference Mesh" and hit "Send" (works well). 

I have opened 3D Coat in the Background already before doing that. So not using the start menu, jus opened with an empty scene.

The model then gets imported into 3D Coat, showing up as paint object.

Is there some misstep in this process? Or maybe applink? I love applink, the send back forth from/to blender is flawless for me. Would like to keep this workflow. But I will certainly try the "import heavy meshes". 

But, I usually decimate my sculpts for retopo, so I think it might not should be the cause of the problem, as they are not really "heavy".

I started this file at the beginning with the full 17 mio tris sculpture though. It worked without flaws. At some point where the tool switch lagging started, I replaced the geo with a decimated version, but the behaviour did not change. 

I am thinking maybe it has to do with this, that somehow using the 17mio at first left its marks for some odd reason, even though it got replaced later.

Otherwise the program runs quick and snappy, no issues regarding performance at all. On the contrary, even with the 17mio refence in it did not break a swaet in terms of viewport performance. The only thing that happens is the tool switching lag. Otherwise its fluid as butter.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Advanced Member

Thanks! I tried it with this option, however, it is slowing down opposed to using the applink for some reason, becoming unworkable, even with my mesh only being 1.2 mio. This option introduces problems I did not have  before.

The scale of the model gets altered when using this option as opposed to using applink, which would be not a huge deal, but, it gets really small inside 3D Coat and it seems that the smaller my brush size is in this mode, which is needed cause the model being so small, the slower the tools, for instance drawing curve or smart retopo gets really slow and taxing, and you can feel the tools are not meant to work at such small scale.

When using applink, I have zero problems with speed nor scale. All is working at light speed. The same when I use the first option "Import Reference Mesh up to 2-4 million", or going over "File->Import for Vertex Painting/Reference".

The speed is incredible fast using these modes, a pure joy to work with. But not when using the "huge reference mesh option". This "Huge Reference" options slows down the entire experience, not was I was used to. It is also much more taxing on the CPU. I have much lower, next to non tax on CPU using the other import modes.

Like stated, my only problem arose with switching tools once I reach a certain amount of tris, as described above. It is not about any viewport performance hit caused by mesh density. That is not the problem. It's gotta be something else that sneaks in in later stages of retopo, when there are more polygroups and faces present.

Maybe you could try to send the devs my file for inspection to check if they can reproduce? At this point don't think it has something to do with setup or choosing import options.

It would be so nice without tool switching lags.

I meanwhile started retopo on other meshes, the problem is not present when you start retopo. It only happened once I reached a certain level of finish, like when my retopo mesh was at around 12k tris. The performance otherwise was no problem, blazingly fast, only the lags between tool switching occuring was the problem.

Edited by Henry Townshend
fix typo
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Advanced Member

Today I worked on the file again, and the lags disappeared. I have a suspicion now:

I do test bakes occasionally during retopo to foresee how my normals are gonna look (Loving that feature in 3D Coat, it is so quick, just amazing).

I noticed that at some point, I deleted my layers in paint room and did not do any bakes anymore. But still, even when I do a test bake now, I have no delays. This is strange.

I am starting to think the issue might be caused by something external, not sure. I am on windows 11.

Here is the current file on which the lagging just disappeared:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2r7aqn09fz3cntj/et_retopo_124.3b?dl=0

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Hi, sorry the delay

- I found 4 meshes: 

1 on Sculpt room in Surface mode = __et_high.decimate (imported for sculpt ?)

1 on Paint Room in Paint objects locked = __et_high.decimate (imported model as reference mesh ?)

1 on Paint Room in Paint objects = body (bake result)

1 on Retopo Room in Poly Groups mesh = body (retopo mesh)

- 3DC use different mesh types to perform the functions. 

You can -using the Retopo mesh- bake normals from Sculpt room mesh, from Reference mesh and from any mesh located on Paint Room.  Each of these operations fulfill different functions depending on the type of work to be carried out.

in this project the baking is done from 3 different sources, that could produce errors and delays.

Hope this help

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...