POV-Ray : Newsgroups : povray.general : beta 3.7 multicore feature automatic or requires code? Server Time
30 Jul 2024 14:19:53 EDT (-0400)
  beta 3.7 multicore feature automatic or requires code? (Message 1 to 9 of 9)  
From: societyofrobots
Subject: beta 3.7 multicore feature automatic or requires code?
Date: 1 Feb 2009 03:00:00
Message: <web.498555dac9e4fdf0e977d74a0@news.povray.org>
I have a dual core so I'm very much interested in speeding up my POV-Ray
processing using the new beta.

Is it automatically handled in the background, meaning v3.6 code will see a
speed up if run in v3.7? Or do I need to modify the code first to take
advantage of the feature?

All I see on the beta page is:
"This version uses multi-threaded rendering by default."
"You can render in only one thread by using the '/THREADS 1' switch in the
Windows version."

Got any benchmarks?


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From: Thomas de Groot
Subject: Re: beta 3.7 multicore feature automatic or requires code?
Date: 1 Feb 2009 04:35:54
Message: <49856cfa$1@news.povray.org>
"societyofrobots" <nomail@nomail> schreef in bericht 
news:web.498555dac9e4fdf0e977d74a0@news.povray.org...
>I have a dual core so I'm very much interested in speeding up my POV-Ray
> processing using the new beta.
>
> Is it automatically handled in the background, meaning v3.6 code will see 
> a
> speed up if run in v3.7? Or do I need to modify the code first to take
> advantage of the feature?
>
> All I see on the beta page is:
> "This version uses multi-threaded rendering by default."
> "You can render in only one thread by using the '/THREADS 1' switch in the
> Windows version."
>
> Got any benchmarks?
>
>

Just make sure that your code has

#version 3.7;

and all will be well.

Thomas


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From: Stephen
Subject: Re: beta 3.7 multicore feature automatic or requires code?
Date: 1 Feb 2009 05:03:37
Message: <iqsao4513s4e78ps1viup0lqtfqf7k0a38@4ax.com>
On Sun, 1 Feb 2009 10:35:53 +0100, "Thomas de Groot"
<tDOTdegroot@interDOTnlANOTHERDOTnet> wrote:

>
>Just make sure that your code has
>
>#version 3.7;
>
>and all will be well.

Not necessary for multi-threading, Thomas. Bishop3D sets the version to 3.6 and
I still get to use two threads :)

Societyofrobots: PovRay 3.7 will use both of your cores for rendering without
you needing to do anything.
-- 

Regards
     Stephen


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From: Warp
Subject: Re: beta 3.7 multicore feature automatic or requires code?
Date: 1 Feb 2009 06:21:02
Message: <4985859e@news.povray.org>
Stephen <mcavoysAT@aoldotcom> wrote:
> On Sun, 1 Feb 2009 10:35:53 +0100, "Thomas de Groot"
> <tDOTdegroot@interDOTnlANOTHERDOTnet> wrote:

> >
> >Just make sure that your code has
> >
> >#version 3.7;
> >
> >and all will be well.

> Not necessary for multi-threading, Thomas. Bishop3D sets the version to 3.6 and
> I still get to use two threads :)

  It wouldn't make too much sense if it was like "hmm, the #version directive
has been set to 3.6, thus I'll use only one core".

-- 
                                                          - Warp


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From: Thomas de Groot
Subject: Re: beta 3.7 multicore feature automatic or requires code?
Date: 1 Feb 2009 10:50:49
Message: <4985c4d9@news.povray.org>
"Warp" <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> schreef in bericht 
news:4985859e@news.povray.org...
> Stephen <mcavoysAT@aoldotcom> wrote:
>> On Sun, 1 Feb 2009 10:35:53 +0100, "Thomas de Groot"
>> <tDOTdegroot@interDOTnlANOTHERDOTnet> wrote:
>
>> >
>> >Just make sure that your code has
>> >
>> >#version 3.7;
>> >
>> >and all will be well.
>
>> Not necessary for multi-threading, Thomas. Bishop3D sets the version to 
>> 3.6 and
>> I still get to use two threads :)
>
>  It wouldn't make too much sense if it was like "hmm, the #version 
> directive
> has been set to 3.6, thus I'll use only one core".
>

Well, that shows how naive I am  :-)

Thomas


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From: clipka
Subject: Re: beta 3.7 multicore feature automatic or requires code?
Date: 1 Feb 2009 13:35:00
Message: <web.4985ea4ad1616b68f8450bd80@news.povray.org>
"societyofrobots" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> Is it automatically handled in the background, meaning v3.6 code will see a
> speed up if run in v3.7? Or do I need to modify the code first to take
> advantage of the feature?

No need to change your scenes - at least not for the speedup part. There are
other changes that might require you to make (minor) modifications to your
scenes (e.g. gamma handling).

POV scales quite well with number of CPU cores, so your scenes will typically
render in e.g. about half the time on a dual-core machine, or quarter of the
time on a quad-core machine.

Other changes have been made to the code, however, that seem to impact the speed
both for the better or for the worse, depending on your scene. Still, expect to
see an overall speed increase.

Be warned that radiosity in 3.7.0.beta.30 is almost unusable in any but the
simplest scenes, due to a number of bugs; radiosity support in
3.7.0.beta.30-rad1 (a radiosity update to the beta.30) is much better regarding
quality, but seems to be just as unusable in practice due to some speed issues
I'm currently trying to track down and fix, except for scenes with a
recursion_depth of 1.


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From: societyofrobots
Subject: Re: beta 3.7 multicore feature automatic or requires code?
Date: 2 Feb 2009 01:50:01
Message: <web.4986967fd1616b68e977d74a0@news.povray.org>
"clipka" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> Be warned that radiosity in 3.7.0.beta.30 is almost unusable in any but the
> simplest scenes, due to a number of bugs; radiosity support in
> 3.7.0.beta.30-rad1 (a radiosity update to the beta.30) is much better regarding
> quality, but seems to be just as unusable in practice due to some speed issues
> I'm currently trying to track down and fix, except for scenes with a
> recursion_depth of 1.

Is there an email list or notification feature to send out an email when a fix
comes out? I'm producing POV movies so this speed boost is very desirable . . .
If I install the beta and run into the bug, will downgrading back to the
previous version result in any problems?

(btw nice software, is a huge help for prototyping my electronics products)


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From: clipka
Subject: Re: beta 3.7 multicore feature automatic or requires code?
Date: 2 Feb 2009 03:15:00
Message: <web.4986aa9fd1616b682c873ec30@news.povray.org>
"societyofrobots" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
> Is there an email list or notification feature to send out an email when a fix
> comes out?

I currently know of no mailing list. Just keep an eye on the beta page
occasionally.

There is some functionality in the source code to automatically check for
updates via internet, but I don't know if that feature is activated already.

> If I install the beta and run into the bug, will downgrading back to the
> previous version result in any problems?

The beta installs in a different directory than the 3.6, so you'll have both
versions available, and can switch between them anytime you like.


> (btw nice software, is a huge help for prototyping my electronics products)

Yeah; many people have put a lot of effort in it for good.


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From: Alain
Subject: Re: beta 3.7 multicore feature automatic or requires code?
Date: 2 Feb 2009 18:51:50
Message: <49878716$1@news.povray.org>
societyofrobots nous illumina en ce 2009-02-02 01:45 -->
> "clipka" <nomail@nomail> wrote:
>> Be warned that radiosity in 3.7.0.beta.30 is almost unusable in any but the
>> simplest scenes, due to a number of bugs; radiosity support in
>> 3.7.0.beta.30-rad1 (a radiosity update to the beta.30) is much better regarding
>> quality, but seems to be just as unusable in practice due to some speed issues
>> I'm currently trying to track down and fix, except for scenes with a
>> recursion_depth of 1.
> 
> Is there an email list or notification feature to send out an email when a fix
> comes out? I'm producing POV movies so this speed boost is very desirable . . .
> If I install the beta and run into the bug, will downgrading back to the
> previous version result in any problems?
> 
> (btw nice software, is a huge help for prototyping my electronics products)
> 
> 
The beta leave the previous, non-beta, install intact and fully functionnal.

As betas are time limited, you may encounter some problem of you try to go back 
to a previous beta build.

-- 
Alain
-------------------------------------------------
I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder.


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