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Rendering Viewport turns everything black


mattOC

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  • 1 month later...
On 8/26/2018 at 3:36 PM, SeanOSkea said:

Restart works, but often it takes 2 restarts as Rnderworks will not load on the first restart. 

Just a thought @SeanOSkea; Maybe you won't need to restart Vectorworks twice if you wait a bit longer before relaunching it. 

 

When I prescribe users to restart Vectorworks I usually stipulate that they wait at least 10 seconds before relaunching it. It's not a computer-science-degree validated strategy, but is derived from observation and experience. If you watch the memory consumption in Task Manager (Windows) or Activity Monitor (Mac) when quitting Vectorworks; You'll see the memory it consumed takes a few seconds to get released. I get uneasy when I see users click to re-launch Vectorworks as soon as the application window has disappeared because my history with computers suggests this is less-okay than being patient and allowing the computer to complete [certain types of] tasks before starting another. How I think this might relate to your need to restart Vectorworks twice; If you relaunch Vectorworks before it's finished releasing the memory it consumed some of it may remain intact, possibly retaining whatever issue you're seeking to clear out. 

 

I just did a simple test to which appears to validate at least half my reasoning: 

 

On a Windows 10 laptop with an HDD, using Vectorworks 2018 SP4

  1. Restarted computer
  2. Launched Vectorworks     (1:36 to load) 
  3. Once fully loaded, quit Vectorworks 
  4. Immediately launched Vectorworks again (0:37 to load) 
  5. Once fully loaded, quit Vectorworks
  6. Waited 37 seconds (memory level for 32 seconds)
  7. Launched Vectorworks again (0:46 to load) 

 

These time differences seem to indicate less data is being loaded if Vectorworks is relaunched before it's finished releasing the memory it consumed. I'm keen to hear if this bears out. Comments, corroborative or alternative results anyone? 

Edited by Jeremy Best
Amendment/clarification.
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On 8/25/2018 at 11:36 PM, SeanOSkea said:

Still having this issue in 2018. And its a lot more than Jim's 1 in 50 times. More like 1 in 5 for me. Restart works, but often it takes 2 restarts as Rnderworks will not load on the first restart. 

Do you have this issue of Renderworks not starting in the beginning often? Which platform are you on and which version of the OS? 

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Hey y'all, we're trying to nail this bug down for a while. Which platform are you using? What version of OS? Do you see CineRenderNEM in the activity monitor when you get the black viewports? Is renderworks usable at all after you get a black viewport? Or is it just that viewport? When you see black a few seconds after pressing update, does the final rendering kick in after a while? Do you have a surefire way to make it happen reliably?


I've realized that sometimes when I update a number of viewports with a big model, I get black instead of the progress images, but the final rendering eventually kicks in once they are all finished. 


If you don't see CineRender running in the activity monitor, the only workaround would be restarting Vectorworks. 

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VW 18 SP4     I7-8700k  3.70 (oc to 4)    32RAM  GTX 1080   Wind 10 

 

I'll look for the CineRender next time it happens. I've just been preemptively saving and restarting before I do a FQ render lately. They seem to go a little quicker after a 'refresh' too. I can't wait for multi-threading next month!!! 

 

Did you see my post about the disappearing textures? That's a long running problem too. 

 

Thanks 

Sean 

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16 hours ago, Jeremy Best said:

Just a thought @SeanOSkea; Maybe you won't need to restart Vectorworks twice if you wait a bit longer before relaunching it. 

 

Interesting. I've noticed big load time differences as well as noticeable differences in renders and updates. I'll have a big Custom RW render take 2 hours then I'll move a few things around and render again with same settings it it will finish in half the time. I just assumed other stuff was going on in the background on my PC. I'm terrible about having too many things open at the same time. I'll watch for that. 

 

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  • 4 months later...

I was having this problem with my newest version of a file that had gone through many, many revisions.  The only thing I could think that was different from before the issue began, was the addition of about a thousand 3/4" 3D hemispheres.  After many hours of trying different things with no luck, I deleted those hemispheres, and the issue disappeared.  I can, again, render all of my view ports.  So I guess there is a limit to what RenderWorks is able to accomplish with view port rendering.  

 

So if you have created some very intricate elements or perhaps grouped some intricate elements together, try walking them back to see where you last were able to render.  

 

 

Cheers,

 

Tim  

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  • 3 months later...
On 4/25/2019 at 4:58 AM, Luis M Ruiz said:

I am going to take a guess here. Are you using Image Effects on top of that viewport? (v2019) is that box checked when you hit update?

this definitely seems to have an effect on viewports blacking out, unchecking and updating viewport seems to show the viewport correct again

running latest VW 19 sp3.1 here 

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6 hours ago, halfcouple said:

Something is definitely wrong here.

 

This example looks a lot like a Renderworks or HDRI background has been turned on. I don't think its the infamous "black viewport" issue in a traditional sense.

Are you able to share an example file where this happens? We might be able to pinpoint the source.

 

Kevin

 

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Guest Selin
2 hours ago, Kevin McAllister said:

 

I don't think its the infamous "black viewport" issue in a traditional sense.

 

Yes this is different. The infamous 'black viewport' issue is when a Renderworks viewport consistently produces a fully black rendering. This one is in OpenGL and you can actually see the geometry rendered. Just the background is black.


@halfcouple Do you see the background in the design layer? 

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Just did some testing, you are right, this is something else:

 

- Although it's an Open GL Rendering, it seems to respond to the Renderworks background settig, if none is selected then it appears black. ( But it should be white )  Setting the RW Background of the VP to "HDRI white" makes the Open GL rendering appear with white background as before. Maybe this is a change in SP3 ?

- I have this issue with every file and every Viewport. At first I thought is is some settings in my template file, but it is the same with a blank document. Maybe I accidently changed some VW preferences, but I can't imangine which ones.

Here is a sample file:  Rendering Background.vwx

 

Maybe someone can test it with other preferences settings, so I can be shure its my settings that are wrong ?

 

Edited by halfcouple
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6 hours ago, halfcouple said:

Maybe someone can test it with other preferences settings, so I can be shure its my settings that are wrong ?

 

When I open the file the cached viewport image has a black background. If I update the viewport it snaps to transparent as it should be. All of your settings are correct. This seems to indicate its not corruption in the file.

 

I notice that you're working on a PC and I'm on a Mac. Out of curiosity what is your default compression set to in the Vectorworks Preference on the Edit tab?

 

Kevin

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Thats it !

I changed from png to jpeg for some testing reason a few days ago. When switching back everything works normal again.

 

It seems that switching to jpeg toggels the rendering mode (on Windows).

- When jpeg is active the RW Background is working in open GL and produces a black background when set to "None".

- When png is active the RW Background produces a white background when set to "None", all others produce black.

 

Bug or Feature ?  😉

 

Thanks much for Help!

 

Georg

 

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On 5/4/2019 at 9:12 AM, halfcouple said:

Thats it !

I changed from png to jpeg for some testing reason a few days ago. When switching back everything works normal again.

 

It seems that switching to jpeg toggels the rendering mode (on Windows).

- When jpeg is active the RW Background is working in open GL and produces a black background when set to "None".

- When png is active the RW Background produces a white background when set to "None", all others produce black.

 

Bug or Feature ?  😉

 

 

I wonder if its been previously filed as a bug. @Selin do you know? I can't really test and file it because I'm on a Mac.

 

Kevin

 

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@halfcouple

Yes, this is a bug. I've tested your file on my Mac and it comes up fine, but on Windows 10 I get the same issue as you, but only when the default compression in Vectorworks Preferences > Edit, is set to JPEG. Change it to PNG and you should be fine. For anyone experiencing rendering issues with any render mode other than Renderworks ones: 

  • Update your graphics card driver. Failing that; 
  • Clean install your graphics card driver. Failing that; 
  • Reset Vectorworks Preferences OR uninstall/reinstall Vectorworks using a freshly downloaded installer. 

 

6 hours ago, Kevin McAllister said:

I wonder if its been previously filed as a bug.

 

Yes, someone has already submitted this as a bug: VB-87995. 

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Guest Selin

JPEG compression not working with RW was a known bug that was fixed in SP3. OpenGL is different though. I see a couple bugs about OGL black backgrounds, looks like it'll be fixed in the next version. VB-156254, VB-157004, VB-156910

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