jeffgrune Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 I just upgraded to V8 and like it a lot. The 64 bit architecture means I can render larger scenes without running out of memory. I'm using a MacPro 12 Core with 26 GB RAM. However, it sometimes hangs for minutes at a time and completely takes over the computer. Once was after a copy of a fairly simple collection of primitive shapes.The cursor moves, but nothing else works, something I haven't seen since OS9. There is no beachball or any sign that FormZ is working on something but sometimes some hard drive activity is heard. Any key command is stored somewhere until FormZ finally lets go, then everything I tried to do when it was unresponsive is done - app switching, menus, force quit, anything. This seems to be happening most when a large file is open but not the active window. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tech Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Hi Jeff, We haven't heard of that specifically, but if you are using Yosemite and you haven't applied this patch yet, please see this link: formZ 8.0.1 Yosemite Hot Fix RenderZone will generally work best on this computer if you go to the Edit Menu: Preferences: -- and set the number of processors to 6 or 8. If you have any further issues, try running the Activity Monitor in the background -- and when the problem occurs, check to see if there are any indications in the Activity Monitor as to what may have caused the slow down (in the Processes, CPU History, disk usage, etc). And of course if you find a series of steps that can reproduce an issue, please send the file and / or the steps so we can test with this here. Did the first two suggestions help solve the issue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffgrune Posted December 23, 2014 Author Share Posted December 23, 2014 Still using Mavericks. I'll watch the Activity Monitor when using FormZ. The hang doesn't happen when rendering. It happened after copying objects. I should use 6 or 8 processors instead of all 24 available processors? Wouldn't that slow everything down? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tech Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Hi Jeff, Likely that will make things faster. Give it a try and do a time test if you like... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffgrune Posted December 23, 2014 Author Share Posted December 23, 2014 Tried 8 processor and 24 processors. 8 processors rendered in a little over half the time it took for 24. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tech Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Hi Jeff, Right, the "virtual" processors can actually slow things down if the management of the multi-tasking exceeds the benefits of the division of labor... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
setz Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Hi Jeff, I have the same setup Pro12core + Mavericks. I get the same hang a couple times a day and it's a long one, about 10-30 seconds. It happens while I'm using FZ, but because the cached OS commands, changing windows etc, are played in rapid succession on release, it is clearly Mavericks that is the culprit here. I use an SSD drive for my OS and main project files. I think the delay may have something to do with Time Machine and spin up time on the non-SSD platter drives that are asleep. I just now changed my Energy Saver Prefs disabling sleeping the hard drives, and after the holiday hiatus when I'm back to work, I'll let you know if the hangs are gone... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisA Posted December 25, 2014 Share Posted December 25, 2014 I know this is happening in Mac Pro Towers. Is this also occurring in the latest Cylindrical 2014 3.5GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon E5 Mac Pro (it has up to 12-core processing power)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tech Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 Hi Dennis, Are you also using Time Machine (see Setz post)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Montoya Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 Tech- Can you please fix the program so it will appropriately use 12+ cores in our Mac Pros?? Its ridiculous to ask us to turn the setting down below the number of actual physical cores our computers have to get the fastest rendering speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tech Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 Justin, Yes, we have submitted a query to Lightworks to see if anything can be done regarding this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffgrune Posted December 29, 2014 Author Share Posted December 29, 2014 I use Time Machine, but it was not active when I had these problems. I suspect the freeze had to do with the particular file that was open at the time. It was a converted SketchUp file of a big-box store with lots of groups and joined objects. Whether or not this is a factor, the freeze has not occurred again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisA Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 I am using time machine on an internal 6TB drive... it is not going thru network. FYI- I am only noticed this with your sample file.... most of my renderings take 2 to 3 minutes. Am not using ambient occlusion most of the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tech Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 Hi Dennis, Setz is not using a network drive either. Did you try disabling Time Machine temporarily to see if that is the issue, or setting the Hard Drives to not sleep? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisA Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Wouldn't time machine have to backup during the rendering process to use the processor? By default it backs up every hour... so if rendering takes 12 minutes and time machine did not activate would it have an effect or am I missing something. I can give it a try with time machine off and let you know results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tech Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Hi Dennis, We have not reproduced this issue here so we can not say for sure why this would happen, but Robert (Setz) has encountered it and suggests it may be the drive sleeping, or the Time Machine. Please try adjusting both settings, and if that solves it, you can then revert the settings (one at a time) to see which is causing this for you... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
setz Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 I have been running with my drives not sleeping for awhile and that seems to have fixed the problem of delays. Everything is backed up for when the drive bearings go out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tech Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 Hi Robert, Thanks for the update, glad you found the cause (Time Machine) and the solution! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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