Change the default Subsurf Render Level from 2 to 1 #114163

Raimund Klink · 2023-10-26T06:29:56+02:00

Raimund Klink commented

2023-10-26 06:29:56 +02:00

This is a PR to change the default value of the Subdivision Surface Modifier.

We frequently get users who wonder why their scene is unrenderable because everything was fine in the Viewport.
On certain meshes, the RAM difference between level 1 and 2 is HUGE.

Currently, it is not "What you see is what you get". Instead, it is "What you see is crashing for some unknown reason if you try to render."
(Blender doesn't tell you what object (modifier) needed too much RAM, causing an "Out of RAM error")

An alternative to #114108

This is a PR to change the default value of the Subdivision Surface Modifier. We frequently get users who wonder why their scene is unrenderable because everything was fine in the Viewport. On certain meshes, the RAM difference between level 1 and 2 is HUGE. Currently, it is not "What you see is what you get". Instead, it is "What you see is crashing for some unknown reason if you try to render." (Blender doesn't tell you what object (modifier) needed too much RAM, causing an "Out of RAM error") An alternative to https://projects.blender.org/blender/blender/pulls/114108

👍 2 ❤️ 1

Raimund Klink added 1 commit 2023-10-26 06:30:09 +02:00

ef0fc1f162 Update source/blender/makesdna/DNA_modifier_defaults.h

Raimund Klink referenced this pull request

2023-10-26 06:30:49 +02:00

Change the default Subsurf Viewport Level from 1 to 2 #114108

Raimund Klink requested review from Pablo Vazquez 2023-10-30 13:45:05 +01:00

Raimund Klink requested review from Campbell Barton 2023-10-30 13:45:06 +01:00

Raimund Klink requested review from Howard Trickey 2023-10-30 13:45:06 +01:00

Campbell Barton commented

2023-10-31 05:30:07 +01:00

While it's nice to have renders being high quality - by default, favoring the principle of least surprise has benefits too, especially if the higher quality exceeds memory limits.

Having said this, I'll defer to render developers on this one as I think this has more to do with rendering than modeling.

While it's nice to have renders being high quality - by default, favoring the _principle of least surprise_ has benefits too, especially if the higher quality exceeds memory limits. Having said this, I'll defer to render developers on this one as I think this has more to do with rendering than modeling.

Campbell Barton requested review from Brecht Van Lommel 2023-10-31 05:30:36 +01:00

Campbell Barton refused to review 2023-10-31 05:30:36 +01:00

Brecht Van Lommel commented

2023-10-31 14:37:10 +01:00

The issue is that 1 is really too low for most final renders. Personally I would rather do nothing here if we can't agree to change the viewport levels to 2.

Of course you can run out of memory when rendering, but this subdivision level is just one of multiple factors that can cause that. If you have heavy image textures, adaptive subdivision, maybe future proxy support, that's just a fact of life and making the viewport and final render quality settings all the same is not a solution I think.

As far as I know the main performance issues with subdivision in Blender / OpenSubdiv are related to building the topology refiner, that is independent of the number of subdivision levels used. With GPU subdivision this is even less of a problem. Of course generating 4x as many polygons makes it easier to run out of memory, though I don't think that aspect is different than other applications.

The issue is that 1 is really too low for most final renders. Personally I would rather do nothing here if we can't agree to change the viewport levels to 2. Of course you can run out of memory when rendering, but this subdivision level is just one of multiple factors that can cause that. If you have heavy image textures, adaptive subdivision, maybe future proxy support, that's just a fact of life and making the viewport and final render quality settings all the same is not a solution I think. As far as I know the main performance issues with subdivision in Blender / OpenSubdiv are related to building the topology refiner, that is independent of the number of subdivision levels used. With GPU subdivision this is even less of a problem. Of course generating 4x as many polygons makes it easier to run out of memory, though I don't think that aspect is different than other applications.

Raimund Klink commented

2023-10-31 15:19:00 +01:00

So, change the viewport level to 2? I have a PR for that: #114108
It also seems "industry standard" to have the levels on 2.

Please note that the level difference is only an issue for unoptimized meshes.
Meshes that come quite a lot from Blender beginners.
And they are often clueless as to why their Blender project is not renderable on our render farm.

So, change the viewport level to 2? I have a PR for that: #114108 It also seems "industry standard" to have the levels on 2. Please note that the level difference is only an issue for unoptimized meshes. Meshes that come quite a lot from Blender beginners. And they are often clueless as to why their Blender project is not renderable on our render farm.

Campbell Barton referenced this pull request

2023-10-31 23:44:50 +01:00

Change the default Subsurf Viewport Level from 1 to 2 #114108

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Change the default Subsurf Render Level from 2 to 1 #114163

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