Topic: [Answered] Lumion stuck at 2gb of memory

[Willk]

Hi,

I've got a trial of version 8 through a re seller, and the framerate and memory usage is horrendous.

I've got a powerfull PC yet lumion seems to run really bad using the 'Living room interior' example project.

See attached image.

I have 16GB of 2666mhz DDR4 memory, and a 6GB 980Ti graphics card, topped off with an overclocked i7-6700k.

To be frank I expect much better performance than this, even with the editor settings maxed out.

Why does lumion only want to use 2GB of memory???

[peterm]

Hi Willk

Thanks for your interest in Lumion.

You should indeed expect and get much better performance from your PC.  Lumion 8 should be seeing all 6 GB of the graphics card.  So it's likely there is some issue with the system.

I have never seen Lumion  above v6.5 report limited memory or go in to the negative as you show (unless its in Win 7).

The first step is to check some of the details of your system.  Please attach to a post the Lumion Diagnostics (DXDiag) Report. Refer our Knowledge Base Article: How do you attach a diagnostics report to a post?

ps: please update your Support Center (forum) Account with your Lumion 8 license key.  Thanks in advance.

[Willk]

hi,
thanks for the reply.

I've attached screenshots of my system specs using NZXT's "CAM" software, so there is no doubt that the I'm running the aformentioned hardware. The lumion debug will also confirm this...

I've also attached a screenshot of the lumion benchmark, which interestingly correctly detects 6gb of VRAM.

If its any help, Lumion 6.3 also had the same problem with being limited to 2GB memory, I have a licence for 6.3, but always took it for granted and never thought much of the low memory allowance. Now that I'm interested in version 8, I thought you would of fixed it, and allowed more memory usage.

Here is a link to my lumion debug:
https://pastebin.com/s8y3fwME

[Morten]

To be frank I expect much better performance than this, even with the editor settings maxed out.

Hey Will, apologies for the late reply.

There are 3 factors at play here:

1) Your monitor resolution is set to 2560x1440 and the number of pixels has a significant impact on performance. For example, on a 3840x2160 monitor, the graphics card has to render four times as many pixels as on a 1920x1080 monitor, so even a GTX 1080 Ti can sometimes struggle when running 3D games, flight simulators etc at max settings. In other words: the lower the resolution the better. You can 'simulate' a lower resolution without having to change your monitor resolution by using the 'Editor Resolution' toggle buttons on the Settings screen.

2) The 'Editor Quality' setttings have an impact on performance, i.e. the number of stars on the Settings screen. In addition, the 'High quality trees in editor' and 'High quality terrain in editor' options also have an adverse effect on performance.

3) The effects in Photo/Movie mode can have a serious impact on the preview framerate, especially the 'Reflection' effect when you switch the 'Preview Quality' in the effect to 'Normal' or 'High' as each reflection plane that is added to a scene means that the whole scene has to be mirrored and rendered once more per frame in order to display the reflections for the given reflection plane.

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Just to give you an idea of my framerates with a GTX 1070 (laptop version), running at 1920x1080 and with unmodified effects and no changes to the 'Living room interior' demo scene:

1) Build mode in 4 star quality with the 'High quality trees in editor' and 'High quality terrain in editor' options turned on = 29 frames per second.

2) Movie/Photo mode in 4 star quality with the 'High quality trees in editor' and 'High quality terrain in editor' options turned on = 29-35 frames per second.

Try comparing those numbers to yours when using the same monitor resolution and editor quality settings.

Why does lumion only want to use 2GB of memory???

Thanks to your diagnostics file, we now know the reason.

The reason is that on Windows 7, DirectX can't retrieve the correct graphics card memory parameter for cards with more than 4GB memory. However, it's purely a cosmetic issue and you can rest assured that all of the graphics card memory is used (in addition to system memory and virtual memory). See also this article:

Knowledge Base Article: Why does Lumion claim that my graphics card only has 4GB memory?

Microsoft fixed this error in Windows 10 (in case you're thinking about upgrading).

[Willk]

Thanks for the reply!

I had hoped the problem was not Windows 7, as I had been holding onto my beloved OS for some time. I don't like windows 10 with its ads, forced updates and other crap thrown in. But i guess I'll have to install on another SSD and dual boot.

I will be upgrading to a 1080Ti Soon, and be using two 4k monitors for lumion, so I hope I get a usable framerate... I guess I gotta stop treating lumion as if its a video game and stop expecting a high framerate!

ps.
I have one of those serial code things for the lumion trial, is it still worth adding to my profile even if my answer was solved?

[peterm]

Hi Willk

As Morten mentioned running 3K or 4K resolution requires a very much larger number of pixels to be rendered can will impact on frame rates/response times on screen.

It is recommended that you set your intended new 4K screens to 1080p for optimal performance in Lumion. Alternatively you can lower the 'Editor Resolution' on the 'Settings' screen.

You can add your Trial license.  That gives you access to the much larger commercial section of the support Center.  However, it does drop off once the trial period is completed.

You should add your License for your v6.3/6.5.1 so that you have access to the full Support Center, and receive priority support.