AE CS6 Lockup w/ 64GB of ram

[Walter Soyka]

BG Renderer does not yet list CS6 compatibility.

Do you still have these hangs rendering normally in the UI? Are you using any GPU-related features in CS6?

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events

[Tom Daigon]

I am running 64GB on my Z820 with no problems whatsoever. I dont run BGRender so that may be the culprit.

Tom Daigon
PrP / After Effects Editor
http://www.hdshotsandcuts.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxPrG3WUyz8
(Best viewed at 1080P and full screen)
HP Z820 Dual 2687
64GB ram
Dulce DQg2 16TB raid

[Mihai Wilson]

I have yet to find any pattern, but I did get some hangs even when I wasn’t using AE. I since swapped out the new ram I bought for a different set of 32 that matches the make and model of my current ram, and pow — same issues. Seems like if I go over 32GB the system becomes unstable. I forgot to mention I am using a Mac pro 12 core. Perhaps it is an issue with that? Anyone running 64gb in one of these machines without a hitch?

[Mihai Wilson]

Thanks Tom, yeah at first I thought that wasn’t it, but now I think I’m seeing a pattern. Looks like Bgrenderer may not be playing nice with cs6.

[Tom Daigon]

Also with programs like Element 3D, I have to turn off Multi Processiong or it seems to hang.

Tom Daigon
PrP / After Effects Editor
http://www.hdshotsandcuts.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxPrG3WUyz8
(Best viewed at 1080P and full screen)
HP Z820 Dual 2687
64GB ram
Dulce DQg2 16TB raid

[Walter Soyka]

[Tom Daigon] “Also with programs like Element 3D, I have to turn off Multi Processiong or it seems to hang.”

For Element 3D, each instance of the renderer has to communicate separately with the GPU. Running lots of instances is a good way of completely saturating resources and preventing a render from ever beginning.

I have noticed that I can crank down (but do not have to turn off) the multiprocessing settings with Element 3D. Try running between 2 and 4 CPUs and see if it works faster than running with MP off entirely.

I suspect there may be a VRAM penalty for multiprocessing with Element 3D (my graphics card has oodles of VRAM, so I’m not sure), so scene complexity may factor in to the degree to which you may employ multiprocessing.

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events

[Tom Daigon]

I will give it a try Walter. If not, no worries. With MP off it flies with all 32 hyper threads active.

Tom Daigon
PrP / After Effects Editor
http://www.hdshotsandcuts.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxPrG3WUyz8
(Best viewed at 1080P and full screen)
HP Z820 Dual 2687
64GB ram
Dulce DQg2 16TB raid

[Mihai Wilson]

I’m not using Element, but thanks for pointing that out Walter — good to know, and also perhaps my issues stem from another plugin I am using. Just wanted to update and say that I am getting these same hard system hangs using the regular foreground renderer as well. It doesn’t seem to be tied to the 64GB after all, as I get it with 32 installed as well. If I give any more than 3 processors to MP in AE its pretty much guaranteed I will lock up. I’ve got the ram and processors to support much more than that, so I’m not sure what the issue is. When I am out of deadline mode I plan to do some tests and see if maybe it is a plugin giving me this greif, although I don’t see a pattern right now…

[Tom Daigon]

When you get time, running a memory test might be a good thing to do.

Tom Daigon
PrP / After Effects Editor
http://www.hdshotsandcuts.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxPrG3WUyz8
(Best viewed at 1080P and full screen)
HP Z820 Dual 2687
64GB ram
Dulce DQg2 16TB raid

[Mihai Wilson]

Thanks Tom, I did manage to squeeze in one iteration of memtest and it came up clean — but I agree a more lengthy one is probably in order. Although I am running two separate mac pros of the same specs and am seeing similar behavior on both.