Insane long delay when saving a new scene
DrGonzo62
Posts: 233
Not sure if this has been brought up already, but I'm experiencing ridiculously long saving times when saving a scene for the first time.
It can literally take up to 10 minutes to save. That's happening on different rigs, with the latest DS version.
The kicker is, that I can see the scene file in the Windows folder seconds after saving it, but DS just keeps spinning, and spinning...
I can load that file immediately on another rig, and it loads fine. While the rig saving it is still spinning, and spinning...
It is faster for me to kill the DS task and to restart it and load that scene. Nuts!
What is going on there? I takes me longer to save a new scene than to render it!
Once it's saved, I can re-save it and it takes only seconds.
Nothing in the log that would indicate what's going wrong with DS that it gets hung up for so long.
And I hardly ever use my full content library, to avoid loading and saving millions of morphs. I only use project specific small libraries.
Any idea? This IS driving me nuts.
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Comments
Long saves, usually while writing the thumbnail as here, do seem to affect some users. It doesn't seem to be DS alone as it is not a universal experience, but I don't know that the additional factors involved have ever been identified. Security software would be one obvious suspect - do you use the same on all your systems?
Hi Richard,
I just tried it on one of my systems that doesn't have an AV app installed, because I only get software and driver updates for it.
It still takes a while on that system until the save is finished, even though the file is already written to the disk seconds after saving it.
All three systems experience this issue. All have RTX 30xx cards installed, lots of memory, and beefy CPUs. Two are Win 11, one is Win 10.
On some it seems to take longer than on others.
I do save and load everything to and from a NAS, but it's very fast (SSDs) and I usually get over 50MB/sec R/W throughput. Plus the long saving times only happen when a scene gets saved the first time.
Consecutive saves are fast.
Baffeling...
Weird... Have you tried saving with Compress File and without Compress File, any difference?
Does it happen just on some specific scene or all of them ?
You may try with a clean content folder with just the G8 pack installed. If the issue goes away then it means it's some conflicting assets in your project, or you may also have nested content folders.
It may also be that for some reason it takes a long time to update the metadata, that would explain why it happens only the first time you save. If you use manual install instead of dim then there's no metadata to update. Also you may avoid "smart" content and use the content librray directly. Or you can stop the CMS and/or reset the database and see if it does the trick, the daz assets will work just fine without the CMS apart that you have to autofit by hand.
@crosswind: Thanks for the suggestion!
@Padone:
YES - that was it! Nice!
I shut down CMS before saving to a new scene file, and DS was done saving it immediately.
Now I just have to figure out how to fix my CMS instances. I use a lot of custom categories and need CMS to quickly find assets.
I seem to remember that you can export that database and then re-import it. I wonder if that will get rid of any corruption issues that have caused those saving delays.
But - at least now I know what's causing this issue! Thanks again!
Update:
OK, to wrap this up;
I've exported the db and reset it. After re-importing it, I got all my categories back AND it not longer hangs while saving a scene for the first time.
Never would have guessed that CMS might have been the issue here, so, thanks again, Padone!
I had forgotten that there had been some adjsutments here http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/change_log#4_21_1_7 (that is 4.21.1.7, the link landed me too far down the page - the relevant entries are above the line about chnaging the version number).
Thanks, Richard!
I'm still on 4.21.0.5 and will update it tonight to check this out to see if this helps.
What I can tell so far is that working with only a subset of the full content library to cut down on loading/saving times can cause issues with CMS, which then results in problems saving and producing very long waiting times.
Probably because assets stored in CMS are currently no longer available in the reduced content subset.
My workaround for right now is stopping CMS before saving anything. Not great, but it works at least.
There seems to be a bit of a disconnect between the CMS database and currently available content directories.
Hi Richard,
Should I be reporting this as a bug to tech support?
Having to shut down CMS in order to work with just a subset of the full content library, seems kind of a bug to me.
Not sure why others haven't reported this issue. Maybe they don't have as many assets and can just work with their full library and don't mind the waiting?
I mean, there a utilities that are trying to improve G8 loading times when a lot of morph assets are installed. Not sure how anyone can stand waiting for > 8 minutes to load a G8 into the scene and not use content subsets.
What do you think?
My load times, for a heavily laden Genesis 8.1 Female, were 2-3 minutes - eight sounds too long, though not as long as for Duplicate formula-beset versions. Still, I would suspect a content issue of some kind with that sort of load time.
I'm not sure what you would eb reporting - I think the save slow-down is a known issue, though not universal (which makes it hard to pin down).
Thanks Richard, I appreciate your feedback.
I guess it "feels" like waiting for 8 miuntes loading G8. It could actually be a little faster than that. ;)
But I usually load G8 in less than 20 seconds with project based content subsets.
Still, a CMS database created with a full content library is causing issues when saving with just a content subset library. On three of my systems, so this isn't a unique issue with my setup.
Just what exactly is DS writing metadata wise when saving something? How about having the option to turn that off?
Shutting down CMS sure takes care of that saving issue, and doesn't have a negative impact on the saved files.
Seems like I'm one of the few people using Content Directory Manager to manage content.
It depends how you manage your project folders. In general if you want to use the smart content then you have to use dim for installing/uninstalling, otherwise the metadata can be disaligned and the cms tries to fix that. Personally I keep project folders as you do, but I use manual install and don't use the smart content.
That is, you have to pick your poison, either use the cms with dim+smart content and go slow, or use manual install and go fast but without smart content.
Got it. Depressing, but thanks! ;)
Funny thing is that I don't use Smart Content to filter for assets that will work with the selected figure. I don't need that feature.
I only use it to organize my content into categories, otherwise I'd be searching my content library for a particular asset for hours.
Is there no 3rd party add-on that lets you organize content like CMS?
Unfortunately, I believe I know the answer to that already...
Please don't use Smart content (a specific pane, which uses compatibility to filter the content) with the Content Management System (which is used to control numerous panes/tabs/containers, and is used by several tools).
In my case a typical project would include some scenes and figures with outfits and accessories, so I don't get lost in the asset list I mean I know exactly what is included that's why I do project folders to start with. The search for assets is done before starting the project and for that I use the daz shop or the windows search in my backup disk where I store my assets.
There's really no need for smart content if you work this way.
Anyway if you really want to, I guess you can try with "reset database" then "reimport metadata" when you start a new project. You may also try with "export user data" to keep your categories. But it's a lot of database maintenance, it may be not worth it.
You can have mutltiple content directory sets, each with its own set of diectories and its own database - Edit>Preferences (Daz Studio>Preferences on a Mac), go to the Content tab, and click the Content Directory Manager button. In the dialogue, first select the current seet and click the Copy button (so you don't lose it), then use the new button to add as many sets as you like and add their paths. This works best with Daz Connect installs or manual installs, since DIM can be a bit fiddly to install more than one instance of any item and to switch between databases (you can use separate accounts, with the same log-ins and potentially using the same downloads folder).
@Padone
When I'm working on a scene for a project, and I quickly need a glass to put into the scene, then it takes me 3 clicks in the Smart Content Pane to find all the glasses I have.
Categories > Props > Household
That requires putting new assets in the appropriate categories, but it's worth that effort to me.
I tried rebuilding the CMS db with a content subset, but it will throw out everything that's not currently available in the reduced set. Makes sense I guess, and sure messed up all my hard work categorizing ALL my assets, not just what was in that subset.
Luckily, I had a fairly recent backup of my full CMS...
@Richard
That is exactly what I do. I have several different Content Sets to quickly expand or narrow down available assets.
But again, my problem is that I can't use CMS categories and a reduced content set without getting long saving times.
With the suggestion by Richard you should be able to add/remove sets with their metadata, then you can use "export metadata" for your categories. But the metadata aka categories will be per project/set, not global. As I understand it you can't have metadata over missing assets, this will confuse the cms of course.
I just wish file operations would be a lot faster in DS, then there wouldn't be a need to use reduced content sets causing issues with CMS.
I know, I know, nothing new here. Some things will never change, I guess.
This has been bugging me for weeks! The suggestion mentioned here to: Content Database Maintenance, Reset Database (with Export User Data checked), and then Re-Import Metadata worked to save new scenes faster.
But now my Daz Connect Folder is gone from Content Library pane and over two thousand products are now showing as ready to install in smart content. This problem (I traded one for another) feels familiar but it's been years since I faced it.
This didn't work: https://www.versluis.com/2022/11/restoring-smart-content-and-resetting-the-content-database-in-daz-studio/
The database is the only record of what has been installed through connect, wiping it removes the record. In theory reinstalling shpul;d be faster as DS will see the existing files and that they match the current versions, but it still takes a while. Connect does make sense as an install method when using different sets with their own databases, but not when the database is expected to be reset.
Thanks, Richard. I installed a few products in the available pane and they are taking as long as a new install. Is there some way to just relink or connect DS with the content that's already there (in D:\media\DAZ3D Connect Library\data)? I've also noticed that there are hundreds of products in smart content/installed that are showing as needing to be installed. And a few of the products I've just reinstalled are now showing as needing an update. This is a mess. I'm a PA and this is stalling my work. I have started a ticket but it was not a PA ticket as this is not related to content creation.
No, there is not way to say look here, sadly.
The products in the Installed tab are asaying that theya re avaialble to install via Connect, not that you need to do so. The updates may be bad installs, although a few things have issues due to path length - you can check the log file, after installing the update, to see what the problem was - usually it is non-critical.
Or just install by hand and don't use dim/connect. Unzip and copy. I do so.