GPU dedicated memory getting absorbed by 3d studio max 2021

[ethanAZBRK]

I'm trying to figure out why my GTX 1080 Ti (12Gb VRam) is constantly running on its limits. When max is closed, we see below 1Gb VRam usage, i open a max file, it explodes to 10Gb+.

All textures are displayed at 128, lowest possible, even off in viewport and memory cleansed, doesn't help.

Textures displayed at 4096 or higher, doesn't make a difference.

What do i need to do to lower the VRam usage in max? It's destroying my viewport performance in 2021..

Working with corona 5 hf.2 and max 2021 latest update.

Graphics Driver NVidia studio version, latest one.

Tried reinstalling, resetting UI / ENU files, ... no avail

[Anonymous]

I have the same issues. Was there any solution to this?

I am working on a 4k screen and it seams to be highly sensitive to the active viewport size.

[ethanAZBRK]

i didnt got any awnsers so I was starting to think I was alone 😉

No solutions found yet, however we just swapped a 2k monitor for a 4k one, didnt see any differences yet. Same story. 

Initialy max was running very smooth and then we started installing our plugins, slowly but surely everything became clogged including our VRam consumption...

[Anonymous]

2021 after a fresh start on an empty scene consumes 3GB - 6GB Vram on my system. So far no explanation why.

I tried all guides and possible solutions without any success.

2020 is a bit better but sill a complete hog, especially with all updates installed. 2018 seams to be solid though.

[ethanAZBRK]

AUTODESK HELP SUPPORT TEAM ANYONE HOME? HELLOOOOO?

THIS IS NOT NORMAL????

[Anonymous]

We have also started running into issues with this.  We just upgraded to 2021, and we primarily use Octane for rendering.  We cannot really do anything with remotely large scenes anymore because VRAM just runs right out.

It'd be really great to get some kind of help with this.  We cannot really just swap back to using 2018 after this huge investment into the upgrade...

[ethanAZBRK]

This was posted in the summer of 2020, it's almost spring 2021, don't expect anything from Adesk as a helping hand at this point.

We tried swapping Graphic Cards with GTX 2080 Ti 12Gb VRam, same story, sucks the Vram right out.

[CAMedeck]

"Initialy max was running very smooth and then we started installing our plugins, slowly but surely everything became clogged including our VRam consumption..."

@ethanAZBRK Can you give us a list of which plugins you installed, and at what point the graphics memory started to rise?  Maybe others that have the same experience are also using similar plugins and can comment.  It could also be a specific combination of add-ons that are incompatible or fighting for memory.  

[ethanAZBRK]

Forest Pack Pro & Corona renderer

I don't know when the graphics started to get stuffed like this, we're talking +6 months ago

[Anonymous]

We use Octane render, Forest Pack, Floor Generator, TyFlow, and we have trial versions of Corona and Vray installed for material conversion situations. 

We noticed the GPU memory issue right off the bat when we switched to 2021

[jon.bell]

Hi @Anonymous and @ethanAZBRK,

Thanks for your questions. I've asked some of the Max developers who work on viewport/rendering issues if they can take a look at this thread and chime in here.

However, as others have said, every plugin that you install, especially display-intensive plugins like V-Ray/Corona,/Octane, Tyflow and Forest Pack Pro may be competing for the same video RAM, especially when in operation inside of Max. We'd have to look into this further, but I would also check with those plugin developers to see if they can offer insight into ways to lessen this usage as well.

I'll report back when I get an update on this. Please let us know if you hear from the plugin developers as well, and hope to hear from you soon!

[jon.bell]

Hi @ethanAZBRK and @Anonymous,

I sent some of our Max developers a link to this thread and they did some tests, so I wanted to report back what they found.

One noted the following VRAM usage:

1.5 GPU memory with Max closed
2.8 with 2021 launched
3.1 with 2020 launched

Another said:

With no Max running, I am at 2.3gb
Max 2021.3 with just Arnold is 2.7gb
Max 2021.3 with Arnold, Vray, Fstorm, Corona, Tyflow, Redshift = 4.2GB

I think these plugins are definitely contributing to the overall VRAM overhead. That said, we are making improvements in future versions of Max to address viewport refreshes that take up more VRAM than necessary, so our performance should continue to improve.

If you have any other questions or comments, please let us know. Thanks!

[ethanAZBRK]

how does that explain a 12Gb Graphics card being sucked dry when opening max?

same for a 6Gb Vram card...

etc..

All the Vram is just gone from the beginning

Who should we adress for this issue then.

[ethanAZBRK]

No one from Adesk to pick up? 

[ethanAZBRK]

I think you need to actualy open a scene to see the dedicated VRam getting sucked out. Not just open Max....

....

...

Sigh

[Anonymous]

I have the same problems.

Just open default scene and 3dsmax will eat all Vram. Maya is not

[Anonymous]

@ethanAZBRK 

Changing Display Driver to Direct3D 9.0 helped me reduce GPU dedicated memory by below 50%

and turn back to Direct3D 11, Its come smooth

My specs: Ryzen 7 3800x

16Gb DDRam

1660ti

4k Monitor

SSD 256Gb

Xp-pen Artist 24 Pro QHD

[oliver]

I can't confirm abnormal Vmemory usage: Max default: 2.3 Gb, Max with open scene 2.7 Gb, Max while GPUrendering same scene 6.0Gb (RTX 3080 with 16Gb, no plug-ins installed).

[thomashorsleyflowstorm]

The same is happening for me.

Using Max 2021 - been using it for ages and recently was working on a very large Max scene that was almost unuseable with my Geforce 980Ti – 6GB card as a viewport card. Was running at about 5.9GB so everything was really slow.

Today I swapped out my viewport card for a 2080Ti which has 11GB vram so expected some 'spare' vram would be available.

NO - on loading the same scene, Max just gobbled up all the vram and is running at around 10.8 GB

So, - is it the case that Max will just take everything it can, load it into vram so it runs smoothly?

I have to admit that the viewport does run way smoother now, so that's good, but this does mean I can't render using Vray GPU or whatever.

I'm very hesitant to go and buy a 16GB viewport card as I imagine the same thing will happen.

I also tried unloading some of the XREF scene files that had ForestPack objects in – that helped, vram went down.

I saved the Max scene, re-loaded it now with fewer Xref scene files enabled, and gobble gobble, vram went all the way back up to 10.8 GB

AUTODESK - do you have an answer for this?

Using Max 2021.3.6, VRay 5.2, Forest Pack 7

Nvidia Driver ver 512.59 DCH

[Diffus3d]

It seems related to some kind of script or plugin.  I have some screenshots here of a simple scene with basic lights and I don't see the same problem.  I have the following plugins:

• Vray Next
• RailClone
• ForestPack
• GoZ
• RappaTools3
• Project Manager
• Rebusfarm
• Terrain (Megafiers)
• BonesPro
• PhysX Painter
• Phoenix FD

I'm seeing a lot of Corona being listed with folks having the issue.  Does the problem persist without it?  

Best Regards