DAZ3D VRAM ISSUE

[CKGames]

Hi everyone,

I’m currently using an RTX 3060 Ti and running into an issue with DAZ Studio. Whenever I work on multi-character scenes (for example, 3–4 people in the same scene), I get a VRAM error.

I know the 3060 Ti is capable in many cases, but it seems like DAZ Studio quickly eats up the available VRAM when loading larger or more complex scenes. Has anyone else experienced this? Are there any recommended optimizations, settings, or workflows to reduce VRAM usage without losing too much quality?
I’d really appreciate any advice, tips, or best practices to make DAZ run smoother on my card.

Thanks in advance!

 

[ViralRivalz]

The issue is that Daz Studio doesn't clear VRAM very well. When you load one scene from another, it seems to keep a lot of the VRAM load from the past scene. This is why, if you use Render Queue, there's a setting to reboot Daz after a certain number of renders. However, in my case -- and other people don't seem to have this issue as me -- I find it extends even after closing Daz and restarting. I have to literally restart my computer to get "fresh performance" from the software.

If you're looking to reduce VRAM usage in viewport, I'd suggest lowering the SubD level of all complex objects (especially characters) while you're working. You can streamline this with a tool like Scene Optimizer. There's also some funky tools like Placeholder Manager to replace characters while you're working, but with your graphics card that seems like overkill.

 

[CKGames]

The issue is that Daz Studio doesn't clear VRAM very well. When you load one scene from another, it seems to keep a lot of the VRAM load from the past scene. This is why, if you use Render Queue, there's a setting to reboot Daz after a certain number of renders. However, in my case -- and other people don't seem to have this issue as me -- I find it extends even after closing Daz and restarting. I have to literally restart my computer to get "fresh performance" from the software.

If you're looking to reduce VRAM usage in viewport, I'd suggest lowering the SubD level of all complex objects (especially characters) while you're working. You can streamline this with a tool like Scene Optimizer. There's also some funky tools like Placeholder Manager to replace characters while you're working, but with your graphics card that seems like overkill.

Yes, I'm surprised by this too. My graphics card isn't a bad card. As you said, I use scene optimizer in my scenes, but even so, I sometimes get VRAM errors even in scenes with only one character.

 

[Turning Tricks]

I've seen my VRAM creep up past 15GB for no reason (other than the DAZ memory leaks) ... I do a complete reboot of DAZ and that same scene will drop down to 11GB. It's also inconsistent. I've run 600 render queues for animations and never had a problem, but then had a leak when running a queue for only 10 renders.

 

[caLTD]

Use G8 or G8.1 characters.
G9 uses more VRAM.

 

[AllNatural939]

I’ve been working on my game with DAZ since I had a crappy GTX 1050 with 2 gigs of VRAM, and now with a 3060 with 12 gigs, and I’ve never had an error like yours... Maybe it’d be a good idea to know what we’re actually talking about, like what kind of scene, I mean maybe a sample image...

 

[rayminator]

I have 4060 I can do about 5 to 6 character just fine it's possible due to daz3d memory leak that everyone been complaining about for years

 

[CKGames]

I have 4060 I can do about 5 to 6 character just fine it's possible due to daz3d memory leak that everyone been complaining about for years

I wish I had a 4060 so I could render two characters

 

[AllNatural939]

I wish I had a 4060 so I could render two characters

This is why I was asking you to add an image, so we could see what you’re talking about. 9 G8 characters in the scene, no issues at all with a regular 12GB 3060.

 

[CKGames]

This is why I was asking you to add an image, so we could see what you’re talking about. 9 G8 characters in the scene, no issues at all with a regular 12GB 3060.

View attachment 5322200

The 3060ti only has 8 GB of VRAM. That's why I can't render two or more people, so I can't upload photos here.

 

[AllNatural939]

The 3060ti only has 8 GB of VRAM. That's why I can't render two or more people, so I can't upload photos here.

Well, you can always rely on cheats. It’s a bit of a hassle, but if there’s no other option, you can still make it work. This was done with my old GTX 1050 (2GB VRAM):

 

[osanaiko]

CK Games: Some clothing items and some specific hair products can make a huge difference in VRAM use.

The examples from AllNatural939 are possibly one of the best case scenarios for having many figures due to the lack of variety of such things.

 

[AllNatural939]

CK Games: Some clothing items and some specific hair products can make a huge difference in VRAM use.

The examples from AllNatural939 are possible one of the best case scenarios for having many figures due to the lack of variety of such things.

And don’t forget about pre-optimizing characters, clothes, and other elements in the scene. I have up to four models of the same character. If it’s not a close-up shot, you don’t need 8K textures, not even 4K. The damn eyelashes on G8 characters almost always come in 4K... why the hell would I want that if the camera’s gonna show a full-body shot and not the eyes?
Everything adds up.

 

[CKGames]

Well, you can always rely on cheats. It’s a bit of a hassle, but if there’s no other option, you can still make it work. This was done with my old GTX 1050 (2GB VRAM):
View attachment 5323207
View attachment 5323208

How OMG Sometimes I can't even render one person. Maybe there's a problem with my computer. I'm really frustrated right now.

 

[CKGames]

CK Games: Some clothing items and some specific hair products can make a huge difference in VRAM use.

The examples from AllNatural939 are possible one of the best case scenarios for having many figures due to the lack of variety of such things.

Yes, I think I'm using unoptimized clothes and textures. That's why it's using so much VRAM.

 

[commonkira]

Since you already use Scene Optimizer: Load up all characters that you want to appear on screen at distance, cut their textures (Including their clothes, etc) to 512p instead of 2k/4k/8k. Save them.

In the main scene keep the same high quality characters in the scene (Hiding them), until you need to use them again as the main focus of the camera. At the distance that you need to show 2 or more characters, you don't notice the details. Try it out.

For example, I was not aware when I started, that each character has (at least for G9), Head, Body, Arms, Legs, Eyes(Sometimes) all 4K or 8K, so your character already uses at worst, 5x 4k/8k images. Add in hair, clothing (Shoes/Shirt/Scarf/Leggings), you go into the Gigabyte VRAM requirements.

 

[osanaiko]

If you think about things mathematically: A character rendered at a medium distance from the camera in a 1920x1080 image might have a face that fits in a 50 x 50px square. Logically, the information in the output image face pixels cannot exceed 50 x 50 x 3 bytes (for 24bit color). Therefore you could even reduce the face texture to 64x64 (in this case) and theoretically see no difference in the output, assuming you use a proper downsize algorithm like Lanczos.

 

[LittleMed]

My 3060 12GB performs well with a relatively large number of char's G8, but when I use more than 3 - 4 characters G9, the same issues arise as described by the author of this topic. As far as I can tell, hair and, of course, res. of the image use the most resources. For me, 3-4 characters G9 are the maximum when using QHD res.

 

[Turning Tricks]

Just to stay on topic here, but the memory leak in DAZ is well known and documented. It's not tied to any particular scene or character (AFAIK or anyone knows) but it just randomly happens sometimes. In the three or four times I had it happen (that I noticed), I had been using DAZ for like 10-12 hours at a time. For example, my 4060Ti can usually handle 3 or 4 G9's with a semi-complex environment and the VRAM hits ~11-12 GB'ish. Which is fine as, after overhead, I have about 14.9-15GB for DAZ. But when the leak is happening, that 11-12Gb soon hits 15GB and then I get black renders. I'll shut down DAZ completely (making sure there's no processes open in Task Manager) and the same scene will drop 2-3GB in VRAM.

Just one of the gazillion lil' issues with DAZ. It's free.... we get what we pay for