Multimix - disable preload

[perzon]

If multi-mix was able to load the 2nd index AS its 'mixing' instead of being active the whole time, this would make for a huge performance increase.
I use multi-mix with a lot of my 'FX' and the resource load is quite heavy and the only work around is powering off the modules when they are not in use.

[Sadler]

The very nature of the MultiMix module means that only at integer Indexes (i.e. when a single unadulterated source is presented) could other sources be discarded, but as soon as the Index moves from 0 to 0.001 adjacent sources are required and, if video (or 'FX'), playing. The time it takes to move off integer Indexes might be imperceptible, hence there's no time and not much point to not have all videos pre-loaded.

Also, there is a requirement to have video and effect content synchronised through the MultiMix which means it necessarily has to be playing even when not displayed.

Perhaps there could be some way to back-propagate from the MultiMix to tell modules not to render unless they're needed but I don't think this would save all that much performance overhead.

[Eric]

Yes, what Sadler said is correct, and then also you have to keep in mind that as soon as you move from 0 to 0.0001, loading the 2nd input will probably create a bit of a stutter. There's always the trade-off between pre-loading and real-time performance. We've prioritized real-time performance in order to create the smoothest visuals possible, but there is a bit more of a hit on the pre-loading. However, customer feedback has strongly agreed with this bias. For most people, loading the project usually happens well before the show starts.

Also, if you want to disable the 2nd input when it's not being used, you could easily set up its Power parameter to respond to the same command as the MultiMix; something like "if the MultiMix parameter is not showing my input, turn me off" using an Expression or a Global or whatever.

[perzon]

"if the MultiMix parameter is not showing my input, turn me off"

This has been my work around to date, it does have limitations. I used the colourHSB module as it did not seem to have much overhead and was an easy copy / paste for testing with.
I need to disable the modules from the previous index as its cycling and there is only a small window of time to do this and if the cycling is too fast then it does not disable.
The 2nd work around was to just duplicate the entire scene and use a single mixer and power on every odd /even number.
Having the option to disable the preload in the muti-mix module would just make this whole process a whole lot more efficient for me, as I have 2 shader layers consisting of 127 shaders in each and that will be a nightmare to optimize.


Thank you regardless

sloppy work around

work-around.PNG (136.89 KiB) Viewed 3450 times

[perzon]

Okay so I spent the past day 'kinda' cleaning up the project to show you how my workflow works and how I have to work around it.
For me the performance increases on being able to bypass off the mix module and turn off whats not being mixed weighs up any stuttering that would occur at < 10% opacity.

I have included an !INSTRUCTIONS.TXT, as this is mapped using glovePIE and i have replaced a good portion of the joypad mapping with NUMPAD controls.

There is a good chance there is a better expression out there that will make this workflow a lot easier and reliable, but I have yet to work it out.. this way 'sorta' works good enough for now.



https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CKozumH1XiU_5Eecqx916LeTCChLtG9S/view?usp=sharing