New Normal/Height/Other Generation Utility - MindTex
by Ryan B · in Artist Corner · 12/14/2011 (8:11 pm) · 20 replies
Hey everyone,
It's been a while since I've been on the garagegames forums, but I just wanted to share a new tool I've been working on called MindTex. It is currently in open beta, and I just wanted to spread the word to any artists who might be interested in checking it out. For more info, a video, and a beta download link, check out the product page on our site at mindtex.com.
Hope you like it!
It's been a while since I've been on the garagegames forums, but I just wanted to share a new tool I've been working on called MindTex. It is currently in open beta, and I just wanted to spread the word to any artists who might be interested in checking it out. For more info, a video, and a beta download link, check out the product page on our site at mindtex.com.
Hope you like it!
About the author
#2
I installed directX, and now I also get the 'Failed to create 3D view render target' error.
I have an Intel G965 Express, which should have pixel shader 3.0
12/16/2011 (10:08 am)
I didn't have directx9c installed, so I got an error about d3dx9_42.dll being missing.I installed directX, and now I also get the 'Failed to create 3D view render target' error.
I have an Intel G965 Express, which should have pixel shader 3.0
#3
If you could, could you guys tell me which version of windows you're running and paste the contents of the file MindTex_Log.html in the MindTex appdata folder ( C:\Users\<your username>\AppData\Roaming\Frozen Flame\MindTex 1.0 Beta\ )? That would be awesome...and I'll try to get this figured out as soon as possible and get back to you so you can try it out. Thanks!
12/16/2011 (10:41 am)
Hey guys, thanks for trying it out and letting me know! If you could, could you guys tell me which version of windows you're running and paste the contents of the file MindTex_Log.html in the MindTex appdata folder ( C:\Users\<your username>\AppData\Roaming\Frozen Flame\MindTex 1.0 Beta\ )? That would be awesome...and I'll try to get this figured out as soon as possible and get back to you so you can try it out. Thanks!
#4
here's the log:
12/16/2011 (10:47 am)
I am running Window 7 Pro (32 bit). I tried running with admin credentials, and with different compatibility settings, but no love...here's the log:
<html> <body bgcolor='black'> <h2 style='font-family:system;color:white'>MindTex 1.0.1 (Beta):. Log started [12/16/11 10:44:31 (Pacific Standard Time)]</h2> <div style='font-family:system;color:white'>[10:44:31] Initializing application...</div> <div style='font-family:system;color:white'>[10:44:31] Attemping to contact beta server...</div> <div style='font-family:system;color:white'>[10:44:31] MTNBetaLogin: Attempting to connect to server...</div> <div style='font-family:system;color:white'>[10:44:31] MTNBetaLogin: Initializing...</div> <div style='font-family:system;color:white'>[10:44:31] MTNBetaLogin: Fetching server info...</div> <div style='font-family:system;color:white'>[10:44:31] MTNBetaLogin: Creating socket...</div> <div style='font-family:system;color:white'>[10:44:31] MTNBetaLogin: Connecting...</div> <div style='font-family:system;color:white'>[10:44:31] MTNBetaLogin: Connected to MindTex server.</div> <div style='font-family:system;color:white'>[10:44:32] MTNBetaLogin: Disconnected from MindTex server.</div> <div style='font-family:system;color:white'>[10:44:32] Beta login: success</div> <div style='font-family:system;color:white'>[10:44:32] MTNCheckForUpdates: Attempting to connect to server...</div> <div style='font-family:system;color:white'>[10:44:32] MTNCheckForUpdates: Initializing...</div> <div style='font-family:system;color:white'>[10:44:32] MTNCheckForUpdates: Fetching server info...</div> <div style='font-family:system;color:white'>[10:44:32] MTNCheckForUpdates: Creating socket...</div> <div style='font-family:system;color:white'>[10:44:32] MTNCheckForUpdates: Connecting...</div> <div style='font-family:system;color:white'>[10:44:32] MTNCheckForUpdates: Connected to MindTex server.</div> <div style='font-family:system;color:white'>[10:44:32] MTNCheckForUpdates: Disconnected from MindTex server.</div> <div style='font-family:system;color:white'>[10:44:32] MTNCheckForUpdates result: 0</div> <div style='font-family:system;color:white'>[10:44:32] Creating main window...</div> <div style='font-family:system;color:white'>[10:44:32] Main window created.</div> <div style='font-family:system;color:white'>[10:44:32] Attemping to load prefs file...</div> <div style='font-family:system;color:yellow'>[10:44:32] Failed to load prefs file - couldn't open file (No such file or directory). Using application defaults.</div> <div style='font-family:system;color:white'>[10:44:32] Building the UI...</div> <div style='font-family:system;color:white'>[10:44:32] Initializing the display...</div> <div style='font-family:system;color:white'>[10:44:32] Successfully created device with hardware vertex processing.</div> <div style='font-family:system;color:red'>[10:44:32] [User notification] Failed to create 3D view render target, exiting.</div>
#5
12/16/2011 (2:40 pm)
Hey - I think I figured out the issue; here is the updated version: frozenflamecorp.com/site/media/MindTex-1.0-Beta.msi. Let me know if it works, and if it doesn't, please post the log data again ( I added a bit more info around the trouble areas ). Thanks!
#6
If anyone would like to use the same image for a test, it is here:
Website it's from:
zarria.net/nrmphoto/nrmphoto.html
name: Decorative Cross
12/16/2011 (3:35 pm)
Your new version loads! I tried opening up just any old PNG, and it crashed on me. After I googled 'Normal Maps' and found an image that looked right, and was a power of two size,I loaded it up, and I was in business.If anyone would like to use the same image for a test, it is here:
Website it's from:
zarria.net/nrmphoto/nrmphoto.html
name: Decorative Cross
#7
12/16/2011 (4:04 pm)
Hey - I'm glad it worked! However, it is interesting that it crashed. The texture loading functions actually do attempt to change the dimensions to the next power of two on load, so I'm guessing the issue is that your card doesn't like non-square textures either, which I'm not accounting for yet. I'll try to fix it so that it simply forces the texture to a square on load (when you save textures the original size is restored though so it won't affect anything). Thanks for letting me know!
#8
12/16/2011 (4:49 pm)
Okay, updated again: frozenflamecorp.com/site/media/MindTex-1.0-Beta.msi. You -should- be able to load any image now without a crash. Let me know if there's any problem though, and thanks again!
#9
i converted the png to a jpg, tried to import, crashed, and the error was 'graphics error: failed to create diffuse soften RT'
12/16/2011 (5:21 pm)
Hey Ryan, I tried loading the same scanned 8 1/2 x 11"document (PNG) , and had the same hard crashi converted the png to a jpg, tried to import, crashed, and the error was 'graphics error: failed to create diffuse soften RT'
#10
12/16/2011 (6:32 pm)
Hey - I looked at the code again and I did indeed forget to change something. I will fix it and re-upload soon here, but first I'm going to add more specific logging output in case that doesn't do it.
#11
12/16/2011 (7:51 pm)
Alright, I'm not entirely sure if this will work as I expect it to, but try this: frozenflamecorp.com/site/media/MindTex-1.0-Beta.msi. Let me know if it works now, and if not, where it crashes (the log file should contain more output now too).
#12
LoadNormalMap: Failed to create render target for gray diffuse ....path....doc.png
MakeHeight: Failed to create temporary render target 1
MakeHeight: Failed to create temporary render target 2
next try:
MakeNormal: Failed to create raw normal map detail level
try an image that's like 2048 x 2048.. none of my large sprite sheets will render either... I think it's just a size limitation...
In the log I did notice: Unconditional nonpow2 texture support: False .. if that helps. Not much else interesting in the logs except for the error messages.
12/16/2011 (10:13 pm)
Just got : LoadNormalMap: Failed to create render target for gray diffuse ....path....doc.png
MakeHeight: Failed to create temporary render target 1
MakeHeight: Failed to create temporary render target 2
next try:
MakeNormal: Failed to create raw normal map detail level
try an image that's like 2048 x 2048.. none of my large sprite sheets will render either... I think it's just a size limitation...
In the log I did notice: Unconditional nonpow2 texture support: False .. if that helps. Not much else interesting in the logs except for the error messages.
#13
12/17/2011 (6:35 am)
Hmm, okay. Yeah, I'd say that it's possibly a size limitation of some sort, but I'm going to go in and add some code to do a more detailed check of the system pre-initialization and, at the very least, inform you if the texture is too big to prevent hard crashes. While I'm doing that I'll see what I can come up with as far as working around it, and try to improve that section overall. Also, just wanted to say thanks again so much for helping me to get this figured out! 
#14
MindTex 1.0.4 (Beta):. Log started [12/17/11 10:23:48 (Central Standard Time)]
[10:23:48] Initializing application...
[10:23:48] Attemping to contact beta server...
[10:23:49] MTNBetaLogin: Attempting to connect to server...
[10:23:49] MTNBetaLogin: Initializing...
[10:23:49] MTNBetaLogin: Fetching server info...
[10:23:49] MTNBetaLogin: Creating socket...
[10:23:49] MTNBetaLogin: Connecting...
[10:23:49] MTNBetaLogin: Connected to MindTex server.
[10:23:50] MTNBetaLogin: Disconnected from MindTex server.
[10:23:50] Beta login: success
[10:23:50] MTNCheckForUpdates: Attempting to connect to server...
[10:23:50] MTNCheckForUpdates: Initializing...
[10:23:50] MTNCheckForUpdates: Fetching server info...
[10:23:50] MTNCheckForUpdates: Creating socket...
[10:23:50] MTNCheckForUpdates: Connecting...
[10:23:50] MTNCheckForUpdates: Connected to MindTex server.
[10:23:51] MTNCheckForUpdates: Disconnected from MindTex server.
[10:23:51] MTNCheckForUpdates result: 0
[10:23:51] Creating main window...
[10:23:51] Main window created.
[10:23:51] Attemping to load prefs file...
[10:23:51] Failed to load prefs file - couldn't open file (No such file or directory). Using application defaults.
[10:23:51] Building the UI...
[10:23:51] Initializing the display...
[10:23:51] Pixel shader version: 2.0
[10:23:51] Unconditional nonpow2 texture support: False
[10:23:52] Successfully created device with software vertex processing.
[10:23:53] Initialization complete.
[10:24:03] Finished generating maps (2953.000000 ms).
[10:29:38] [User notification] MakeNormal: Failed to create temporary render target 1
The texture fails on me at 1024x1024 jpg. I tried a 512x128 jpg and it worked great. Ya seems like anything over 512x512 will crash the program.....
12/17/2011 (8:50 am)
Ryan, I'm running WinXP Media Center edition service pack 3. Heres my log:MindTex 1.0.4 (Beta):. Log started [12/17/11 10:23:48 (Central Standard Time)]
[10:23:48] Initializing application...
[10:23:48] Attemping to contact beta server...
[10:23:49] MTNBetaLogin: Attempting to connect to server...
[10:23:49] MTNBetaLogin: Initializing...
[10:23:49] MTNBetaLogin: Fetching server info...
[10:23:49] MTNBetaLogin: Creating socket...
[10:23:49] MTNBetaLogin: Connecting...
[10:23:49] MTNBetaLogin: Connected to MindTex server.
[10:23:50] MTNBetaLogin: Disconnected from MindTex server.
[10:23:50] Beta login: success
[10:23:50] MTNCheckForUpdates: Attempting to connect to server...
[10:23:50] MTNCheckForUpdates: Initializing...
[10:23:50] MTNCheckForUpdates: Fetching server info...
[10:23:50] MTNCheckForUpdates: Creating socket...
[10:23:50] MTNCheckForUpdates: Connecting...
[10:23:50] MTNCheckForUpdates: Connected to MindTex server.
[10:23:51] MTNCheckForUpdates: Disconnected from MindTex server.
[10:23:51] MTNCheckForUpdates result: 0
[10:23:51] Creating main window...
[10:23:51] Main window created.
[10:23:51] Attemping to load prefs file...
[10:23:51] Failed to load prefs file - couldn't open file (No such file or directory). Using application defaults.
[10:23:51] Building the UI...
[10:23:51] Initializing the display...
[10:23:51] Pixel shader version: 2.0
[10:23:51] Unconditional nonpow2 texture support: False
[10:23:52] Successfully created device with software vertex processing.
[10:23:53] Initialization complete.
[10:24:03] Finished generating maps (2953.000000 ms).
[10:29:38] [User notification] MakeNormal: Failed to create temporary render target 1
The texture fails on me at 1024x1024 jpg. I tried a 512x128 jpg and it worked great. Ya seems like anything over 512x512 will crash the program.....
#15
Let me know what data you get from that or if you experience any hard crashes. On a sidenote, one caveat to this update is that any non-power of two textures you load in won't be saved with their original dimensions on export, they'll be rounded to a power of two (I'll look into a work-around for that once we get the loading straightened out).
12/17/2011 (1:35 pm)
Okay, I just uploaded a fairly big update as far as including more checking and handling things gracefully; it should give you more information about what is causing the error (device limits, running out of memory, etc) and there shouldn't be a hard crash anymore. You can get it here: frozenflamecorp.com/site/media/MindTex-1.0-Beta.msiLet me know what data you get from that or if you experience any hard crashes. On a sidenote, one caveat to this update is that any non-power of two textures you load in won't be saved with their original dimensions on export, they'll be rounded to a power of two (I'll look into a work-around for that once we get the loading straightened out).
#16
'Mindtex :. Texture Generation Error"
An error occurred (Not enough system memory) while processing textures and MindTex needs to restart, would you like to attempt to save first?
Then my video driver stops responding, and I have to restart.
Also, in the log, there is one more line highlighted, before the error that is displayed in the popup: MakeDiffuse: Failed to create diffuse render target (Error: Not enough system memory)
12/17/2011 (1:46 pm)
@Ryan, using the same test file , I get a handled error'Mindtex :. Texture Generation Error"
An error occurred (Not enough system memory) while processing textures and MindTex needs to restart, would you like to attempt to save first?
Then my video driver stops responding, and I have to restart.
Also, in the log, there is one more line highlighted, before the error that is displayed in the popup: MakeDiffuse: Failed to create diffuse render target (Error: Not enough system memory)
#17
12/17/2011 (3:00 pm)
I see, I thought that might be the case..(being out of memory). I'll definitely work on optimizing the video memory usage...I just did some performance analysis and it is indeed a memory hog. Thanks again for the information and I'll try to get that improved quickly here!
#18
You'll still be restricted to some degree by your available video memory, and probably won't be able to open 8x11 documents but this should definitely help out.
12/19/2011 (4:36 pm)
Hey guys - sorry for the delay. Anyways, I've just finished an update that should significantly improve memory usage - let me know if it works any better for you: frozenflamecorp.com/site/media/MindTex-1.0-Beta.msi.You'll still be restricted to some degree by your available video memory, and probably won't be able to open 8x11 documents but this should definitely help out.
#19
Handles errors much more gracefully now! Using my test file, it loaded about 60% before I got a 'friendlier' memory error, and I was able to stay in-app and pick a different file, and be merrily on my way.
12/20/2011 (8:20 pm)
Hey Ryan,Handles errors much more gracefully now! Using my test file, it loaded about 60% before I got a 'friendlier' memory error, and I was able to stay in-app and pick a different file, and be merrily on my way.
#20
12/20/2011 (10:35 pm)
Well I'm glad that is working! - Once I get the rest of the major bug reports I'm getting sorted out, I'll certainly continue to look into other ways of optimizing/handling internal resources to allow more flexibility with limited video memory (hopefully without sacrificing -too- much on speed). But, at any rate, I'm glad things seem to at least be more stable for now. Thanks so much for your help again! 
Torque Owner Donnie Hutson Jr