Hey all, a quick little progress update, was going to post this later on Saturday, but since someone asked over on Patreon I figured I'd just go ahead get it written up after work. The work project that I has kept me busy since mid-late November seems to be quieting down quite a bit over the past week or so. So it might be coming to a close soon"-ish." I haven't been provided with a time frame for when it might end, and my schedule for the next two weeks is already setup and is the same as its been since I started on this work project so it doesn't seem likely to be ending this month, but as said before maybe soon. Once I know when it will end I will make an announcement, likely in the Discord server, so join if you haven't already (https://discord.gg/jzAsznhqHN). Once I know when the work project is over I will likely pause support for an additional month so that I can use that month to get back into the swing of things.

Before we get into the main reason I was making this post. I recently found out that Iray Server is apparently now free. Which makes it even simpler for me to setup a second computer to offload rendering onto. Because before I was thinking I would need a full on windows machine with a fair bit of storage to store all the Daz assets. Well not anymore, now I technically just need a server with a bit of RAM, a high end Nvidia GPU, and a fair amount of storage to store the renders on until I can transfer them off the render system. It will still be a while until this gets up and operational, its just going to be easier now. The main thing holding it back it going to be cost. The closest GPU to my current one in terms of CUDA count is the RTX A5000, which is around $2,200, the next step up which gives me more CUDA cores so renders are faster per card is the A5500 which is about $4,500. Realistically I'd probably go for the A5000, because its cheaper so it would be easier to afford multiple of them and 2 of them would have about 6000 more CUDA cores then the A5500 for basically the same material cost and so should be a fair bit faster as a result.

But now for the main reason that I was making this post. Daz recently released an update that added omnishaders for hair (and fur), that in theory helps to make hair more realistic in terms of how light refracts off it, etc. etc. aka makes hair more realistic, and I am curious as to which of the looks you all prefer? Below are two pictures using the MC for Andromeda, one using the new omnishaders and the other is the hairs normal Iray based shader. I will likely do some more of these using the other characters since for some characters the preferences might change, but for now I only have the MC done. Admittedly the omnishaders do require some more work at the start to get them to look nice, and some hairs will probably require more work then others, but once the settings are dialed in they should be pretty set and forget, baring any major changes to how the shader works.

So, my question is, do you all prefer A or B? This is more so out of curiosity and to get some other opinions so I can't say if it will actually change anything about how renders are done.

Hey all,

Sorry for the radio silence since early November, this is due to two things though the first is the bigger cause.

*I don't have anyone supporting over here on SubscribeStar so I'm not going to bother placing this on hold.

Hey crew, getting this out late, planned to get it out the day before Halloween, but I ended up not having the time to do that. Starting this off with by saying this one will be a bit different then other briefings because it covers both September and October due to be not getting one out on time for September.

Starting off as usual with script work. Script work across both months was about par for the course most months, but could have been better, totaling 300 lines of code, 123 in September and 177 in October. This would put us at averaging 4.10 lines per day for September and 5.71 for October. And a month over month change of 4% and 44% percent respectively for total lines and for average lines per day a month over month change of 8% and 39% respectively.

For render work, September wasn't really up there, because that wasn't the focus, script work was generally more important as a focus at the time so only 14 renders in all for September, including the extras for the National Cheeseburger Day 2023 extra, resulting in a -30% month/month change. 

For October, I ended up deciding to try something a bit different. Usually I setup a file that covers a single location in a single scene, so sometimes these files are 3-4 frames while other times they maybe 10-14 frames. It just depends on how many different expressions and poses I need for that location at that scene. Also sometimes I want different camera angles for the same shot so those bring the count up further beyond the number of frames. Only after those are all set do I set the file to render each frame. I decided to instead focus on drafting each of the renders, creating those files with the frames that comprise the images that actually get rendered. So outside of the actual renders for the Halloween 2023 extras for Captain tier supporters I didn't render anything in October. Instead what I can do is this month and December, I'll likely release the update near the end of December, I can load those files and render them each in turn. For the frames that have been made and need to be render, I haven't really kept exact track of them, but its around 40 at this time.

On a related note to renders, and I might have hinted at this in a previous post but I'm to lazy to go back and check. As I have mentioned in the past I do the renders using my personal computer, the same one I use for playing games, watching YouTube, etc. as a result rendering can interfere with my own use of my computer, unsurprisingly this mostly impacts gaming. Several months back I bought myself some older server hardware to use for a Plex server, which I have completed, but an idea came to mind that I should be able to slap a workstation GPU, think something like the Nvidia RTX A4000, in there and use it for rendering Daz3d Iray.

At a basic level, the most important specs for Daz3d are VRAM and Cuda cores. VRAM impacts how large and detailed your scene can be and cuda cores impact how quickly iray can render, clock speed also matters to an extent but most tests I have seen on the daz forums seem to indicate that number of cuda cores matters much more.

To compare the specs of the A4000 to my RTX 3080 12GB. The A4000 is:

While my RTX 3080 12GB is:

So the A4000 has a bit more VRAM, making larger scenes easier, but less cuda cores, and is roughly (in theory) half the power draw. Because they are also much smaller I could in theory slap two inside a server chassis and have more cuda cores then my personal rig with about the same amount of power draw. Only draw back is, the A4000 is kinda expensive, looking at anywhere between 800 and 1000 USD, granted I spent about 800 on my 3080 but its still expensive. So this idea is something that probably won't be done anytime within the next couple of months, but maybe down the road after some combination of more support and/or either a much better paying job or a really good raise.

Now someone had mentioned in the Discord server (https://discord.gg/KCp6u4ekEh), which isn't super active but I do try to respond when people say or ask stuff:

That is something I agree with, and chapters have gotten a bit longer with more recent updates due to me getting in the habit of saying "Screw it, I won't be able to get all I want done in a single release unless I have it be a year between updates."* I hopeful that this 3-4 month release schedule I plan to use going forward (which is something I've said in the past I wanted to do, but I've not been able to stick to it before) will enable me to have longer updates since I won't have as much of an issue with asking myself "Do I want to end this chapter here or try for another few hundred lines for the next good stopping off point?"

*I personally don't like waiting a year for an update, but I'm not looking to change how others due updates so I'm not going to say anything else on that note beyond "Do what works best for you."

On that, that is going to be it for this debriefing, this was probably the longest one I have done to date, most of it though being that idea to potentially help with renders in the future. I will see you all near the end of this month, or early next month, with another debriefing. 

Welcome back crew, it's time for our monthly update, and I'm excited to share some important developments. As I continue to refine my communications, I will be referring to these monthly progress updates as "debriefings" going forward. As I've discussed before, with version 0.6 my goal is to embrace a 3-4 month release cadence. While this might lead to shorter updates on average, the consistency and frequency of our releases will be greatly improved. For this upcoming update, we're aiming for 4-months, with a projected release towards the end of year.

I want to make it clear that the 3-4 month guideline is just that – a guide. If it's necessary to ensure a natural stopping point, we may extend slightly into the following month. My aim is to provide you with a polished update that respects the flow of the story.

Turning our attention to the current month, we've begun diving into scripting for 0.6. While our progress in this area has been solid, I must admit it fell slightly short of my aspirations due to a combination of work commitments and the conclusion of a personal project. The completion of this side endeavor is an achievement, that might be able to be useful for development in the future if I expand it that way, it did impact our scripting efforts. In total, we've managed to draft approximately 118 lines, averaging about 3.81 lines per day. Considering last month saw very little script work, the month-over-month increase is inflated, showing a 5800% surge in both total lines and daily average lines.

Regarding renders, we haven't commenced the rendering process for the upcoming update just yet. Instead, this month saw the completion of some lingering renders for 0.5 part 2 and a collection of character introduction posts, the last time I released one of these character introductions was back in April 2021, so really need to work on those, especially to help drive more consistent posts. In August, we wrapped up 20 renders, marking a 77% decline from the previous month. However, it's important to note again that renders weren't the primary focus in this month.

For those eagerly anticipating the character introduction posts. I've set my sights on sharing these that were completed this month with you throughout September. To establish a rhythm, I'll likely release them every other week for these. Additionally, I'll be allocating time to craft scenes for our other characters – a task that remains high on my to-do list, so long as it doesn't interfere with renders for the update itself.

0.5 Part 2 will become available for Ensign tier supporters on September 8th, it will then become available publicly on September 12th.

Thank you for your continued support, and let's continue our journey forward. Stay tuned for more updates as I work diligently to bring the vision of Andromeda to life.

For anyone curious, I did let ChatGPT right out this debriefing, with some tweaking, partly because I am trying to get this out before the month ticks over and also trying to get something that doesn't sound as dry as my usual updates.