I mentioned this at the bottom of a topic relating to Nyx Fast, however I thought I had better make this a separate notification since it relates to Nyx (plain or V3) along with the concurrent use of Aion for frame interpolation.
Basically when I use these two models combined to process 1080p25 source material to 1080p50, I will get an error (the red cross to the right of the processing stream information) 100% of the time. The error depending on the circumstances is either instant or may take up to a few minutes to occur.
I have, however, found a labour-intensive workaround which thus far has produced a zero error rate 100% of the time. So this workaround changes 100% errors 100% of the time to zero errors 100% of the time.
The workaround (which must be followed strictly) is:
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Re-boot the computer.
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Ensure the number of concurrent processes in Topaz AI is set to three (as in not recommended).
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Load the single source file into Topaz and select the appropriate template or input the parameters manually such that Aion doubles the frame rate from 25 to 50 and then Nyx is used as per defaults (though I have found changing manual parameters in Nyz makes no difference).
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Do NOT press the Preview button. If you press the Preview button even just once then you have to go back and re-boot the machine before you can perform an error free export.
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Press Export. You only get once chance when hitting that export button. If you hit it twice without rebooting, you will again get errors.
Bottom line is you have to re-boot and then you only ever get one chance to process anything (either by one single click on the Preview button or one single click of the Export button). If you want to do more than one click (of either), then you have to re-boot the machine in between single clicks.
Conversely, if you were to press Preview and / or Export just once and then you try to press either button a second time, there will be an error (it may not be instant). Additionally, if you were to finish processing that one single source file then attempted to load another in the same session (even if again you are simply only hitting the export button once), then you will get errors again.
The key to avoiding this issue is to remember one press of export or preview per computer reboot. Unfortunately simply closing down Topaz AI and starting it up again does not substitute for the reboot.
Obviously it would be nice to have this combination working like everything else if possible please.
Should you require the test input that will reproduce this error (at least on my setup), please let me know and I will upload it for you.
Thank you
logsForSupport.zip (257.1 KB)
Aion and the Nyx V3 are both very memory intensive models and that use of both on a clip will burn through a lot of VRAM. The logs are showing memory errors where the GPU and the VRAM have been exhausted and are crashing. I do see that you have the max memory set to 80% I would recommend lowering that to 50% and try the process again.
Changing the max processes only relates to how many processes the app can try and run at the same time and it is not recommended to go above two even on a system with a lot of VRAM. You are working with a 2060 Super with 8GB of VRAM and we recommend at least 12GB for Aion alone if the app can access 100% of max memory.
I will be happy to test the clip for you if you would like to share it.
Submit File to Dropbox
Thanks Kyle. I understand what you are saying but if my computer specs are below par as expected by combined usage of Nyx and Aion together (and fair enough if they might be), how is my machine able to perform perfectly using these two models together for at least 6 hours (never tested beyond that since the longest clip I have takes 6 hours to process) yet will fall over within 1 second if I do not follow the procedures I mentioned. I would have thought if my VRAM was being exhausted it would not happen within a second or two of hitting the Export button.
To me this is more likely to be a case of these two models (perhaps only when used in concert) not properly releasing their resources once they are no longer required. To me it is the only explanation as to why I can make them fall over within seconds - 100% of the time - or I can make them happily process forever - just so long as I do not do anything to ever stop them running then ask them to run a second time within any given re-boot session. And if what you are saying really is correct then I am sorry to say that I do not blame my machine but I blame poor programming. Afterall, we are only talking about full HD material here - we are not even talking about resolutions beyond that. And I have been using Aion for months without the slightest hiccup. Ever. With upscaling!
Or to put it another way, how can I exhaust the VRAM and memory literally within a few seconds of starting Topaz after a reboot but then performing the exact same processing on the exact same input file, go happily for 6 hours with zero errors (and probably longer but I cannot test that)? How can it exhaust the VRAM in two seconds in one instant but not exhaust the RAM even after 6 hours in another instant, even though it is precisely the same input file and precisely the same processing template?
I have been processing files using Aion and Nyx combined with that workaround procedure on and off for a whole week now (since I wanted to be sure the procedure was 100% error proof) and I have not had one single failure in a combined 24 hours of processing (about four test files each averaging 6 hours each). So your explanation, though maybe correct, does not make any sense. Again, how can the memory not be exhausted over a combined 24 hours testing cycle - not even just once - but can be exhausted - with a 100% repeatability rate - within 2 seconds of processing? Something does not sound right somewhere!
I am uploaded the test file presently (might be slow - I have a very slow connection).
Test settings for test file supplied:
Outout resolution remains the same (1920 x 1080)
Add Aion frame interpolation to change from 25 fps to 50 fps - with the duplicate frame checking unchecked (not required).
Add Nyx (v3 so not Fast) as per all defaults when loading that model (though on these files I have been changing the Anti-alias de-blur setting to -2 not that it makes any difference).
Video output is to ProRes 422HQ but again the output chosen does not make any difference. Audio output is simply copy.
I did some testing over the weekend whilst keeping an eye on a real-time GPU VRAM readout. Whilst it is true that the combination of Nyx and Aion even at Full HD use far more memory than any other combinations I have used, it is still far below the limits of my RTX2600 Super at around 5 GB. The other combinations are usually below 4 GB.
When I began a test run of Nyx and Aion combined and kept checking on it for 10 minutes, the VRAM was consistently at that 5 GB mark - not budging whatsoever. Yet when I came back an hour later it had once again errored out. I had been theorising that perhaps if there was more than one job in the queue that there might be a resource “overlap” such that Topaz suddenly wanted more than 10 GB, but in this case it was only the one job.
Yet again, however, my procedure outlined in my first post (including changing the number of processes to 3 despite seemingly having nothing to do with it) gives me 100% stability and zero errors no matter what. I still think the problem is at Topaz end and not mine. My specs might not be enough for 4K processing but they are clearly enough for Full HD processing, no matter what I throw at it. 5 GB is 5 GB. It should be just as stable as all the other combinations that I use.
I tried running the same test clip on my system with a 3060 w/ 12 GB of VRAM and also had errors when trying to run Nyx 3 and Aion together. Changing the max processes did allow it to be complete, though. I am sending this to the team to review and see what is going on.
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OK. Thanks very much for the feedback Kyle.
