Any advice on optimizing a Windows 10 PC for Firefly renders?

I am not a fan of Superfly. Yet.

However, I am pushing FireFly to get hi-res renders. The CPU is maxing out 100%, and memory too. I have Poser set to use 6 cores and render in background.

Computer has an ordinary SATA hard drive, but an "Optane" 1GB optimizer.

There is no graphics card in the computer, only that which is on the motherboard, Intel UHD Graphics 630 with 1GB memory

1. Does Firefly use the GPU on a graphics card for rendering?

I'm planning a memory upgrade .....

1. will Firefly take advantage of as much RAM as installed?

2. what about virtual memory and page file settings? (see below)

Dell Inc. Inspiron 3670 x64-based PC Microsoft Windows 10 Home Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-8400 CPU @ 2.80GHz, 2808 Mhz, 6 Core(s), 6 Logical Processor(s) BIOS Version/Date Dell Inc. 1.0.0, 3/6/2018 Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 8.00 GB Total Physical Memory 7.84 GB Available Physical Memory 2.98 GB Total Virtual Memory 9.40 GB Available Virtual Memory 2.33 GB Page File Space 1.56 GB

Thanks for any tips,

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These are all good questions. I think part of the problem you may have is that the Graphics card is neither AMD or NVidia which are what Poser is optimized for in the system requirements. You may want to contact Smith Micro on this issue and get a better view of what you are dealing with. I started working with Superfly out of the gate and frankly I haven't used firefly since. Why? Physical based rendering. Superfly doesn't have to fake real world situations the way firefly does. Drawback is render times. But then that is an issue with any 3d software. Back in the day ... I recall using Bryce 3d ... and it wasn't unheard of to wait in large competitive pieces ... an entire week for a render. But I digress. Best rout is to contact Smith Micro directly. If you don't get a response in a reasonable length of time. site-mail me and I will investigate this for you.

Hi Boni,

I've tried to tame superfly twice, and would be willing to suffer render times two or three times longer, but I can't get a stunning render of the human face with it.

Can you link me to one of your renders of a closeup of a face/skin with Superfly?

"... is neither AMD or NVidia which are what Poser is optimized for in the system requirements." Are you saying that Poser will engage a graphics card's gpu under FireFly? (as long as it's NVidia?)

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[Boni, I'm going to start a Superfly vs FireFly topic in a moment. I'm trying again right now.]

I believe you are right, firefly does not support GPU. Superfly does ... but has a specific range of cards it supports (including built-in in laptops).

I am working on a render for you. I will post when it is done.

I started a new thread Firefly vs Superfly,.

In order of ease of installation

1 Add more memory- less time swapping data to disk.

2 Change the hard disk to SSD (solid state disk)- no moving parts gives quicker disk access. Poser writes a temporary file whilst rendering. Computer start up will be quicker. Your existing HD can be copied to the SSD so no need to re-install anything. Current HD can be kept either internally or externally via USB

3 Change the CPU for a quicker one and/or more cores. Options limited by compatibility with the motherboard

If your computer is under warranty it may be invalidated if the upgrades aren't made by the manufacturer

ypvs: that is great advice!! Does this apply to a laptop as well? Can these things be changed in a laptop. My tech. savvy skills are outdated as I stopped doing computer rebuilds in the early 2000's and never opened up a laptop.

operaguy: My render didn't turn out the way I wanted. I'm going to do some research and get you some renders that are side by side for firefly and superfly. To get you a more accurate analysis.

@boni Sometimes it is possible to upgrade Memory in a Laptop, also it's possible (and makes sense) to Switch to a ssd if you still have a normal hard drive. But you can rarely change the graphics Adapter included, also you usually cannot upgrade the CPU. If you want to get a new Laptop at some Point, look for a Ryzen 7 or a Core i7 for the cpu. Nvidia graphics is nessesary for GPU render, but getting a really capable card for a Laptop will be costly.

@operaguy A Ryzen 7 or even better a Threadripper will give you way shorter render times in Firefly and in Superfly. But that would most likely be a new Desktop, not an upgrade of your actual Computer. I have switched from an older core i7 to a Ryzen 7, my render times are about 34% from what they used to be.

My computer needs 1) SSD; 2) graphics card; 3) upgrade of RAM to 16 or 32. Even modest versions of those would cost far more than I paid for the full computer, $445 all in.

I got a great deal on this new computer, knowing full well it was pretty-much a business/writing/surfing system, not a graphics workstation. I like it a lot.

I'll probably leave it as is and save up for a true beast, budget $1200-$2000

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