ETCnomad & ETCnomad Puck

The Augment3d programming environment is included in Eos software versions 3.0 and later. If your system does not meet the below minimum requirements, it is recommended to download an earlier software version.

Performance Guide

ETCnomad Eos with Augment3d is a real time 3D visual programming environment and as such requires similar resources to a high end gaming device. The quality of the rendering therefore is determined by the capabilites of the device and the content being rendered. The following is some advice to navigate performance, this can change from time to time and with different software versions.

Things that directly impact performance-

• CPU Speed, higher is better.
• RAM Speed, faster RAM is more important than amount of RAM.
• GPU speed, a dedicated GPU is almost always likely to provide higher performance.
• Resolution, 4K displays will have a higher impact than a lower resolution display.
• Content you are trying to visualize
• Augment3d visualization settings

Minimum Requirements

PC

• Multi-core processor with clock frequency higher than 2.0 GHz
• OS Windows 7 64 Bit or later
• >1 GB free disk space
• Screen resolution of at least 1280 x 1024
• >2 GB RAM
• RJ45 Ethernet network adapter (required to communicate with a lighting network)

This chart provides a list of expected abilities of a computer to run ETCnomad with Augment3d. Please note that running Augment3d requires additional resources over just ETCnomad Eos. Low would be considered a standard computer, Ultra a state of the art computer targeted at graphics performance. 

PassMark CPU ratings can be found at cpubenchmark.net.

PassMark G3D ratings can be found at videocardbenchmark.net.

Mac

• Multi-core processor with clock frequency higher than 2.0 GHz
• OS X Mojave (v10.14.3) or later
• >1 GB free disk space
• Screen resolution of at least 1280 x 1024
• >2 GB of RAM
• RJ45 Ethernet network adapter (required to communicate with a lighting network)

Additional MAC hardware guidelines are coming soon!

Content Considerations-

Several factors contribute to the overall performance of the software.  Each factor is essentially a multiplier, so they all contribute to the overall performance.

• Total number of lights represented in Augment3d
• Beam angle (aka Zoom) of the active lights (more light volume takes more resources to compute)
• Augment3d settings (Quality, Lighting Mode, Refresh Rate)
• Augment3d window/tab resolution (including Resolution Scale on Mac)
• Complexity of the 3D model (Overall triangle count, Total item in Hierarchy)

Tips for improving performance-

• Quality setting
  • Low will perform the best, but does not simulate lighting.  This can be useful during live programming, but not for previsualization.
  • Medium will perform the best if you need to simulate lighting.
  • High and Ultra may be selected to improve the visual appearance of the model and lighting but are more resource intensive.  (Ex: gobo resolution is higher and less jagged, more realistic light beams, better shading in shadow areas)
• Lighting setting
  • Approximated and Pass-through are the fastest, but the light will pass through objects slightly or completely, and there are no shadows
  • Realistic is physically accurate lighting with shadows, but is much more resource intensive
• Refresh Rate setting
  • The default is 30 FPS (Frames Per Second), which strikes a balance between smooth rendering/interactivity and resource intensive computations. Augment3d has real time performance indicators to guide you during run time; 
  • Lowering the Refresh Rate will improve performance and reduce system resource usage, at the cost of choppier rendering/interactivity
    
  • Raising the Refresh Rate can make rendering/interactivity smoother, but only if the system can keep up with the increased resource usage.  60 FPS is a common target for high end video games to achieve.
• Augment3d window/tab resolution
  • The larger the Augment3d window/tab, the more resource intensive it is to render.
  • Using a split tab, or smaller tether window will increase performance.
  • On Mac, you can also lower the Resolution Scale setting to 75% or 50%.  This effectively lowers the total resolution of Augment3d without shrinking the window/tab, which improves performance but the rendering will appear slightly less crisp.
• Model complexity
  • The less complex your model, the better it will perform.  For example, 3 walls and a floor will perform better than a detailed proscenium model. Augment3d provides you a guide on how many total models and triangles. We recommend keeping an eye on this as you build your scene.
  • When importing 3D models, always mark the Combine Meshes option, unless you need to edit individual components of the imported model, once in Augment3d.  If possible, do that work in an external 3D modeling application, before importing it into Augment3d, so that you can always mark the Combine Meshes option.  This will reduce the total items in the hierarchy, which is one of the performance multipliers from above.
  • If possible, import low triangle/polygon count models.  Importing complex models derived from CAD/architectural software may have high triangle counts.  Some CAD/architectural models may contain a very high level of detail, even down to individual threads of screws, for example.  There are freely available 3D modeling applications, like Blender, which have methods to automatically reduce triangle/polygon count.
  • Be on the lookout for extra scenery in your imported models that is unnecessary to your work in Augment3d.  For example, a model of a closed cabinet that has hidden 3D objects inside of it.  Even though these objects are not visible in Augment3d, they still add significantly, to the computations.
• Additional settings to consider
  • You may disable light beams in Eos>Patch>Augment3d>Hide Beam.  This will reduce the total number of lights in Augment3d, one of the multipliers from above.  That means the fixture will not emit light in Augment3d, but the lens/face of the fixture will still illuminate as expected.  This may be appropriate for pixel walls or audience blinders.

Other items-

ETCnomad Eos with Augment3d is a free download. If you already have some hardware you are interested in using with ETCnomad Eos with Augment3d, we recommend you download the software and some of the demo show files. These files provide a general representation of different scenes including our Mind the Gap, Concert, Proscenium and a Fashion Show files. These files may be found under “Other Downloads” here.

If you are looking at purchasing new, to get the most performance and flexibility you should target no less than Ultra setting of today. The more you expect to include in your scene and performance needs, the higher your individual requirements on your device are.