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Warning! This version of documentation is OUTDATED, as it describes an older SDK version! Please switch to the documentation for the latest SDK version.
Warning! This version of documentation describes an old SDK version which is no longer supported! Please upgrade to the latest SDK version.

Asynchronous Data Streaming

Data streaming is an optimization technique intended to reduce spikes caused by loading graphic resources. With this technique, not all the data is loaded into memory at once. Instead, only the required data is loaded, and the rest is loaded progressively on demand.

Resource loading is performed and transferred to the GPU in separate asynchronous threads. After that, resources are synchronized and added to the virtual scene on the CPU side.

The output of the Microprofile tool.

In UNIGINE, asynchronous data streaming is enabled by default. To disable asynchronous data streaming, enable the Forced mode in the Streaming Settings in the Editor or by using the render_streaming_mode 1 console command. The Forced mode ensures force-loading of all meshes and textures required for each frame at once (e.g., grabbing frame sequences, rendering node previews, warmup, etc.).

Notice
Use the Forced mode only if you are sure that the graphic resources in your world fit into the available video memory.

When you need to stream all required data for the first frame as soon as possible, you may need to enable the Force mode right after the world is loaded and disable it after couple of frames to turn on the default Async mode again.

The streaming system provides asynchronous loading of the following data to RAM:

You can obtain general information on streamed resources by using the render_streaming_info console command.

The render_streaming_info output.

It is also possible to print the list of loaded resources and detailed information on them by using the render_streaming_list console command.

The render_streaming_list output.

Procedurally generated objects such as ObjectMeshClutter and ObjectGrass are generated in a separate thread, significantly reducing performance costs.

Common Streaming Settings#

The Render Budget parameter limits the number of loaded/created graphic resources per frame. Use it to find the balance between loading speed and performance.

To take advantage of multithreading, set the maximum number of threads used for resource streaming by using the render_streaming_max_threads console parameter. A higher number of threads results in faster streaming but may cause spikes in the case of excessive consumption of GPU resources.

Notice
The streaming system requires a GPU driver with multithreading support.

By default, the Memory Limit control is enabled. Resources unnecessary for rendering at the moment are unloaded on exceeding specified memory. Maximum memory amounts are defined for meshes, textures, and particles separately via the Memory Limit values specified in a percentage of the total GPU memory.

Memory limits and VRAM occupied by streamed resources are available in the Profiler tool.

The graphic resources are regularly checked for being modified in order to be reloaded or deleted. The Destroy Duration defines the corresponding resource cleanup interval in number of frames.

Notice
All streaming-related settings have their equivalents in the console streaming parameters.

Texture Cache#

The streaming system uses the texture cache composed of minimized copies generated for all textures with user-defined resolution stored in the data/.cache_textures folder. These copies are used instead of the originals while they are being loaded.

Texture cache is loaded at Engine's startup and always stays in the memory after loading. The following default loading order ensures smooth loading and rendering of resources:

  1. Texture cache;
  2. Geometry;
  3. Uncached textures cause spikes as texture cache is generated for them on the fly; materials with uncached and unloaded textures applied are rendered black;
  4. Full-size textures.

Using the textures_cache_preload flag in the boot config file, you can choose the texture cache loading priority — preloaded or loaded after geometry data.

Notice
If there is no texture cache in the project, it will be generated for all textures at Engine's startup, causing spikes and extremely increasing loading time (up to several minutes).

By default, texture cache files are generated with a resolution of 16 x 16 px. Such a low resolution of textures may be noticeable during loading.

Control the resolution of texture cache by setting the Texture Cache Resolution parameter. To apply changes, wipe away existing cache files by using the render_streaming_textures_cache_destroy console command, after which the texture cache will be generated automatically with the new specified resolution.

Notice
Be aware that higher texture cache resolution requires more video memory.

The video memory amount currently occupied by the texture cache is available in the Performance Profiler tool.

Notice
As all textures are cached regardless of their use in the project, it is reasonable to use the Cleaner tool to delete unused assets and thus lighten video memory consumption.

The render_streaming_textures_cache_load and render_streaming_textures_cache_unload console commands enable you to control loading of texture cache. For example, after loading full-size textures, you can unload the texture cache from video memory for better performance.

OpenGL Settings#

Settings and workflow for OpenGL API are slightly different than for DirectX API.

Under OpenGL, the Data Streaming System engages two intermediate buffers to provide data transfer between CPU and new resource:

  • Async Buffer used for mesh and texture streaming
  • Async Buffer Indices used for streaming of vertex indices of meshes

The size of the Async Buffer buffer must correspond to the size of the largest resource (mesh/texture); otherwise, in the case of a larger resource, the buffer will be resized, causing a spike.

Notice
Be aware that the size of these intermediate buffers contributes to the increased total memory consumption.

The Async Buffer Synchronization parameter stands for the mechanism of buffer synchronization. So, async buffers are created only once and then synchronized, reducing the time on allocating and freeing memory. When the synchronization is disabled, both Async Buffer and Async Buffer Indices are created anew for each new resource. This reduces the number of buffer synchronizations but increases the number of memory allocations.

Sometimes (depending on the hardware/driver used, e.g., when the main thread is affected by synchronization primitives in other threads), memory allocation may be faster than synchronizations; in such cases, when streaming becomes unacceptably slow, it is recommended to disable buffer synchronization.

There are some known issues and workarounds for some hardware/driver software:

Last update: 2022-03-10
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