32GB of RAM?

[Jeff Sousa]

Just curious if 32GB of system RAM is appropriate for 4K color grading in Mistika Boutique. In the system configuration guide, 16 GB is specified for HD work and 64 is specified for 4K, but there is no mention of 32GB. My system has 32GB of RAM, 2x 1080 Ti GPUs, and a 1950X Threadripper CPU. I was just wondering if I was limiting my performance by not upgrading to 64GB of RAM as per your configuration guide. 

[Cristobal Bolaños]

Hi Jeff!

As suggested in the document Recommended configurations for Mistika Boutique 64 GB RAM would be necessary for normal 4K production with few layers. Even more RAM  can be necessary for complex multi-layer workflows on workstations with many CPU cores. Indeed, 32GB RAM can be limiting for your performance if you seek to establish a daily workflow with 4k media.

Do you have any more technical concerns?

Cheers,
Cristóbal

 

[jan1]

Hi Cristobal,

Adding to that question - I do have 64GB in my main system and 32GB in my mobile system - I have the sense that the proper utilization of all this memory depends a lot on the settings in mistika config. I've been following the various descriptions in the Performance Options tab, but not at all certain if those are set properly.

For example Max Cache Memory is usually defaulted to 1GB. Would it make sense to increase this on a system with 64GB?

Also the System CPU Cores and many of the other parameters further down default to 0. Based on the descriptions I've changed them to the number of cores, or 1/2 or 2/3rd of the number of cores.

Does 0 mean Mistika will automatically pick the best value, is 0 the minimal value and will lead to non-optimal performance?

If you had extra memory, is there anything we should do to optimize where it is applied based on the specifics of the project we're working on?

Thanks,
Jan

 

[Cristobal Bolaños]

On 8/11/2019 at 6:01 AM, jan1 said:

Does 0 mean Mistika will automatically pick the best value, is 0 the minimal value and will lead to non-optimal performance?

 

Indeed, that means it's the automatic value for the system to act at the best performance with Mistika.  

However, I'll contact SGO agents more aware of Mistika performance that will answer you with more detailed information. 

Cheers,
Cristóbal 

[Javier Moreno]

Hi Jeff

 

32 GB can be enough for most 4K workflows, but it depends on what you are doing.  For example color grading requries few RAM because it is just one effect, but complex finishing /VFX may requier a complex  stack of effects.  Specifically these are the points that are known to use a lot of RAM

 

- R3D codecs are specially hungry in terms of RAM usage.  A common situation is that many users are doing 4K production but they are using 6K or 8K  raw camera files, which require up to 4 times more RAM.

 

- Another situation is when using different resolutions in the same Timeline during the same session.  Using different resolutions is perfectly supported but it requires extra RAM. This is because in many cases Mistika will only reuse memory buffers of one particular size for images of the same size during the same Mistika session, ( otherwise the performance will be severily reduced due to memory fragmentation).

 

What we recommed is to load the most complex timeline in terms of the above issues and keep the Task Manager open while you work. In this way you will know how much RAM are you using exactly.

 

Regarding the performance settings, 0 means autoconfiguration  (but only for the "Parallel processing " sections).  If one of those setting s is 0  Mistika will assume the number of cores of your system for that settting,  except for the case of Render Units which is half of that number, as explained in the panel itself).  Also, the autoconfiguration will use  a limit of 24, because higher number of threads are inefficient in most cases (please note that many codec libraries also split each call into several threads, so you could easily saturate the system by going to high with these numbers).  However, the optimal number for each particular situation can only be found experimentally.

 

Also, Mistika Boutique can only use one GPU (the one were you start the software). 

 

Regards,

 

Javier

 

[Jeff Sousa]

Thank you for the answers. I'm a pure colorist so I will see if I can get away with 32GB of RAM. I don't mind upgrading to more RAM, but I'm on a Threadripper system and it's hard to find fast 64GB sticks. Whereas I have many options for low latency, high clock 32GB configurations. 

Re: the various mConfig setting Jan alluded to. I'm also pretty confused about how to set all the parameters. Which ones are best left at zero, which should be adjusted. I was also specifically confused about whether to count threads or just actual cores (I have a 16-core 1950X for example, with 32 threads). 

I'd love for you guys to consider making a tutorial video that goes in depth into all of the memory and core related settings, perhaps showcasing how to optimize a few different systems. Or show some before / after performance. 

Also, re: Mistika Boutique using only one GPU. With the new CUDA RED acceleration, in that case will Mistika use a 2nd GPU for RED decode and the primary GPU for all other timeline effects?

[Cristobal Bolaños]

On 8/11/2019 at 10:29 PM, Jeff Sousa said:

I'd love for you guys to consider making a tutorial video that goes in depth into all of the memory and core related settings, perhaps showcasing how to optimize a few different systems. Or show some before / after performance. 

 

Thanks a lot for the feedback. We'll list it for future tutorials ?