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ToonIt! is really slow on my fast system.

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Split render time for long project.

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Support for Vista 64-bit systems?

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64-bit and multi-processor support.

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Update 1.1 for multi-processor support.

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Tips for working faster in FCP.

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Will ToonIt! work in Vegas?

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ToonIt! beachballs in FCP.

Q

I bought ToonIt! and love it, but it is really bogging down my new system. HP xw8400 2x DC 3.0 CPUs, Nvidia Quadro FX1500, 3 GB Ram.

A

ToonIt! 1.0 doesn't include multi-processing support currently, and is an very render intensive plug-in. Using the default values, we've averaged around 4-6 seconds per frame for SD footage, and about 9-12 seconds a frame for HD footage on both PCs and Macs.

Render times will be rather slow for the 1.0 release. Our free version 1.1 update will include speed upgrades and optimization along with multi-processing upport. However, ToonIt! will never be an even semi-real time product, so please plan your render time accordingly.

Q

My calculations say that to final render a 30 minute production will take almost 3 days!  Do you do it in pieces and hope there is no crash?

A

ToonIt! is actually quite stable except for a bug in FCP. However, your concern is still quite valid. For something as long as 30 minutes, we recommend doing it in sections or splitting up the rendering between machines.

One thing we've done with long projects that had huge render times is render it all out as an uncompressed image or Targa sequence. That way, if anything went wrong during the render, you will have all of your frames up to the crash intact, and not be left with a corrupted Quicktime .mov file. I could then start rendering from the frame where everything went wrong and not have to re-render everything all over again.

After you get your full image sequences, just pop them back into your host app. Render them out with your final target codec of choice. Rendering out image sequences takes no time at all; the only drawback is that image sequences can take up more disk space than a compressed movie file while initially rendering everything.

Q

I am running on a Vista 64-bit OS using Adobe Master Collection. Do you foresee a HUGE problem in getting ToonIt to run on a 64 bit OS? Do you have plans on offering 64 bit version?

A

None of the Adobe applications so far are 64-bit, so
though you have a 64-bit OS, all of the Adobe apps will be running under the x86 32-bit side of Vista. We will offer a 64-bit version once Adobe's applications go fully 64-bit.

ToonIt! so far has run perfectly fine through After Effects CS3 and Premiere CS3 on Vista Ultimate 64-bit. However, we will NOT provide technical support for 64-bit systems right now. Adobe's Master Collection has only been officially certified for Vista 32-bit. Basically, if there's a problem, it's tremendously hard to figure out if it's on our end, Adobe's end, or a problem between Adobe's and Microsoft's code.

We highly recommend that you try a demo of ToonIt! before you decide to buy for a Vista 64-bit system. The product is non-refundable.

Q

I just ran a test render with After Effects CS3 on an XP x64 box. AE crashed while rendering it out (though most of the sequence rendered). Just happened once so far. Is this a fluke?

A

We are unable to support Vista 64 as Adobe's software has only been certified for 32-bit Vista. ToonIt! will run under the 32-bit emulation in Vista 64. However, its stability is subject to the way that Vista 64 handles the Adobe software.

ToonIt! currently does not have multi-processing support, and problems can occur if After Effects is set to use multi-processing; Premiere Pro automatically assumes that any filter it runs is thread safe, and that is causing issues with ToonIt! 1.0. We've just received a quick fix that addresses this issue and we'll have it hosted after some testing.

Our suggestion for now: Try turning off AE's multi-processing feature, then running the render.

We haven't tested ToonIt! on an XP 64-bit system, and again, as none of Adobe's software is 64-bit, it's hard to say what could cause the crash. NOTE: Multi-processing support is coming in ToonIt! 1.1. This will be a free update.

Q

I just installed Toonit 1.0. I am applying a default Toonit 'roto toon' to a clip that is around 1 minute long and my host app tells me the render will take 12 hours. Does that sound right?

A

As hard as we worked for it, we were not able to get multi-processing released in version 1.0 of ToonIt!. This makes render times very long.

Version 1.1 of ToonIt! will take full advantage of multi-processor speed. This will considerably speed up ToonIt!'s render times, although it will never work in real or semi-real time. Please read this page for more information.

Q

FCP tells me that my render will take 25 hours. Does that sound right? I understand that verison 1.0 does not take advantage of dual processors, but 25 hours seems a long time for a dual 2.7 G5.

A

Currently, due to the way Apple handles FxPlug plug-ins and in the way FCP handles the Canvas display, ToonIt! is extremely slow in FCP 5.1.4 and below. Apple seems to have fixed the video display issues in FCP 6.0 (Final Cut Studio 2), but we were unable to build in the proper workarounds to make the rendering times faster in FCP 5.1.4. This is coming in version 1.1.

FCP also likes to give really rough render time estimates while rendering, usually starting at the worst-case time scenario and then gradually chipping time away from the estimated finish. Does the render dialog start at 25 hours and stay there? Or does the time estimate gradually start going down as the render progresses (such as saying 20 hours after a few frames have been rendered, then saying 13 hours after a few more frames have been rendered in just a couple of minutes).

Right now, we recommend deinterlacing any interlaced footage and completing all ToonIt! work in a Progressive frame state. The speed issues in FCP are mainly generated by FCP forcing ToonIt! to render twice per frame, once for each field. By working with progressive footage, you can instantly cut the render times in half.

Q

I use Vegas 7 and wonder if the program will work with it. I haven't downloaded the trial yet.

A

Unfortunately, we do not support or develop plugins for Vegas. ToonIt! is a plugin for Final Cut Pro, Motion, After Effects, and Premiere Pro. It is not a standalone application.

Q

We're using FC Studio 2. The footage is HDV @ 1080p (24 fps), with some 720p being upconverted pre-process. When we have the filter parameters open to make changes to even a short piece of footage, there is usually a wait time (hourglass in the pointer or the spinning beachball) just in tweaking the parameters.

A

The issue you are running into is a bug on Apple's side. We have been testing this issue and we've determined that the HDV codecs (HDV 1080p, HDV 1080i60 etc. along with the Apple Pro-Res 422 codecs) really do not like to render plug-ins that take over 3 or 4 seconds a frame to render.

For some reason, FCP just beachballs whenever a render-intensive plug-in is applied to footage in a sequence using the HDV codecs as a QuickTime compressor. This issue doesn't exist with our plug-in alone; you can recreate the beachballing by applying a sequence of Apple's filters that slows the rendering down to a crawl, such as the Bloom and Overdrive effects blasted all the way to 100%. We're still waiting for a response on this from Apple.

The current workaround is to use a different codec for your sequence compressor. Switching it to Animation or Photo-JPEG will stop the beachballing. Make your tweaks, save it all out, and then set up your final output settings after getting the results you want.