Voxel Plugin
2.0p-340
2.0p-340
  • Home
  • Getting Started
    • Installing Voxel Plugin
    • Installing Example Content
    • Migrating from 1.2
  • Knowledgebase
    • Using Graphs
      • Graph Preview
      • Buffers and Uniforms
    • Channels
    • Surfaces & Materials
      • Working with Surfaces
        • Distance Fields & Distance Checks
        • Applying Materials to a Surface
      • Material Definitions
        • Creating Materials from Scratch
        • Extending the Complex Material Sample
        • Technical Details
        • Detail Textures
    • Brushes
      • Voxelized Meshes
    • Foliage
    • Navmesh & Collision
    • Sculpt Volumes
    • Blueprints
      • Setting graph parameters
      • Querying voxel graphs
    • Graph Design
      • Why Landmass & MetaGraphs
      • Execution Flow & Query Data
      • Node Types
      • MetaGraph Macros
      • Adding Custom Nodes
    • Profiling & Debugging
      • Generation Performance
      • Memory Usage & Render Performance
      • Debugging plugin code
    • Platform Support
      • Targeting Mac & iOS
      • Targeting Android
  • Resources
    • Voxel Graph API
      • Exec Nodes
        • Edit Sculpt Surface
        • Execute
        • Merge Execs
        • Debug
          • Debug Delay
        • Set Sculpt Source Surface
        • Register To Channel
        • Generate Marching Cube Collision & Navmesh
        • Generate Marching Cube Surface
        • Create Marching Cube Preview Mesh
        • Write Volume Texture
        • Generate Point Collision
        • Render Mesh
      • Misc
        • Get Previous Output
        • Query with Gradient Step
        • Query with Position
        • Filter Buffer
        • Make Value
        • Is Valid
        • Get Collision Enabled
        • Get LOD
        • Get Point Chunk Bounds
        • Is Editor World
        • Is Game World
        • Is Hidden in Editor
        • Is Preview Scene
        • Get Position 2D
        • Get Position 3D
      • Sculpt
        • Get Sculpt Surface
      • Point
        • Make Chunked Points
        • Merge Points
        • Set Point Attribute
        • Get Point Attribute
        • Set Actor Property
        • Get Actor Property
        • Set Parent Point Attribute
        • Get Parent Point Attribute
        • Set Point Mesh
        • Get Point Mesh
        • Get Parent Point Mesh
        • Set Point Position
        • Get Point Position
        • Get Parent Point Position
        • Set Point Rotation
        • Get Point Rotation
        • Get Parent Point Rotation
        • Set Point Scale
        • Get Point Scale
        • Get Parent Point Scale
        • Set Point Normal
        • Get Point Normal
        • Get Parent Point Normal
        • Set Actor Class
        • Get Actor Class
        • Get Parent Actor Class
        • Set Point Custom Data
        • Get Point Custom Data
        • Get Parent Point Custom Data
        • Get Point Seed
        • Apply Translation
        • Apply Rotation
        • Apply Scale
        • Apply Point Storage
        • Generate Surface Points
        • Make Points
        • Get Points
        • Filter Points
        • Density Filter
        • Make Radial Point Spawner
        • Prune by Bounds
        • Prune by Distance
        • Raymarch Distance Field
        • Scatter Points
      • Material
        • Make Material
        • Make Float Detail Texture Parameter
        • Make Color Detail Texture Parameter
        • Make Material Detail Texture Parameter
        • Make Normal Detail Texture Parameter
        • Make Scalar Parameter
        • Make Vector Parameter
      • Math
        • Trig
          • Sin (Radians)
          • Sin (Degrees)
          • Cos (Radians)
          • Cos (Degrees)
          • Tan (Radians)
          • Tan (Degrees)
          • Asin (Radians)
          • Asin (Degrees)
          • Acos (Radians)
          • Acos (Degrees)
          • Atan (Radians)
          • Atan (Degrees)
          • Atan2 (Radians)
          • Atan2 (Degrees)
          • Get PI
          • Radians to Degrees
          • Degrees to Radians
        • Float
          • Bilinear Interpolation
          • Frac
          • Power
        • Boolean
          • NOT Boolean
          • NOR Boolean
          • XOR Boolean
          • AND Boolean
          • OR Boolean
          • NAND Boolean
        • Integer
          • Left Shift
          • Right Shift
          • Bitwise AND
          • Bitwise OR
          • Bitwise XOR
          • Bitwise NOT
        • Rotation
          • Make Quaternion
          • Break Quaternion
          • Make Rotation from Z
          • Combine Rotation
        • Operators
          • Equal
          • Nearly Equal
          • Not Equal
          • Less
          • Greater
          • Less Equal
          • Greater Equal
          • Ceil
          • Round
          • Floor
          • Add
          • Subtract
          • Multiply
          • Divide
          • % (Integer)
          • Min
          • Max
          • Abs
          • One Minus
          • Sign
        • Misc
          • Clamp
          • Mapped Range Value Clamped
          • Mapped Range Value Unclamped
          • Height Splitter
          • Interpolate
          • Lerp
          • Safe Lerp
          • Smooth Step
        • Seed
          • Mix Seeds
          • Make Seeds
        • Vector Operators
          • Cross Product
          • Dot Product
          • Normalize
          • Length
          • Length XY
          • Distance
          • Distance 2D
        • Conversions
          • To Double Vector (Double Linear Color)
          • To Double Vector 2D (Double Linear Color)
          • To Linear Color (Double Linear Color)
          • To Vector (Double Linear Color)
          • To Vector 2D (Double Linear Color)
          • To Double Linear Color (Double)
          • To Double Vector (Double)
          • To Double Vector 2D (Double)
          • To Float (Double)
          • To Double Linear Color (Double Vector 2D)
          • To Double Vector (Double Vector 2D)
          • To Linear Color (Double Vector 2D)
          • To Vector (Double Vector 2D)
          • To Vector 2D (Double Vector 2D)
          • To Double Linear Color (Double Vector)
          • To Double Vector 2D (Double Vector)
          • To Linear Color (Double Vector)
          • To Vector (Double Vector)
          • To Vector 2D (Double Vector)
          • To Double (Float)
          • To Linear Color (Float)
          • To Vector (Float)
          • To Vector 2D (Float)
          • To Double (Integer)
          • To Float (Integer)
          • To Int Point (Integer)
          • To Int Vector (Integer)
          • To Int Vector 4 (Integer)
          • To Seed (Integer)
          • To Double Linear Color (Int Point)
          • To Double Vector (Int Point)
          • To Double Vector 2D (Int Point)
          • To Int Vector (Int Point)
          • To Int Vector 4 (Int Point)
          • To Linear Color (Int Point)
          • To Vector (Int Point)
          • To Vector 2D (Int Point)
          • To Double Linear Color (Int Vector 4)
          • To Double Vector (Int Vector 4)
          • To Double Vector 2D (Int Vector 4)
          • To Int Point (Int Vector 4)
          • To Int Vector (Int Vector 4)
          • To Linear Color (Int Vector 4)
          • To Vector (Int Vector 4)
          • To Vector 2D (Int Vector 4)
          • To Double Linear Color (Int Vector)
          • To Double Vector (Int Vector)
          • To Double Vector 2D (Int Vector)
          • To Int Point (Int Vector)
          • To Int Vector 4 (Int Vector)
          • To Linear Color (Int Vector)
          • To Vector (Int Vector)
          • To Vector 2D (Int Vector)
          • To Double Linear Color (Linear Color)
          • To Double Vector (Linear Color)
          • To Double Vector 2D (Linear Color)
          • To Vector (Linear Color)
          • To Vector 2D (Linear Color)
          • To Integer (Seed)
          • To Double Linear Color (Vector 2D)
          • To Double Vector (Vector 2D)
          • To Double Vector 2D (Vector 2D)
          • To Linear Color (Vector 2D)
          • To Vector (Vector 2D)
          • To Double Linear Color (Vector)
          • To Double Vector (Vector)
          • To Double Vector 2D (Vector)
          • To Linear Color (Vector)
          • To Vector 2D (Vector)
        • Curve
          • Make Curve from Asset
          • Sample Curve
        • Color
          • Break Double Linear Color
          • Break Linear Color
          • Make Double Linear Color
          • Make Linear Color
        • Vector
          • Break Double Vector
          • Break Vector
          • Make Double Vector
          • Make Vector
        • Vector2D
          • Break Double Vector 2D
          • Break Vector 2D
          • Make Double Vector 2D
          • Make Vector 2D
        • Interval
          • Break Float Range
          • Break Integer Range
          • Make Float Range
          • Make Integer Range
        • Int Point
          • Break Int Point
          • Make Int Point
        • Int Vector
          • Break Int Vector
          • Make Int Vector
        • Int Vector 4
          • Break Int Vector 4
          • Make Int Vector 4
        • Transform
          • Break Transform
          • Inverse Transform Location
          • Make Transform
          • Transform Location
        • Distance
          • Smooth Max
          • Smooth Min
        • Box
          • Break Box
          • Extend Box
          • Make Box
          • Make Box from Radius
          • Make Infinite Box
          • Transform Box
      • Color
        • Distance to Color
      • Surface
        • Merge Surface
        • Get Merge Data
        • Get Surface Distance
        • Get Surface Material
        • Get Surface Attribute
        • Set Surface Material
        • Set Surface Attribute
        • Bind Attribute Detail Texture
        • Make Height Surface
        • Make Volumetric Surface
        • Make Sphere Surface
        • Make Box Surface
        • Invert Surface
        • Mask Surface
        • Inflate Surface
        • Displace Surface
        • Create Voxelized Mesh Surface
        • Blend Materials
        • Get Bounds Box
        • Get Surface Bounds
        • Make Bounds from Local Box
      • Channel Nodes
        • Query Channel
      • Noise
        • Advanced Noise 2D
        • Advanced Noise 3D
        • Perlin Noise 2D
        • Perlin Noise 3D
        • Cellular Noise 2D
        • Cellular Noise 3D
        • True Distance Cellular Noise 2D
      • Name
        • Append Names
      • Array
        • Length
        • Get
      • Gradient
        • Get Gradient
      • Chunk Spawner
        • Make Invoker Chunk Spawner
        • Make Screen Size Chunk Spawner
      • Random
        • Rand Float
        • Random Vector
        • Random Rotator
        • Random Select
        • Hash Position
        • Rand Unit Vector
        • Break Random Vector Settings
        • Make Random Vector Settings
      • Flow Control
        • Select
      • Actor
        • Get Transform
      • Network
        • Is Client
        • Is Dedicated Server
        • Is Listen Server
        • Is Server
        • Is Standalone
      • Heightmap
        • Get Heightmap Bounds
        • Make Cubemap Planet Surface
        • Sample Heightmap
      • Voxelized Mesh
        • Make Voxelized Mesh from Static Mesh
    • Glossary
    • Licensing
    • Release Notes
      • 2.0p-340 Release Notes
      • 2.0p-320 Release Notes
      • 2.0p-317 Release Notes
      • 2.0p-304 Release Notes
    • Roadmap
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On this page
  • 1. Building performant graphs
  • 1.1 Node settings
  • 2. Integrated stats
  • 2.1 Enabling stats
  • 2.2 Interpreting stats
  • 3. Deep profiling using Insights

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  1. Knowledgebase
  2. Profiling & Debugging

Generation Performance

How to use graph stats, and what they do and do not show.

PreviousProfiling & DebuggingNextMemory Usage & Render Performance

Last updated 1 year ago

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In order to allow for easy profiling of generation performance, the graph system allows for the recording of generation stats.

1. Building performant graphs

There are some general considerations when it comes to building graphs that function quickly.

1.1 Node settings

Many of the more complex nodes within the plugin come have a variety of settings that will affect performance. Using these properly will lead to more performance for often similar results.

1.1.1 Channel registration / brush bounds

When calling Register to Channel, the node takes a bounds input. By default, these are infinite bounds, meaning this graph will be run for every voxel in the world. Using bounds that are as small as possible will allow graphs to be skipped when they aren't relevant. More information can be found on the page.

1.1.2 Distance Check Tolerance

The

2. Integrated stats

2.1 Enabling stats

If the Enable Stats toggle in the top-left is enabled (showing blue, instead grey like when disabled), supported (not all) nodes will start tracking their execution times.

When tracking stats is enabled, world generation may be slower.

2.2 Interpreting stats

Each node will show a yellow banner underneath, showing how often the node was run, how long a single run took on average, and how much time has been spent on the node in total. These values do not reset until stats are disabled and re-enabled. When re-generating the world, the stats will simply continue counting upwards without resetting their state.

Because world generation may take longer when stats are enbaled, the times reported are not always representative of the true time generation takes. The stats do give a concrete idea of how long one node takes compared to another node.

There is not currently any way to see the total time a graph has taken to generate, or to see how an inclusive time, i.e. how long a node plus its inputs took to run.

3. Deep profiling using Insights

While the above stats can be useful for quickly getting a feel of where a graph is spending its time, the system doesn't provide a complete picture of where all costs are going.

For deeper profiling, Unreal Insights is the most effective tool. Voxel Plugin generation tasks are fully visible to Insights, as long as the Voxel trace channel is enabled. Insights can be manually configured, or the console command voxel.StartInsights can be used to start a trace. An Insights window will be opened, and the active trace will be marked as Live. The trace can be ended using voxel.StopInsights.

Generation tasks are run on separate threads. To keep profiling straight-forward, we recommend using two threads for generation. Using more threads will make it harder to see where time is being spent. Using a single thread can create unrepresentative performance data as it may hide memory bottlenecks.

If there is noticeable hitching in the framerate during world generation, this will not be coming directly from the voxel threads, but instead will have its source in the render or game threads. If those don't show show anything clearly responsible for the hitches, it may be caused by a lack of RAM.

Brushes
A graph with stats enabled, showing execution times per node. The total times are not always accurate, but this does show that the cost of multiplying is way lower than the cost of generating 2D noise.