precipitation system problem

I'm trying to use Caelum's Precipitations system, but I can't get it to work.
the problem is the same in my application and in Caelumlab that i have compiled. The initialization seems to work but i soon as i set precipitation intensity to non zero value, the 3D rendering seems to freeze. Only the CEGUI cursor is redrawn.
Does anyone encounter this kind of problem??

Precipitation only creates a compositor when you set intensity to non-zero. I guess that fails for you somehow. I can't see why that would happen since it's a very very simple compositor. A full ogre.log from CaelumLab could help.

There's also UI in CaelumLab for a screen-space fog compositor. Try to enable that too and see if it works.

I updated Caelum from svn, compiled caelum and CaelumLab in release mode and I have exactly the same problem...
I use Ogre 1.6.

I'm sorry but I can't reproduce this issue. Please provide more information (ogre.log; hardware info; etc). All I can tell you so far is that it "works for me".

i have the same problem:

here is what it looks like on directx

on opengl it works ok.

video card: radeon x1600

ogre log:

23:39:24: Creating resource group General
23:39:24: Creating resource group Internal
23:39:24: Creating resource group Autodetect
23:39:24: SceneManagerFactory for type 'DefaultSceneManager' registered.
23:39:24: Registering ResourceManager for type Material
23:39:24: Registering ResourceManager for type Mesh
23:39:24: Registering ResourceManager for type Skeleton
23:39:24: MovableObjectFactory for type 'ParticleSystem' registered.
23:39:24: OverlayElementFactory for type Panel registered.
23:39:24: OverlayElementFactory for type BorderPanel registered.
23:39:24: OverlayElementFactory for type TextArea registered.
23:39:24: Registering ResourceManager for type Font
23:39:24: ArchiveFactory for archive type FileSystem registered.
23:39:24: ArchiveFactory for archive type Zip registered.
23:39:24: FreeImage version: 3.10.0
23:39:24: This program uses FreeImage, a free, open source image library supporting all common bitmap formats. See http://freeimage.sourceforge.net for details
23:39:24: Supported formats: bmp,ico,jpg,jif,jpeg,jpe,jng,koa,iff,lbm,mng,pbm,pbm,pcd,pcx,pgm,pgm,png,ppm,ppm,ras,tga,targa,tif,tiff,wap,wbmp,wbm,psd,cut,xbm,xpm,gif,hdr,g3,sgi,exr,j2k,j2c,jp2
23:39:24: DDS codec registering
23:39:24: Registering ResourceManager for type HighLevelGpuProgram
23:39:24: Registering ResourceManager for type Compositor
23:39:24: MovableObjectFactory for type 'Entity' registered.
23:39:24: MovableObjectFactory for type 'Light' registered.
23:39:24: MovableObjectFactory for type 'BillboardSet' registered.
23:39:24: MovableObjectFactory for type 'ManualObject' registered.
23:39:24: MovableObjectFactory for type 'BillboardChain' registered.
23:39:24: MovableObjectFactory for type 'RibbonTrail' registered.
23:39:24: Loading library .\Plugin_CgProgramManager
23:39:24: Installing plugin: Cg Program Manager
23:39:24: Plugin successfully installed
23:39:24: Loading library .\Plugin_OctreeSceneManager
23:39:24: Installing plugin: Octree & Terrain Scene Manager
23:39:24: Plugin successfully installed
23:39:24: Loading library .\RenderSystem_GL
23:39:24: Installing plugin: GL RenderSystem
23:39:24: OpenGL Rendering Subsystem created.
23:39:24: Plugin successfully installed
23:39:24: Loading library .\RenderSystem_Direct3D9
23:39:24: Installing plugin: D3D9 RenderSystem
23:39:24: D3D9 : Direct3D9 Rendering Subsystem created.
23:39:25: D3D9: Driver Detection Starts
23:39:25: D3D9: Driver Detection Ends
23:39:25: Plugin successfully installed
23:39:25: *-*-* OGRE Initialising
23:39:25: *-*-* Version 1.6.1 (Shoggoth)
23:39:25: Installing plugin: Caelum
23:39:25: Caelum plugin version 0.4.0 installed
23:39:25: Registering ResourceManager for type PropertyScript
23:39:25: Plugin successfully installed
23:39:25: Creating resource group Bootstrap
23:39:25: Added resource location '..\..\samples\resources\OgreCore.zip' of type 'Zip' to resource group 'Bootstrap'
23:39:25: Creating resource group CEGUI
23:39:25: Added resource location '..\..\samples\resources\gui\' of type 'FileSystem' to resource group 'CEGUI'
23:39:25: Creating resource group Caelum
23:39:25: Added resource location '..\..\main\resources\' of type 'FileSystem' to resource group 'Caelum'
23:39:25: Added resource location '..\..\samples\resources\' of type 'FileSystem' to resource group 'Caelum'
23:39:25: D3D9 : RenderSystem Option: Allow NVPerfHUD = No
23:39:25: D3D9 : RenderSystem Option: Anti aliasing = None
23:39:25: D3D9 : RenderSystem Option: Floating-point mode = Fastest
23:39:25: D3D9 : RenderSystem Option: Full Screen = No
23:39:25: D3D9 : RenderSystem Option: Rendering Device = Radeon X1600 Series
23:39:25: D3D9 : RenderSystem Option: VSync = No
23:39:25: D3D9 : RenderSystem Option: Video Mode = 800 x 600 @ 32-bit colour
23:39:25: D3D9 : RenderSystem Option: sRGB Gamma Conversion = No
23:39:27: *** Stopping Win32GL Subsystem ***
23:39:27: CPU Identifier & Features
23:39:27: -------------------------
23:39:27: * CPU ID: GenuineIntel: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6320 @ 1.86GHz
23:39:27: * SSE: yes
23:39:27: * SSE2: yes
23:39:27: * SSE3: yes
23:39:27: * MMX: yes
23:39:27: * MMXEXT: yes
23:39:27: * 3DNOW: no
23:39:27: * 3DNOWEXT: no
23:39:27: * CMOV: yes
23:39:27: * TSC: yes
23:39:27: * FPU: yes
23:39:27: * PRO: yes
23:39:27: * HT: no
23:39:27: -------------------------
23:39:27: D3D9 : Subsystem Initialising
23:39:27: D3D9RenderSystem::_createRenderWindow "OGRE Render Window", 800x600 windowed miscParams: FSAA=0 FSAAQuality=0 colourDepth=32 gamma=false useNVPerfHUD=false vsync=false
23:39:27: D3D9 : Created D3D9 Rendering Window 'OGRE Render Window' : 800x600, 32bpp
23:39:27: D3D9 : WARNING - disabling VSync in windowed mode can cause timing issues at lower frame rates, turn VSync on if you observe this problem.
23:39:27: Registering ResourceManager for type Texture
23:39:27: Registering ResourceManager for type GpuProgram
23:39:27: RenderSystem capabilities
23:39:27: -------------------------
23:39:27: RenderSystem Name: Direct3D9 Rendering Subsystem
23:39:27: GPU Vendor: ati
23:39:27: Device Name: Radeon X1600 Series
23:39:27: Driver Version: 6.14.10.6912
23:39:27: * Fixed function pipeline: yes
23:39:27: * Hardware generation of mipmaps: yes
23:39:27: * Texture blending: yes
23:39:27: * Anisotropic texture filtering: yes
23:39:27: * Dot product texture operation: yes
23:39:27: * Cube mapping: yes
23:39:27: * Hardware stencil buffer: yes
23:39:27: - Stencil depth: 8
23:39:27: - Two sided stencil support: yes
23:39:27: - Wrap stencil values: yes
23:39:27: * Hardware vertex / index buffers: yes
23:39:27: * Vertex programs: yes
23:39:27: * Fragment programs: yes
23:39:27: * Geometry programs: no
23:39:27: * Supported Shader Profiles: hlsl ps_1_1 ps_1_2 ps_1_3 ps_1_4 ps_2_0 ps_2_a ps_2_b ps_2_x ps_3_0 vs_1_1 vs_2_0 vs_2_a vs_2_x vs_3_0
23:39:27: * Texture Compression: yes
23:39:27: - DXT: yes
23:39:27: - VTC: no
23:39:27: * Scissor Rectangle: yes
23:39:27: * Hardware Occlusion Query: yes
23:39:27: * User clip planes: yes
23:39:27: * VET_UBYTE4 vertex element type: yes
23:39:27: * Infinite far plane projection: yes
23:39:27: * Hardware render-to-texture: yes
23:39:27: * Floating point textures: yes
23:39:27: * Non-power-of-two textures: yes (limited)
23:39:27: * Volume textures: yes
23:39:27: * Multiple Render Targets: 4
23:39:27: - With different bit depths: no
23:39:27: * Point Sprites: yes
23:39:27: * Extended point parameters: yes
23:39:27: * Max Point Size: 256
23:39:27: * Vertex texture fetch: no
23:39:27: * Render to Vertex Buffer : no
23:39:27: * DirectX per stage constants: no
23:39:27: ***************************************
23:39:27: *** D3D9 : Subsystem Initialised OK ***
23:39:27: ***************************************
23:39:27: ResourceBackgroundQueue - threading disabled
23:39:27: Particle Renderer Type 'billboard' registered
23:39:27: SceneManagerFactory for type 'OctreeSceneManager' registered.
23:39:27: SceneManagerFactory for type 'TerrainSceneManager' registered.
23:39:27: TerrainSceneManager: Registered a new PageSource for type Heightmap
23:39:27: Parsing scripts for resource group Autodetect
23:39:27: Finished parsing scripts for resource group Autodetect
23:39:27: Parsing scripts for resource group Bootstrap
23:39:27: Parsing script OgreCore.material
23:39:27: Parsing script OgreProfiler.material
23:39:27: Parsing script Ogre.fontdef
23:39:27: Parsing script OgreDebugPanel.overlay
23:39:27: Texture: New_Ogre_Border_Center.png: Loading 1 faces(PF_A8R8G8B8,256x128x1) with hardware generated mipmaps from Image. Internal format is PF_A8R8G8B8,256x128x1.
23:39:28: Texture: New_Ogre_Border.png: Loading 1 faces(PF_A8R8G8B8,256x256x1) with hardware generated mipmaps from Image. Internal format is PF_A8R8G8B8,256x256x1.
23:39:28: Texture: New_Ogre_Border_Break.png: Loading 1 faces(PF_A8R8G8B8,32x32x1) with hardware generated mipmaps from Image. Internal format is PF_A8R8G8B8,32x32x1.
23:39:28: Font BlueHighwayusing texture size 512x512
23:39:28: Info: Freetype returned null for character 127 in font BlueHighway
23:39:28: Info: Freetype returned null for character 128 in font BlueHighway
23:39:28: Info: Freetype returned null for character 129 in font BlueHighway
23:39:28: Info: Freetype returned null for character 130 in font BlueHighway
23:39:28: Info: Freetype returned null for character 131 in font BlueHighway
23:39:28: Info: Freetype returned null for character 132 in font BlueHighway
23:39:28: Info: Freetype returned null for character 133 in font BlueHighway
23:39:28: Info: Freetype returned null for character 134 in font BlueHighway
23:39:28: Info: Freetype returned null for character 135 in font BlueHighway
23:39:28: Info: Freetype returned null for character 136 in font BlueHighway
23:39:28: Info: Freetype returned null for character 137 in font BlueHighway
23:39:28: Info: Freetype returned null for character 138 in font BlueHighway
23:39:28: Info: Freetype returned null for character 139 in font BlueHighway
23:39:28: Info: Freetype returned null for character 140 in font BlueHighway
23:39:28: Info: Freetype returned null for character 141 in font BlueHighway
23:39:28: Info: Freetype returned null for character 142 in font BlueHighway
23:39:28: Info: Freetype returned null for character 143 in font BlueHighway
23:39:28: Info: Freetype returned null for character 144 in font BlueHighway
23:39:28: Info: Freetype returned null for character 145 in font BlueHighway
23:39:28: Info: Freetype returned null for character 146 in font BlueHighway
23:39:28: Info: Freetype returned null for character 147 in font BlueHighway
23:39:28: Info: Freetype returned null for character 148 in font BlueHighway
23:39:28: Info: Freetype returned null for character 149 in font BlueHighway
23:39:28: Info: Freetype returned null for character 150 in font BlueHighway
23:39:28: Info: Freetype returned null for character 151 in font BlueHighway
23:39:28: Info: Freetype returned null for character 152 in font BlueHighway
23:39:28: Info: Freetype returned null for character 153 in font BlueHighway
23:39:28: Info: Freetype returned null for character 154 in font BlueHighway
23:39:28: Info: Freetype returned null for character 155 in font BlueHighway
23:39:28: Info: Freetype returned null for character 156 in font BlueHighway
23:39:28: Info: Freetype returned null for character 157 in font BlueHighway
23:39:28: Info: Freetype returned null for character 158 in font BlueHighway
23:39:28: Info: Freetype returned null for character 159 in font BlueHighway
23:39:28: Info: Freetype returned null for character 160 in font BlueHighway
23:39:28: Texture: BlueHighwayTexture: Loading 1 faces(PF_BYTE_LA,512x512x1) with 0 generated mipmaps from Image. Internal format is PF_BYTE_LA,512x512x1.
23:39:28: Texture: ogretext.png: Loading 1 faces(PF_A8R8G8B8,256x128x1) with hardware generated mipmaps from Image. Internal format is PF_A8R8G8B8,256x128x1.
23:39:28: Parsing script OgreLoadingPanel.overlay
23:39:28: Finished parsing scripts for resource group Bootstrap
23:39:28: Parsing scripts for resource group CEGUI
23:39:28: Finished parsing scripts for resource group CEGUI
23:39:28: Parsing scripts for resource group Caelum
23:39:28: Parsing script DepthRender.program
23:39:28: Parsing script GroundFog.program
23:39:28: Parsing script Haze.program
23:39:28: Parsing script MinimalCompositorVP.program
23:39:28: Parsing script DepthComposer.material
23:39:28: Parsing script GroundFog.material
23:39:28: Parsing script LayeredClouds.material
23:39:28: Parsing script moon.material
23:39:28: Parsing script PointStarfield.material
23:39:28: Parsing script Precipitation.material
23:39:28: Parsing script SkyDome.material
23:39:28: Parsing script Starfield.material
23:39:28: Parsing script Sun.material
23:39:28: Parsing script CaelumSample.material
23:39:28: Parsing script DepthComposer.compositor
23:39:28: Parsing script Precipitation.compositor
23:39:28: Parsing script TestSkyScript.os
23:39:28: Finished parsing scripts for resource group Caelum
23:39:28: Parsing scripts for resource group General
23:39:28: Finished parsing scripts for resource group General
23:39:28: Parsing scripts for resource group Internal
23:39:28: Finished parsing scripts for resource group Internal
23:39:28: TerrainSceneManager: Activated PageSource Heightmap
23:39:28: Texture: terrain_dirt-grass.jpg: Loading 1 faces(PF_R8G8B8,256x256x1) with hardware generated mipmaps from Image. Internal format is PF_X8R8G8B8,256x256x1.
23:39:28: Texture: terrain_detail.jpg: Loading 1 faces(PF_R8G8B8,256x256x1) with hardware generated mipmaps from Image. Internal format is PF_X8R8G8B8,256x256x1.
23:39:28: Mesh: Loading TudorHouse.mesh.
23:39:28: Texture: TudorHouse.jpg: Loading 1 faces(PF_R8G8B8,1024x1024x1) with hardware generated mipmaps from Image. Internal format is PF_X8R8G8B8,1024x1024x1.
23:39:28: Texture: AlphaBlendTest.png: Loading 1 faces(PF_A8R8G8B8,512x512x1) with hardware generated mipmaps from Image. Internal format is PF_A8R8G8B8,512x512x1.
23:39:28: Texture: AlphaRejectionTest.png: Loading 1 faces(PF_A8R8G8B8,512x512x1) with hardware generated mipmaps from Image. Internal format is PF_A8R8G8B8,512x512x1.
23:39:28: *** Initializing OIS ***
23:39:28: Texture: TaharezLook.tga: Loading 1 faces(PF_A8R8G8B8,256x256x1) with 0 generated mipmaps from Image. Internal format is PF_A8R8G8B8,256x256x1.
23:39:29: Texture: _cegui_ogre_0: Loading 1 faces(PF_A8R8G8B8,128x128x1) with 0 generated mipmaps from Image. Internal format is PF_A8R8G8B8,128x128x1.
23:39:29: Texture: _cegui_ogre_1: Loading 1 faces(PF_A8R8G8B8,32x32x1) with 0 generated mipmaps from Image. Internal format is PF_A8R8G8B8,32x32x1.
23:39:29: Caelum: Initialising Caelum system...
23:39:29: Texture: EarthClearSky2.png: Loading 1 faces(PF_A8R8G8B8,64x64x1) with 0 generated mipmaps from Image. Internal format is PF_A8R8G8B8,64x64x1.
23:39:29: Texture: AtmosphereDepth.png: Loading 1 faces(PF_R8G8B8,32x1x1) with hardware generated mipmaps from Image. Internal format is PF_X8R8G8B8,32x1x1.
23:39:29: Caelum: Creating CaelumSphericDome sphere mesh resource...
23:39:29: Caelum: generateSphericDome DONE
23:39:29: Mesh: Loading sphere.mesh.
23:39:29: D3D9 : Loading 2D Texture, image name : 'moon_disc.dds' with 5 mip map levels
23:39:29: CaelumSystem: Attached to viewport 18294408 render target OGRE Render Window
23:39:29: D3D9 : Loading 2D Texture, image name : 'noise1.dds' with 5 mip map levels
23:39:29: D3D9 : Loading 2D Texture, image name : 'noise2.dds' with 5 mip map levels
23:39:29: D3D9 : Loading 2D Texture, image name : 'noise4.dds' with 5 mip map levels
23:39:35: Texture: precipitation_drizzle.png: Loading 1 faces(PF_R8G8B8,512x512x1) with hardware generated mipmaps from Image. Internal format is PF_X8R8G8B8,512x512x1.
23:39:36: Texture: precipitation_rain.png: Loading 1 faces(PF_R8G8B8,512x512x1) with hardware generated mipmaps from Image. Internal format is PF_X8R8G8B8,512x512x1.
23:39:44: Texture: precipitation_snow.png: Loading 1 faces(PF_R8G8B8,512x512x1) with hardware generated mipmaps from Image. Internal format is PF_X8R8G8B8,512x512x1.
23:39:59: Caelum: Delete UniversalClock
23:39:59: Caelum: CaelumSystem destroyed.
23:39:59: *-*-* OGRE Shutdown
23:39:59: Unregistering ResourceManager for type Compositor
23:39:59: Unregistering ResourceManager for type Font
23:39:59: Unregistering ResourceManager for type Skeleton
23:39:59: Unregistering ResourceManager for type Mesh
23:39:59: Unregistering ResourceManager for type HighLevelGpuProgram
23:39:59: Uninstalling plugin: D3D9 RenderSystem
23:39:59: D3D9 : Shutting down cleanly.
23:39:59: Unregistering ResourceManager for type Texture
23:39:59: Unregistering ResourceManager for type GpuProgram
23:39:59: D3D9 : Direct3D9 Rendering Subsystem destroyed.
23:39:59: Plugin successfully uninstalled
23:39:59: Unloading library .\RenderSystem_Direct3D9
23:39:59: Uninstalling plugin: GL RenderSystem
23:39:59: *** Stopping Win32GL Subsystem ***
23:39:59: Plugin successfully uninstalled
23:39:59: Unloading library .\RenderSystem_GL
23:39:59: Uninstalling plugin: Octree & Terrain Scene Manager
23:39:59: Plugin successfully uninstalled
23:39:59: Unloading library .\Plugin_OctreeSceneManager
23:39:59: Uninstalling plugin: Cg Program Manager
23:39:59: Plugin successfully uninstalled
23:39:59: Unloading library .\Plugin_CgProgramManager
23:39:59: Unregistering ResourceManager for type PropertyScript
23:39:59: Caelum plugin uninstalled
23:39:59: Unregistering ResourceManager for type Material


apparently no errors

First of all Thanks for the Caelum! It is a very great work! But unfortunately I have the same problem also, and the problem occurred only when I'm using DirectX. The screen was freezing when the precipitation intensity is bigger than zero. When I saw the log, I didn't see anything wrong. But when I switched to OpenGL, everything was running quiet well, hmm not very well I think, somehow my application's FPS in OpenGL is much lower than in DirectX (perhaps because my application uses a huge amount of DDS texture? - but this is another problem :p). Thanks a lot!
Ps. I'm using Vista and ATI Mobility Radeon HD3470.

Regards,
Oka Sugandi.

Any word on a work around or fix for this?? I'm having the same problem on my end with Ogre 1.6. I think the common thread is the ATI Radeon card. I'm running the ATI Radeon HD 4800 series. OpenGL doesn't perform as well as DirectX on my system and there's some other quarks, so I'd like to keep using DirectX. Clouds, sun, etc seem to work fine, but when I try precipitation, the screen just seems to freeze up. I am running Vista 64-bit as well. Any ideas? I love Caelum BTW as this is really my only complaint so far.

Any word on a work around or fix for this?? I'm having the same problem on my end with Ogre 1.6. I think the common thread is the ATI Radeon card. I'm running the ATI Radeon HD 4800 series. OpenGL doesn't perform as well as DirectX on my system and there's some other quarks, so I'd like to keep using DirectX. Clouds, sun, etc seem to work fine, but when I try precipitation, the screen just seems to freeze up. I am running Vista 64-bit as well. Any ideas? I love Caelum BTW as this is really my only complaint so far.
I tested ATI/Windows/DirectX as well as a variety of other platforms and I've been unable to reproduce this so far. Not sure about Vista 64 bit; I've never dealt with 64 bit and I'm not familiar with the issues. Precipitation is a very simple compositor and there's no good reason for this. Can this be reproduced with other compositors; like from the ogre demos?

cdleonard -

Well, I don't know much about how the compositors work yet... But, I went through all the compositors on the Ogre Compositor demo like you asked and everything worked okay with my ATI Radeon 4800. I even recompiled everything for the latest patch of 1.6.2 of Ogre and got the latest Caelum from the SVN trunk. I'm hoping there is a simple solution to this so I can run precipitation with DirectX with my ATI card. I'm not sure if it's just the card or a combination of that and Vista, but it's not a problem on my other XP machine with an INVIDIA card. Let me know what you think and if there's a way I can help test or replicate this for you. Thanks!

Just thought I'd report that this is indeed an ATI problem. I've tested our app on 4-5 nvidia and 4-5 different ati and all ati do this freezing thing, not nvidia. The app doesn't freeze though, so if you turn rain off the screen updates again. It's like the back buffer isn't getting cleared because our debug overlay is drawing over the top.
One thing is one friend showed me in WoW he gets a similar problem sometimes. ie the screen freezes but the game continues in the background until something happens and the screen works again. There doesn't seem to be something as obvious as the rain compositor turning on but it's the same effect.

I can confirm the above findings concerning ATI cards (tested on different cards, different OS). Like reported elsewhere on the forums, ATIs seem to have a problem with shader profile mixing. After just pushing up all the shader definitions to vs_3_0 (no code changes at all), everything works like a charm on my test system (ATI X1650). Since the fragment shaders need ps_3_0 anyway, imho there is no reason to keep the vertex shaders at vs_1_1 or vs_2_0. As soon as lower profile fragment shaders are available, one would of course need corresponding (code-wise identical) vertex shaders.

This solution works for caelum 0.4.0 - trunk was only partially tested, but should also work.

I can confirm the above findings concerning ATI cards (tested on different cards, different OS). Like reported elsewhere on the forums, ATIs seem to have a problem with shader profile mixing. After just pushing up all the shader definitions to vs_3_0 (no code changes at all), everything works like a charm on my test system (ATI X1650). Since the fragment shaders need ps_3_0 anyway, imho there is no reason to keep the vertex shaders at vs_1_1 or vs_2_0. As soon as lower profile fragment shaders are available, one would of course need corresponding (code-wise identical) vertex shaders.

This solution works for caelum 0.4.0 - trunk was only partially tested, but should also work.

ahhhhh, damn it. Ages ago I painstakingly found that out for some other thing that didn't work on ATI's. I can't believe I didn't remember! Thanks.
ps I also think OGRE should give a log file exception/warning with this. This came up before, but can't remember what sinbad thought of it

We are experiencing a similar issue on OSX with an ATI card. When the precipitation shader switches on the screen will freeze. It's not just the Caelum compositor that this happens it's also the other Ogre demo compositors that give problems. We converted the Caelum 0.4 shaders from Cg to native GLSL to see if that fixes the problem but it did not help, although it freed us from the Cg dependency.

The compositors seem to work as expected on all Nvidia cards that we tested.

-Fish

I modified trunk to use equal profiles; can somebody confirm the fix?

I can confirm the fix. Precip finally works on my ATI card. Thanks!