Difference between revisions of "DrawCallMonitor"
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== Usage == | == Usage == | ||
| − | [[Image: | + | [[Image:DrawCallMonitor_newUI.jpg|thumb|Figure 1: Object statistics for the default snowplow model]] |
| − | [[Image: | + | [[Image:DrawCallMonitor_detail_newUI.jpg|thumb|Figure 2: Expanded object statistics for the default snowplow model]] |
'''Opening files''' | '''Opening files''' | ||
Revision as of 13:08, 18 August 2011
DrawCallMonitor is a tool that can help you to evaluate how well optimised your MDL object is when it comes down to performance. For some background information on how drawcalls and texture vertices affect the performance, please read this article.
This manual discusses how to install and use the tool. Besides that it will list some of the limitations that you might notice.
Contents
Installation
The installation of DrawCallMonitor is quite simple. All you need to do is unzip the ZIP file you downloaded to a folder of your own choice. All the files needed to run the tool are included. If you ever want to remove it again, simple delete this folder.
Usage
Opening files
There are three ways to open a model into the tool for analysis:
- Use the Open button at the bottom of the screen and locate the MDL file you want to open
- Drag and drop the MDL file you want to open onto the DrawCallMonitor form
- Provide them as a command line argument when you start DrawCallMonitor (or drop them onto the executable)
Object statistics
Once you have opened the file you want, the statistics of that object should appear on screen. Figure 1 shows an example of how these statistics can look. If the screen remains blank it could be that the tool failed to load this model. If so please report this as a bug.
What you see if an overview of all the levels of details (LODs) in your model and for each of them the number of drawcalls, texture vertices and triangles is given. The amount of drawcalls is the parameter that you probably want to minimize as much as you can. But the amount of texture vertices and triangles used also give a good idea of the complexity. Especially how this is distributed over your LODs is very important, as the lower LODs should use less triangles, texture vertices and drawcalls.
Show details
With the show details checkbox you can display even more detailed statistics. When this option is selected the amount of triangles and texture vertices will be displayed for each drawcall. Besides this also the texture name used by that drawcall is given (if a texture is used of course). This might help you to identify which parts of your model can use further optimizing. Figure 2 shows an example of how these extra details can look.
If you click on any of the columns, then the parts in each LOD will be sorted according to that column. So clicking on the triangles column will sort the parts in each LOD to increasing triangle count.
Known issues
This is an overview of some of the issues that have been reported for this tool:
- There is some doubt if the indicated amount of drawcalls is always accurate. Some people report that the amount is too high in some cases. The tool list the drawcalls as found in the MDL file, some research is now being done to see if this is always the amount of drawcalls that affect the performance. In any case the tool can be used for comparison purposes as every MDL file is examined the same.
Support
If you have any problems while using the tool or if you have suggestions and other feedback to improve the tool, please let me know. You can either contact me directly or visit the ModelConverterX subforum at FSDeveloper.com.
