Blender v2.42a & YafRay v0.0.9 for Windows x64 *[Aug-11]

[adkiller]

Release Notes

Attention!: All the links below contain applications that will only function on both EM64T and AMD64 processors running Windows x64 editions.

If you are unable to extract the ZIP files in the links below. Try using 7-zip:
7-Zip 4.4x for Windows x64

Here are the links to download 'em:

For AMD64/EM64T processors with SSE3 support:
Blender v2.42a for Windows x64 *SSE3* (R5)
YafRay v0.0.9 for Windows x64 *SSE3* (R4)
Stackless Python 2.4.3 for Windows x64 *SSE3* (R3)

For AMD64/EM64T processors without SSE3 support:
Blender v2.42a for Windows x64 *SSE2* (R4)
YafRay v0.0.9 for Windows x64 *SSE2* (R3)
Stackless Python 2.4.3 for Windows x64 *SSE2* (R2)

If you are not sure whether your CPU supports SSE3 or only SSE2, use the following utility to find out:
CrystalCPUID Pure x64 Edition

If you need a full installation of Python, it is strongly recommended that you use the following Python distribution with Blender x64 as they are fully compatible with each other.

Python 2.4.3 for Windows x64 by ActiveState:
ActivePython 2.4.3.12 for Windows x64

To use the Stackless Python x64 provided in this release with ActivePython x64 do the following:
1. Extract Stackless-x64-2.4.3.zip to your desktop. You will see a folder labeled Stackless-x64-2.4.3.
2. Copy all the files with the .dll extension in the Stackless-x64-2.4.3 folder, to your C:\Windows\System32 directory. Click Yes when you see the Confirm File Replace dialog.
3. Copy all the files in the Stackless-x64-2.4.3\Lib folder to <Your ActivePython x64 installation directory>\Lib directory.
4. Load the "Python Interactive Shell" and you should see the following:

Code: Select all

Python 2.4.3 Stackless 3.1b3 060516 (#69, Jul 28 2006, 02:22:55) [MSC v.1400 64bit (AMD64)] on win32
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>>

Please post in this thread if you have any problems.

I have made some code tweaks and fixes to utilise 64-bit optimizations in all the above builds. You should be able to see a 40%-60% speed increase in most cases. Since this is a native Blender x64 application, it takes advantage of 64-bit OpenGL drivers. The above builds have undergone some regression tests and is as stable as the official 32-bit releases.

However, if you do find a problem with this build please report it here with the following details:
1. Describe what you were doing before the problem occured.
2. The .blend file you were using.

NOTE: This release will *only* work on the following OS:
1. Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
2. Microsoft Windows 2003 Server x64 Edition

This release will *not* work on Windows XP Home and XP Pro (32-bit Edition) running on AMD64/EM64T processors.

Change Log:

Jul 25, 2006:Blender v2.42a & YafRay v0.0.9 for Windows x64 *SSE3* (R1)
-Initial release
-Various bug fixes have been integrated into this build to improve stability
-The critical readshadowbuf and readshadowbuf_halo bug has been fixed
-Loop vectorization and parallelization optimizations have been added to improve performance on multi-core and SMP systems

Jul 28, 2006:Blender v2.42a & YafRay v0.0.9 for Windows x64 *SSE3* (R2)
-Updated runtime dependencies
-Rebuilt using latest compiler updates
-Some minor optimization tuning added

Jul 28, 2006:Stackless Python 2.4.3 for Windows x64 *SSE3* (R1)
-Updated release for ActivePython integration

Jul 31, 2006:Blender v2.42a & YafRay v0.0.9 for Windows x64 *SSE2* (R3)
-Initial release (all fixes in *SSE3* R2 has been integrated)
-Improved rendering precision and memory consumption

Jul 31, 2006:Stackless Python 2.4.3 for Windows x64 *SSE2* (R2)
-Initial release (all fixes in *SSE3* R1 has been integrated)
-Improved floating point precision

Jul 31, 2006:Blender v2.42a & YafRay v0.0.9 for Windows x64 *SSE3* (R4)
-Improved rendering precision and memory consumption
-Compiler settings causing renders to be slower than SSE2 builds have been fixed

Jul 31, 2006:Stackless Python 2.4.3 for Windows x64 *SSE3* (R3)
-Compiler settings corrected to match settings with other SSE3 builds to improve speed
-Improved floating point precision

Aug 7, 2006:Blender v2.42a for Windows x64 *SSE2* (R4) & *SSE3* (R5)
- Updated buggy Collada scripts in 2.4.2a to v0.3.89

Credits:
I would like to thank the following people who have helped me in testing my builds:
-etr9j
-CoolDude
-kencanvey
-m25

Enjoy,
-Ad

[etr9j]

After seeing that it's not only 64-bit, but SSE3 as well, I am contemplating leaving work early to go home a start using it. Thanks Ad for an amazing build!

[kencanvey]

Thanks for this adkiller, wow these builds really make a big diference on my new 64 bit system.

Thanks Ken

[kencanvey]

Just like to say that I can confirm that Blender does find Python, when the above mentioned build is used, as mentioned by adkiller.

Ken

[m25]

Always great, great, great! SSE3 & 64bit give a great boost. With this release my Athlon64 3000+ (@2GHz) outperforms a P4 3.0 HT (SSE2 blender *with threads enabled*) .
10-16% better than 2.41
20% better than 32bit SSE2
70% better than the official release

*Why don't this builds display in the main blender download after some thorough debugging; I have worked for 2 years with blender not knowing that I could get @ least a 50% cut on my render times and I bet that most people still use an unoptimized build while they could get the most from their PCs*

[ROUBAL]

Hi!

I'm also using Blender for now a little more than two years (since 2.31 I believe), and I used in the past several releases of Antares optimized builds.

Used separately these versions worked fine, but after a big render session done on several computers using both the official version and the optimized one I had a bad surprise. When I started merging the rendered sequences I discovered that the lighting (brightness) appeared very different, and I had to render again half of the work!

After that I stopped using the optimized version.

Philippe.

[Caronte]

I downloaded yafray & blender from the above links, but I get corrupted files any ideas

[kencanvey]

7zip worked for me, I also had corrupt files at first.

Ken

[etr9j]

Same here. I use Windows to try to open them at first but I couldn't extract. Then I used 7zip to extract and they popped out fine for me.

[adkiller]

Hi!
[snip]
Used separately these versions worked fine, but after a big render session done on several computers using both the official version and the optimized one I had a bad surprise. When I started merging the rendered sequences I discovered that the lighting (brightness) appeared very different, and I had to render again half of the work!
[snip]

I have specially compiled debug builds of Blender x86 and x64 specifically to fix bugs on my x64 releases.

If you are experiencing bugs with my releases. Please submit the details I need as per my release notes above an I'll complete a bugfix.

Thanks,
-Ad

[adkiller]

Thanks for the tip Ad! I didn't know about the x64 python build. Should I remove the above post by me?

I would appreciate it very much if you could remove my posts and yours related to this matter. This would avoid confusion between the comments and my release notes.

Thanks,
-Ad

[m25]

Noticed that you've also reduced memory consumption by some good 10-12% (now only about 35%+ than 32bit) and fixed the bug of the scenes with many light sources.

[adkiller]

Noticed that you've also reduced memory consumption by some good 10-12% (now only about 35%+ than 32bit) and fixed the bug of the scenes with many light sources.

If you find any bugs please let me know. As I have stated earlier in this thread, I will resolve the bugs as long as you submit the details needed.

Thanks,
-Ad

[m25]

Noticed that you've also reduced memory consumption by some good 10-12% (now only about 35%+ than 32bit) and fixed the bug of the scenes with many light sources.

If you find any bugs please let me know. As I have stated earlier in this thread, I will resolve the bugs as long as you submit the details needed.

Thanks,
-Ad

It happened me that when I added a very short (1 sec I think) sound track Blender crashed (not always though). It didn't happen with normal length tracks.

[adkiller]

[snip]
It happened me that when I added a very short (1 sec I think) sound track Blender crashed (not always though). It didn't happen with normal length tracks.

Does this happen with the latest builds? If you could send me a .blend file that causes the crash I could look into it and release a fix.

My e-mail: adkiller at post dot com

Thanks,
-Ad