TMSB Troubleshooting

article by Ben Lincoln

These are some basic guidelines for troubleshooting issues with The Mirror's Surface Breaks. TMSB is a complex application (especially if you are using a custom configuration), so this is not a comprehensive discussion. If you get stuck, feel free to get in touch with me using the Contact form, although I can't guarantee that I'll be able to solve your problem.

Like so many other pieces of technology, if you encounter a minor error (such as a single failed image out of a set), the first thing you should try doing is rerunning the processing of that set after the rest of the images are generated. If you are using any of the configurations included with TMSB, images that were created successfully the first time will not be generated again, so the processing of the one or two that failed should take place immediately.

If no images out of a set are generated, you should verify that in the Execution tab, the Script Processor Path is set to a valid location of davinci.bat from the DaVinci's Shadow script processor. By default, it is located in the DaVinci sub-directory of wherever you unzipped TMSB to. As mentioned earlier in the instructions, the first time you use TMSB on a particular computer you will need to hit the Browse button next to the Script Processor Path, then immediately hit the Open button. This requirement will be removed in a future release.

Another good general-purpose troubleshooting option in the GUI version is to reset to the default execution options (Tools -> Reset Execution Options To Default).

Make sure you have applied the latest patch (for example, 1.2.2 instead of just 1.2). 1.2.2 in particular reduces the memory used for certain processing methods dramatically.

If you are using some of the more complex processing, you may run into limitations related to the amount of memory that that DaVinci's Shadow script processor can address (2GB in the current version), if your source images are of very high resolution. With the 1.2.2 patch, the maximum size of image that can be processed for luminance/colour variations is about 13 megapixels (for example, source images of 5500 x 2360 or 5000 x 2600 in size). The limitation for statistical variations is similar, although involves the number of source bands as well. The limit for less exotic image types has not been determined, but is much higher.

Troubleshooting Options

This section refers to these options using their names in the GUI. The same options are available in the command-line interface. See the list at the bottom of the TMSB Tutorial 1: Basic Use article.

All of these options are located within the Execution tab.

Collect and Display Performance Data - this option is disabled by default (in the GUI - the reverse is true in the CLI), but if it's turned on, it will give you some idea of whether TMSB is putting too much of a load on your system in terms of CPU and/or RAM.
Log Level - if you are running into trouble, you can set this option to something other than None (and specify a full path in the Log File Path field) and see if helpful information shows up in the log file. If you are running into unexpected behaviour (such as TMSB not even attempting to generate a permutation that you think it should be), this is the best place to start. I recommend only using the Debug log level if all else fails, because it is extremely verbose. The other levels are manageable.
Log Mode - if this value is set to Append, and the log file specified by the Log File Path value already exists, then the file will be appended to. Otherwise, it will be overwritten.
Continue Processing Even When Errors Occur - This option is enabled by default, and causes TMSB to attempt to process the rest of the images in a set even if one or more fail. As noted above, it is not uncommon for one or two images to fail to be generated. If you encounter many errors, you may wish to disable this option while troubleshooting to prevent TMSB from attempting to launch numerous instances of DaVinci's Shadow.
Do Not Delete Temporary Files - if this option is enabled, it will cause TMSB to not delete the numerous .dv script files and log output that are generated as it performs its work. If you are getting to the point of stepping through the script to see why it's failing, or DaVinci's Shadow is crashing and no master log file is being generated, this is a good option to turn on.
Write Script Code Even When No Images Will Be Generated - by default, TMSB does not generate large blocks of script code when those blocks would not generate output images (for improved efficiency). If you expect to see an image that does not show up in the output directory and can't find a reference to it in the generated script, try turning on this option.
Display Thumbnails - this option is enabled by default. If it is turned off, the sliding thumbnail display in the GUI is disabled. If you are having trouble with the GUI (or just want to improve efficiency), you are probably better off using the CLI, but this option is still provided in case it is useful for someone.