Forma Render troubleshooting

This section describes issues you might encounter when using Forma Render.

Common issues

I want to use a different folder than My Documents to store shots and domes.

Go to your root asset folder and open RenderStudioSettings.json. You can set the projectFolder variable to a path of your choice. Changing it to . will store the Forma Render files in your project or application's local folder.

Where can I find domes?

Forma Render supports any HDRI panoramic image as a dome. You can find public domain images in places like Polyhaven.

Where can I find glTF files to use as unconfigurable products?

You can find licensed sample files in the Khronos Group on GitHub. You can also buy models on Sketchfab.

What format is the depth AOV?

You can retrieve the distance in meters with the formula 1 / (zBufferParams.z * depthAovValue + zBufferParams.w) where zBufferParams.z is (-1 / cameraFarClipDistance + 1 / cameraNearClipDistance) and zBufferParams.w is (1 / far).

UI issues

I can't move the camera.

Camera movement controls can be found in Navigating the 3D view.

Additionally, most camera types have movement restrictions depending on the type of camera they are. For example, Orbit cameras can only orbit around your product and can't translate or pan. You can see what type of camera you're using by looking at the inspector in the Camera panel. For more information about the different camera types, see Navigating the 3D view.

I can't see the product in the scene

Sometimes, the product can have an offset from the spawn point. You can either move the camera to the product by pressing the F key, or recenter the product to the spawn point position by clicking the "Fix Product Pivot" button, which is located at the bottom of the product panel.

My shots, domes, batches, and/or products are missing.

If you have recently updated your version of Forma Render, you might need to re-import your assets. See the Upgrade Guide for more information.

I duplicated a Forma camera and it's missing in Forma Render.

After you duplicate a Forma camera, ensure that the new camera has a unique Staging Item. In the Unity Editor, select the cameras and compare their properties in the Inspector under Camera Item Command Settings. If multiple cameras share the same Staging Item, change the values so that each camera has a unique one.

I want to disable backups.

In the Project window, go to your root asset folder and open RenderStudioSettings.json. To disable saving and loading backups, set disableBackups to true.

The 360 viewer doesn't work

Viewing 360 renders with our embedded viewer using Shot library > Right-click > Open In Browser works only when Microsoft Edge or Chrome is the default web browser.

Image rendering issues

Can I have a unique lighting setup for each camera?

Forma Render doesn't currently support per-camera attributes. However, you can implement custom camera events and manage the states yourself.

See the CustomCameraController.cs script for an example. You can find this script by importing the sample scripts from Unity Editor's Package Manager.

My turntable or camera animation video isn't smooth.

You can adjust the encoder target bitrate within the Forma Render application by going to Settings > Exports > Animation > Arguments. Increasing or doubling the bitrate might improve the quality of your video.

There are seams, line, or edge artifacts in my 360 shots.

You can use raytraced shadows and reflections to remove most 360 shot artifacts.

Alternatively, since 360 shots are rendered from 6 individual 90-degree sides as a single cubemap, screen space effects like ambient occlusion or reflections often show artifacts at the edges on each side. Within the Forma Render application, you can increase the amount of edge overlap by going to Settings > General > Debug > 360 Shot Edge Overlap and adjusting it from 0 to 0.5 or 1 degree. This setting renders each side with a larger field of view, which is then cropped back into the cubemap. Keep in mind that this setting also introduces some distortion and should be kept as low as possible.

The underside of my product is too bright.

For best lighting results, upgrade to Unity 2021.2 and enable path tracing. If path tracing isn't an option, you can enable the Shadow Plane > Reflect Shadow Plane post-processing effect and increase the ambient occlusion intensity and ambient occlusion radius values.

See Rendering with raytracing for more information.

I use GAIA and my trees come out transparent, gray, or white.

Change the HDRP Color Buffer Format to R11G11B10 in the Unity Editor under Player Settings > Quality > HDRP > Rendering > Color Buffer Format.

Some objects are pink in my AOV output.

Some materials don't currently support AOV output, such as HDRP/Unlit. You might need to change your materials.

Path Traced images with the denoiser enabled are still noisy.

When using Path Tracing, some materials, especially transparent materials, are not well supported by the denoiser. Disable the denoiser from Settings > Raytracing and increase the accumulation count significantly in Settings > Rendering > Output Quality.

System issues

Forma Render changes my lighting, raytracing, or scene settings in an undesired way.

You can change the postProcessingVolumePriority to 0 to disable Forma Render's post processing settings used by the camera and stage views.

I can't change stages or environments via image on demand.

The string used to identify the environment is the Forma unique code or unique ID for that environment, not the label. To identify it, use the Forma Render UI to select this environment, take a shot, and open the resulting meta.json file in a text editor. The "stage" : { "name" is in this meta file.

My CPU and GPU usage is very high when idling in batchmode.

See default frame rate. You can set this to a constant value in your built Forma Render application.

Batchmode image on demand is producing images with different FOV depending on machine resolution.

Some camera features are gatefit dependant and are affected by the window size. To fix this, pass constant window size arguments to the player instance such as -screen-width 1024 -screen-height 768.

I can make Forma Render standalone builds in DirectX 11 but not in DirectX 12.

See Unity Forma documentation. You must create a new Forma Compatibility Settings asset, add a Graphics API setting, and check Direct3D 12 for every platform you need. Auto graphics API isn't enough.

Choose this asset in the Forma build window for your Project Compatibility Settings.

I can produce images in DirectX 11 but not in DirectX 12.

Unity GPU memory management for Dx12 works under Unity 2022.1, but it's still not as stable as Dx11. To produce 4K and 8K images, go to Settings > Exports > Rendering > Post-Processing Resolution and reduce it to 2k or 1k. You can still render out 4K or 8K images regardless of this setting.

How do I use AOVs layers in digital content creation (DCC) tools?

From the Settings panel under Exports: Arbitrary Output Variables (AOVs) select "Layers" output type. This will export all selected AOVs in a single multipart EXR file that can be opened with the free Photoshop plugin https://www.exr-io.com/ as a pre-composited image.

I see bright object edges or nearly opaque white shadows when I open 32-bit EXR images with alpha in Photoshop

There seems to be an issue with 32-bit EXR images with alpha in Photoshop (Gimp displays them correctly however). You can convert the 32-bit EXR to 16-bit EXR using Photoshop's Image -> Mode menu. This will resolve the too bright object edges and shadows.

GLTF asset importer is showing warnings

Fix entry Disable glTFast Editor importer on the Forma Render wizard, or manually add GLTFAST_EDITOR_IMPORT_OFF and GLTFAST_FORCE_DEFAULT_IMPORTER_OFF to your Unity project's scripting define symbols.