Computing Simulations

This page describes the different ways to run a simulation inSpeos.

Before Running a Simulation...

Make sure that all 3D Texture features are computed (that means no 3D Texture is flagged with the require compute icon in the Simulation panel). Otherwise, when you modify a 3D Texture that needs a manual compute, if you do not compute the 3D Texture, the simulation will not consider the modifications. On the contrary, the simulation will use the previous state of the 3D Texture.

Estimated RAM to Compute Simulation

In the Simulation definition an estimation of the RAM required to compute the simulation is displayed.

This estimation is based on the sensors and their number of layers and the sources defined in the Direct or Inverse simulation.

Note: The meshing applied on geometries is not considered in the RAM estimation.
The following sensors are not considered in the RAM estimation:
  • 3D Energy Density sensor
  • 3D Irradiance sensor
  • LiDAR sensor
  • Light Field sensor

Black-boxed Light Boxes are not considered in the memory estimation of a simulation. Black-box restricts the access to the content of a Light Box, therefore preventing its estimation.

Tip: If a XML template is used in sensors, deactivating Filtering options may divide by around 2 the required memory.

Simulation Initialization

Before the simulation can run, several initialization operations need to be performed by Speos.
  • The System Check corresponds to the operation that Speos performs to identify potential system errors ((optical properties not set, inconsistent set of parameters, etc.). If an error is encountered, the initialization is stopped, and the corresponding errors are displayed to the end user.
  • The Meshing Application corresponds to the operation that Speos performs to mesh the geometries included into th simulation. This operation can take some time according to the complexity of the geometries and the quantity.

Before version 2024 R2...

Before version 2024 R2, the initialization operations were performed in this order:
  1. Meshing Application
  2. System Check

This configuration implies that you have to wait for the Meshing Application to finish to be aware of the system errors, and so correct them.

As of version 2024 R2

As of version 2024 R2, the initialization operations are performed in this order:
  1. System Check
  2. Meshing Application

This configuration allows you to quickly identify the system errors. Thus, you do no have to wait for the Meshing Application that can take time to be performed, to be notified about potential system errors. However, the overall initialization operations time may take more time than the configuration before version 2024 R2.

Automatic Compute

Note: The Automatic compute is only available from the feature contextual menu.

Depending on the feature, the computation is done manually or automatically.

In Speos, certain features (usually features that do not require heavy calculation resources) are updated automatically, like certain optical design parts.

The Automatic Compute is useful when coupled with an Interactive Simulation to generate rays automatically without having to manually compute the simulation.

However, when the feature requires a certain amount of memory resources, the Compute option is used to generate the feature or launch the simulation.

Interactive Simulation can be switched from one mode to another depending on your needs:

  • Activate the Automatic compute when wanting the simulation to be updated every time an input is modified (best suited for light simulations).
  • Deactivate this mode when working with heavy simulations to avoid unwanted updates when modifying an input.

Automatic compute of feature at project opening

Simulation compute is set as manual by default. That means, if you apply a modification on an input of the simulation (Source, Sensor, Geometry, parameter, etc.), you will have to compute the simulation manually to update it accordingly.

However, the simulation (set as manual) can be not up to date at the opening of a project, even if you did not perform any modification. This particular case appears when the simulation contains a feature that updates automatically at ech opening of a project. The features concerned are:
  • Freeform Lens
  • Light Guide
  • Speos Pattern
  • Physical Camera Sensor
  • Display Source
  • Light Field Source
  • Surface Source
  • Optical Design Exchange

GPU Compute

The GPU Compute option runs simulations on your computer using the cores of your GPU. The GPU compute offers a faster alternative than classic CPU simulation.

To define the GPU to use for the compute:

  1. Click File > Speos options
  2. Click the Light Simulation section.

  3. In the GPU tab, in the GPU simulation section check the GPUs to use.

    Note: If you select multiple GPUs, simulations will consume the sum of the equivalent cores per GPU.

    If you select no GPU, Speos will automatically select the most powerful available.

To get a list of simulations compatible with GPU Compute, see Simulation Compatibility.

Live Preview

The Live Preview allows you to compute the simulation using progressive rendering with the most powerful GPU available on your computer. The result is displayed in a dedicated window and calculated in real-time.

For more information on the Interactive Live Preview, refer directly to the dedicated chapter Speos Live Preview.

Interactive Live Preview

The Interactive Live Preview tool permits you to directly see, in the current running Live Preview window, the changes applied on your project without having to launch a simulation to see the result.

For more information on the Interactive Live Preview, refer directly to the dedicated chapter Interactive Live Preview.

External Simulations

External Simulations are simulations run through Speos Core.

Thanks to Speos Core, exported simulations can be run locally or on a network while keeping Speos available.

For more information, see Speos Core.