Q100290: Cache colours and their meanings in Mari

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SUMMARY

This article will help explain and distinguish between each of the different colours used in Mari’s current layer caching system.


MORE INFORMATION

PRE-CACHING CALCULATIONS

Throughout working on your projects in Mari, it is important to keep an eye on the colours you see visible at the side of your layerstack as displayed below: 



These are your calculations which keep track of how much processing memory each of the layers is taking up.

The colours are measured in a gradient from green, to orange, to red as seen above. Generally, layers that are showing as red will be those that often require more computational processes such as heavy procedural or tri-planar layers. These, in turn, put more strain onto Mari which could negatively affect its performance.

 

RECOGNISING CACHED LAYERS

In order to restore performance, it is a good idea to cache as many layers as you can whilst you work in an archive which stores expensive layers to prevent performance suffering. Mari keeps cached layers easily identifiable when the layerstack starts to fill up by notating these layers in shades of blue.



To distinguish between the two, layers that have been cached using the ‘Cache Layers Up To Here’ method are shown in a lighter blue. The top layer or layers that have been cached using the ‘Cache Layers’ method instead, are displayed in a dark blue.

 

UNCOMMON 'CACHING IN PROGRESS' COLOURS

Whilst caching different layers, you may find that the colour state of other layers varies or changes whilst Mari is completing the action. Here's an example:



Usually, these colours appear in the blue to purple spectrum with bright pink being applied to identify heavily already-cached layers as Mari recalculates the caching process. By the time the caching process is complete, these should resettle as their original blue tones based on the method that was used to cache them.

 

For more information on caching layers, please refer to the Caching and Uncaching section within our Mari documentation.

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