Reclaim precious VRAM for increased performance and less stutters by downscaling textures to optimal formats to reduce streaming bandwidth and leverage faster GPU decoding. Automated to optimise all of your texture mods including PBR, Parallax and Complex Material. Supports AE, SE & VR. No scripts, no ESP and no need to start a new game
Not a hard requirement as already included with VRAMr. Regardless, please go download, endorse and give AlexxEG kudos - the BSA magic in VRAMr is because of them!
For v8.6 and below only. Not a hard requirement as already in the relevant VRAMr downloads. Nonetheless please download, endorse and give Kuzja80 kudos - VRAMr would not have been initially possible without their work!
Other user's assetsAll the assets in this file belong to the author, or are from free-to-use modder's resources
Upload permissionYou are not allowed to upload this file to other sites under any circumstances
Modification permissionYou must get permission from me before you are allowed to modify my files to improve it
Conversion permissionYou are not allowed to convert this file to work on other games under any circumstances
Asset use permissionYou must get permission from me before you are allowed to use any of the assets in this file
Asset use permission in mods/files that are being soldYou are not allowed to use assets from this file in any mods/files that are being sold, for money, on Steam Workshop or other platforms
Asset use permission in mods/files that earn donation pointsYou are not allowed to earn Donation Points for your mods if they use my assets
Author notes
You may prepare for Collections or Wabbajacks VRAMr outputs and distribute these on Nexus without my permission.
No other activity permitted without prior written consent.
File credits
Rob van der Woude for OpenFolderBox at https://www.robvanderwoude.com/
7-Zip under GNU LGPL license at https://www.7-zip.org
AlexxEG for BSA Browser at https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/1756
the_XtR0 for MO2 layered extract idea, code and testing
MSFT for TexConv
Up to V9 - Kuzja80 for TexA-DDS at https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/49809
Donation Points system
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Changelogs
Version v12
Major Update
Introducing PBR downscaling maintaining sRGB
Optimisations for faster processing and smaller VRAMr Output size
Added exclusions for Freak's Floral Grass (for LoreRim users), 4th Unknown's textures and ice walls
Version v11.1
Alternative GPU capability and Vortex updates to the User Guide
Version v11
MAJOR UPDATE
VRAMr is now 64-bit
Reclaim even more VRAM with Complex Parallax Material (CPM) support
Integrated VRAMr Interactive User Guide
Simplified initial Game Directory ID process - still autodetects yet now with full user override
Introduced Vanilla preset for potato PCs
Bugfix - removed PowerShell code and reverted to previous folder selection method
Improved truth tables for speed, dedupe and processing
Exclusions updated based on user feedback - thank you for sharing and helping the community!
Added timestamps to logfile
Plus many small improvements
Version v10
Frees up more VRAM by excluding and deleting parallax LODs as never used in game
Performance gain for HQ preset users - optimises parallax to BC4 1K as resolution is beneficially plentiful for parallax height maps
Version v9.841
Fine tuned exclusions for LotDB file causing CTD. Continued thanks to Phostwood and The Nolvus Discord
Version v9.84
With thanks to Phostwood, updated exclusions to include LotDB file 'gorehowl_01' causing CTD
Version v9.83
Some Powershell code to swap out folder box method and also to prevent sleep whilst running (meaning VRAMr no longer modifies your power preferences)
Optimisation counters now increment
Balanced multi-threading
Version v9.78
Bug fixes and improvements to parallelisation, remaining file countdowns and file and folder processing
Version v9.77
VRAMr is now quicker! (about 1/3rd faster on my rig). Achieved by parallelising and multi-threading all copy and optimisation processes
Fixed negative counters - due to BSA files still extracting on some load orders whilst the Exclusions and Deletions process kicked in. Big thank you to Draconian69 for all their collaboration!
Quite a few other bug fixes and improvements
Version v9.36
Set balanced power at exit so sleep settings re-apply. This could be more elegant although I need to do more research to be able to do a power plan revert.
Added option for GameDir check to support multiple Wabbajacks and endless loop (carbonedi)
Parallelised BSA extract for quicker workflow (thanks Enlightnd for research and suggestions)
Updated to latest 7z CLI/DLL & March 24 TexConv.exe
Version v9.4
Removed all ZIP steps to rely on drag and drop of VRAMr'd Textures folder into Mod Manager
Version v9.3
Fixed all artifact issues on resized textures
Implement Skyrim folder name quality check and override
Window title improvements for better readability in tabbed console emulators (thanks Enlightnd)
Removed Dummy files since no longer needed
ZIPr.BAT improvements and added 32-bit 7z.DLL back into the distribution since some reported it helped with mod creation
Version v9.2
Fixed black artifacts appearing on certain textures
Significantly improved mod archive creation process and passed same improvements to manual Zippy.bat
Sped up the de-duplications and exclusions processing - huge improvement and time saving
Fixed cause of AV false positive
Version v9.1
Re-implemented HQ and Performance presets
Added Zipper.bat in Tools folder should you need to manually zip your archive
Added manual override of detected Game Directory - most people can select NO when asked
Version v9.0
Major Improvement - now a 1 step fully automated process. Answer just a few questions, start the process and go do something better with your time :)
Switched to a better and 64-bit toolset - the same as DynDOLOD uses (texconv)
Added audio cues to identify progress of the different optimisation steps
REMOVED - High Quality and Performance presets for now - they will return in v.9.1. For now, Ver 9 is set to the Quality preset of 2K diffuse, 1K normal, 1K parallax
REMOVED - the quick texture update feature - whether this returns in a later version is TBC
GPU is still used where applicable although optimisation will no longer bottleneck the GPU or CPU. 5-75% GPU usage is normal
Version v8.53
BSA Extract Hotfix
Version v8.52
With thanks to the_XtR0 MO2 users now get layered BSA extract
Removed shine on rocks and mountains
BSA Parallax bugfix
More informative and checks to prevent VRAMr working with elevated privileges as it causes issues
REMOVED - false positive anti-virus causing code
Version v8.21
Fixed delayedexpansion reference errors
Updated User Guide
Version v8.6
Removed Skyrim EXE check and added manual Mod Manager selection to help those few people with detection issues
Version v8.2
Bug fixes and lots of improvements (ie. visual cues so you can see VRAMr has not stalled)
Added HQ preset as requested to support 4K Wabbajack conversion to 2K textures
More files now optimised - reclaiming even more VRAM in your game
New feature to quickly add/remove files to an existing VRAMrOutput - much quicker optimisation although you must still build a new VRAMrOutput.7z
Updated User Guide for v8
Implemented simpler yet more detailed log file method
Version v7.1
Performance optimisation preset added - you can now choose Quality or Performance * Quality preset - 2K diffuse, 1K normal maps and 1K parallax height maps * Performance - 1K diffuse, 512Kb normals and 512Kb parallax
Added User Guide
Version v7.0
MAJOR UPDATE - Now uses your GPU to optimise your files
Quality preset only - 2K diffuse, 1K normal maps and 1K parallax height maps A huge amount of refinements to make it quicker and slicker All in One - optimises normal maps, certain 4k diffuse textures and parallax files
Version v6.8
ParallaxR now takes advantage of BC4 compression to save you additional disk space and reduce VRAM usage further
Also, a fix to the ParallaxROutput file pathway
Version v6.7
Extends the feature to exclude files & folders into ParallaxR
Version v6.6
Please see Sticky Note on Post page - add Exclusions feature to prevent Optimisation errors, stalls and in-game CTDs
Version v6.5 - All in One
ParallaxR is now part of the main VRAMr download, giving you the option on launch to optimise either Normal Maps or Height Maps.
ParallaxR now has all the features of v6.0 :-
a) the user can now override the detected Start Directory and Game Directory
b) analyses your CPU and determines how many cores to allocate to the optimisation process
c) recognises previously optimised textures and only processes the new textures
Please take a moment to read v6.0 Changelog
For those that updated to v6.0 yesterday, feel free to update to v6.5 although nothing changes in terms of your VRAMr folder. The next time you run VRAMr, simply point it to your existing VRAMr folder and Ver6.5 will continue to work with it as expected
What's coming next? - v7.0 potentially brings an EXCITING addition to the VRAMr suite...all to make the very most of your VRAM. Lots of testing and refining to ensure it will work on everyone's different Skyrim setups....anyone with significant normal map experience, please step forward as I could really do with some help and advice. I can't find the needed guidance on the web :(
Any C#, VB.net or texture specialists that want to contribute to VRAMr, please get in touch....
Version v6.0
Ease of Use - the user can now override the detected Start Directory and Game Directory. This should make using VRAMr-Prepare especially a lot simpler.
Stability - VRAMr analyses your CPU and determines how many cores to allocate to the optimisation process. This helps prevents Windows becoming unresponsive, and/or corrupt files and wasted time.
Speed - VRAMr now recognises previously optimised textures and only processes new textures. This greatly reduces the time for follow on optimisations although comes with a few new understandings:
a) The VRAMr folder should no longer be deleted
b) Secondary and subsequent optimisation passes must always be pointed to the previously used VRAMr folder
c) The VRAMrOutput 7zip file can be deleted once installed into your Mod manager, if you wish to recover some capacity
The VRAMr folder can be moved between drives/devices if space is required, just be sure to point VRAMr to this folder on your next run
NOTE: If you delete your VRAMr folder, nothing will break...just all files start again and will take hours, not minutes
++Lots of tweaks, improvements and log file updates.
ParallaxR update will follow....
Version v5.0
AIO - supports both MO2 and Vortex - see sticky ref how to start VRAMr
Default directory no longer Windows Desktop, instead C:\VRAMr and can be changed - this reduces UAC and spaced username errors
Write cache buffers are regularly flushed since such large amounts of data are transported. Better USB support.
BSA extraction is now optional. Also, some files were problematic so better error handling and files skipped if uncertain. This can create some log file errors eg. 'an error occurred opening archive: The handle is invalid' although better for this than to have in-game issues from corrupt texture files
Considerably more verbose log files. Found inside \VRAMr\logs
Optimised workflow and refinements
Texture optimisation improvement to prevent auto-correct of intentionally mismatched DDS resolutions
** ParallaxR update with same amends will follow soon **
Version v4.0
* Major Update!
* All of your BSA normal files are now fully included and optimised as part of the process - go give AlexxEG kudos for the CLI version of BSA Browser
* The Resource Pack is no longer required making the process faster and more efficient
* There is now only 1 download - works on both MO2 and Vortex
* Vortex users - note the process has changed from previous version, please read the on-screen prompts
* More verbose feedback when creating your custom VRAMrOutput Zip file - thanks to 7Zip Portable
* Added 2048k/2k optimisation option - several use cases apply yet great for 4k texture pack users who only want 2k normals to reclaim some VRAM
* Extreme 256k optimisation option - yes textures close up do start to look blocky yet the VRAM reclaim here is phenomenal - a stutter free haven
* Optional - choose to exclude Dungeons, Caves, Mines, Interiors and associated Clutter from the optimisation workflow. Great for if only your Exteriors stutter!
* Last but not least - by default, always, NO Actors, Mountains, Clothes were harmed in the making of your highly optimised VRAMrOutput :)
Version v3.0
User now has the option whether to optimise interiors and clutter.This will save ~1.8Gb of data processing and time. Performance in interiors is typically much better anyhow so you may have no need to optimise for caves, castles, mines, dungeons, Apocrypha etc. Also some ZIP related tweaks and a few bugs fixed.
Version v2.0
Resource Pack no longer mandatory. Large objects such as Dragons, Giants and Mountains not processed as requested - this saves about 2.5Gb of copying/optimisation processing so VRAMr is now quicker and more efficient too
ParallaxR v2.0 - see VRAMr v5.0 change notes for details
Version v1.0 ParallaxR
Initial Release
Version v1.0
Initial Release
Donations
No donations accepted
VRAMr is an automated utility to optimise your texture files for your Wabbajack, Nexus Collection or personal and unique load order
BC7 texture format is decoded much faster by your GPU in-game than any other format
VRAMr also downscales your textures resolution so your game consumes less VRAM
When thousands of textures are optimised using these methods, the total gains are very noticeable with smoother performance and less stutters
For information and setup instructions see the videos below and refer to the interactive User Guide
In the below video the VRAMr section starts around 8 mins 45, although I highly recommend watching the whole video to optimise your Skyrim using the variety of tools available to deliver best performance
The below video is a longer and more detailed use of VRAMr
Once you have VRAMr installed and have it running you will also find an interactive User Guide to refer to with lots of helpful information
VRAMr makes copies of your textures files and then dependent on each files resolution and other criteria downscales them
This means your original mod files all stay untouched with the benefit that you can simply turn VRAMr on or off easily in your mod manager
Certain textures such as mountains, dragons and large actors like giants are not downscaled to preserve some fidelity
There are different quality presets to choose from to match your CPU/GPU/VRAM
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS “AS IS” AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE
