# Using PIX/Graphics Diagnostics from VS 2013 **URL:** \ **Category:** C++\ **Tags:** unreal-engine\ **Created:** [April 7, 2015, 11:43pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/using-pix-graphics-diagnostics-from-vs-2013/26759 "2015-04-07T23:43:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TheZMan](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@TheZMan](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/TheZMan)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 11:43pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/using-pix-graphics-diagnostics-from-vs-2013/26759/1 "2015-04-07T23:43:17Z")
Has anyone reliably manage to debug a running game using PIX/Graphics Diagnostics? Out of about 10 attempts I’ve managed to get 3 frame captures - the rest of the time I get crashes. I’m running from the VS Solution - using the Develop (no editor) platform. What do the unreal devs use to debug. I’ve tried the profile GPU but there’s no way to break down the draw calls to see what it being drawn in the Base Pass to identify the issue. ---
**Author:** ![Temaran](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Temaran](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Temaran)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 9:07am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/using-pix-graphics-diagnostics-from-vs-2013/26759/2 "2015-04-08T09:07:53Z")
I would recommend checking out my plugin for renderdoc, as it works a lot better with UE4 🙂 [https://github.com//UE4RenderDocPlugin](https://github.com//UE4RenderDocPlugin) I haven’t gotten around to checking if the plugin runs well with 4.7, but renderdoc works fine even without the plugin, it just makes it a bit easier to use. You can check out my wiki on it too: > **[A new, community-hosted Unreal Engine Wiki](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/a-new-community-hosted-unreal-engine-wiki/141494)** > > After over a year in maintenance mode, the official Unreal Engine Wiki is now permanently offline. These resources now live on a new community-run Unreal Engine Community Wiki — https://unrealcommunity.wiki/! You will be able to find content from... Hope that helps 🙂 Best regards, ---
**Author:** ![anonymous\_user\_4fe9f58b1](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@anonymous\_user\_4fe9f58b1](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/anonymous_user_4fe9f58b1)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 2:17pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/using-pix-graphics-diagnostics-from-vs-2013/26759/3 "2015-04-08T14:17:56Z")
Seconding the RenderDoc mention. It’s much more reliable and faster than VS’s built-in GPU debugging when dealing with UE4. The main caveat is that it can be tricky to capture from within the editor, since the only swap chains it sees are Slate’s, and the actual scene rendering does not seem to be reachable. So I normally capture using standalone. But it sounds like 's plugin works around that? If so, I’ll certainly give it a shot! - ---
**Author:** ![Temaran](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Temaran](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Temaran)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 4:13pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/using-pix-graphics-diagnostics-from-vs-2013/26759/4 "2015-04-08T16:13:41Z")
That is the idea ! The plugin adds buttons to each viewport so you can control which surface is captured. After you click the viewport button it launches renderdoc with that particular capture. Best regards, ---
**Author:** ![anonymous\_user\_10b2fd67](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@anonymous\_user\_10b2fd67](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/anonymous_user_10b2fd67)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 4:19pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/using-pix-graphics-diagnostics-from-vs-2013/26759/5 "2015-04-08T16:19:20Z")
+1 for RenderDoc, and 's awesome plugin. ---
**Author:** ![Temaran](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Temaran](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Temaran)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 5:31pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/using-pix-graphics-diagnostics-from-vs-2013/26759/6 "2015-04-08T17:31:39Z")
Thank you AdeptStrain! I felt a bit bad for not updating it to 4.7, so I did that now! Here is a link to the latest branch: [https://github.com//UE4RenderDocPlugin/tree/r/UE4.7\_v0.1](https://github.com//UE4RenderDocPlugin/tree/r/UE4.7_v0.1) Best regards, ---
**Author:** ![TheZMan](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@TheZMan](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/TheZMan)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 5:32pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/using-pix-graphics-diagnostics-from-vs-2013/26759/7 "2015-04-08T17:32:36Z")
Thanks … Setting it up now. Your wikipage says I need a beta build for RenderDoc but I dont see a beta build any later than the stable 0.23 so I’m going with that. You might want to update your wiki. I’ll let you know how it goes with UE4.7.5 Also the video link at the bottom of your wiki page is no longer valid. There’s severl others on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/results?search\_query=renderdoc](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=renderdoc) I’m going through some now but if there are any you recommend I’d be glad of a recommendation. I’m familiar with PIX and NSight so I imagine this can’t be too different. ---
**Author:** ![Temaran](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Temaran](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Temaran)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 5:33pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/using-pix-graphics-diagnostics-from-vs-2013/26759/8 "2015-04-08T17:33:22Z")
Err, oups, updating it now \>\_\> ---
**Author:** ![TheZMan](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@TheZMan](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/TheZMan)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 5:47pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/using-pix-graphics-diagnostics-from-vs-2013/26759/9 "2015-04-08T17:47:16Z")
This guy has a good intro and a nice series of videos - looking good so far [RenderDoc - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWziqE5d25dXo1IE150YJiPT9EIW8ymta) ---
**Author:** ![Temaran](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Temaran](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Temaran)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 1:15am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/using-pix-graphics-diagnostics-from-vs-2013/26759/10 "2015-04-09T01:15:19Z")
Yeah, Baldur is an awesome guy! 😃 The main project source is also very frequently updated, so if you run into any problems, you can most likely expect to get the community to help out in fixing it 🙂 /