Section Viewport & Render crash - VW12.5

[Dom Tuck]

We run VW12.5 Architectural (also design & renderworks (on another dongle) on Imac 2.16ghz dual core intel - 3g ram - workstations.

The file - I have a 27meg file? the 3D model is of a 5 story building with approx 450sqm footprint - I have 6 design layers linked @ 1:50 - 7 viewports A1- 2 WGR to 2d survey drawings + 3DModel space at 1:1.

The problems/Q's

1) Is the file larger than it should be?

2) When trying to take a Viewport Section VW begins to crash - forcing me to quit.

3) When Hidden line rendering is used the VW will begin to crash - forcing me to

quit. Although openGL renders the model in around a minute.

Not having much experience building 3D models i am concerned that my drawing practice is making the file to large or the workstation is struggling with the data. I would be grateful for any help regarding these matters, diagnostic info may well be missing so forgive me (Ex-virginPOSTER) but please request and i will supply.

Thankyou!

[Guest]

The file size doesn't sound out of this world. The file size is largely dependent on the geometry in the drawing, as well as resources (including textures.

When you say VW "begins to crash" while running the section viewport menu, what symptoms are you experiencing?

The section does take a bit of time to calculate and generate - is it perhaps the program needs to finish calculation?

If you aren't already, make sure you are running VW 12.5.2 at a minimum, preferably 12.5.3. Also make sure you've run Disk Utility to ensure the OS is in working order.

What are the symptoms of the Hidden Line Rendering 'begin to crash'? Either you crash or you don't crash - I'm not sure I follow this explanation.

What OS version are you running?

[CipesDesign]

I think Katie is on the right track. Here's why: programs don't usually "begin to crash" - they just do. Then you get the "VW's has unexpectedley quit..." message. Sometimes for a complex building it can take minutes (like 2-4 perhaps) to generate a Section VP. I have observed that certain types of objects will make it even slower (like nurbs, sweeps and other complex 3d objects). I like to place these types of objects in their own class(es) so that I can control which objects do and do not need to be seen in the section (and you can change this later via the Object Info Palette). I think (but Katie can perhaps confirm) that the DPI setting of the targeted Sheet Layer will also affect the time - I generally like all sheet layers set to 72dpi for working, and then I increase the dpi (up to 300) before printing... HTH's

[Dom Tuck]

We run VW12.5 Architectural (also design & renderworks (on another dongle) on Imac 2.16ghz dual core intel - 3g ram - workstations

operating system is - OSX - 10.4.11

"beginning to crash" may be an incorrect description, when taking a section VP after assigning layer/scale etc in the dialogue box and pressing return the machine starts to think, carries on for some time up to 15 mins, in the mean time i open the 'force quit' Dialogue box to see if the program is responding, it inevitably will switch to 'not responding' if it is not already, so i have no choice but to force quite! In principle it has not crashed, more skidded to a halt!

I updated VW from 12.5.2 to 12.5.3, removed the WGR's because they were not needed, i also purged the file which is now 21.5meg. I also turned of any class's with extraneous objects on such as hybrid furniture objects inside the building. The geometry of the drawing i would say is fairly simple, no curved walls, roof, or other complex 3D objects.

I then tried section VW again and the the same thing i described in the first paragraph happens.

I have not ran disk utility yet but have tried section VW on the same file on a identical machine which seems to be doing exactly the same thing.

The default DPI is 72 on our machines.

Is there anything else you can suggest?

Thank-you for your prompt reply to my problem(s)

Regards

Dom

Edited January 4, 2008 by Dom Tuck

[Guest]

Dom,

I'd let the section viewport think a little longer. It's likely the "not responding" is being produced because VW is using all processes and the OS hasn't had a chance to see VW is still thinking.

I recommend not force quitting, and let VW crash if it's going to crash. I would bet in this case it's not going to crash, but rather needs more time to think.

And, the fact that it's happening on more than one computer, leeds me to think VW is not trying to crash, but still calculating.

(P.S. You'll find creating section viewports a little more expedient in VW 2008)

I strongly encourage you to run Disk Utility for a variety of reasons. It's recommended to run this any time new software and hardware is installed or updated, including (and especially) OS updates. Otherwise, it's a good idea to run Disk Utility every few weeks to keep the OS optimized.

[mike-h]

anyone?!

I am trying to cut some sections of a 9 storey building - so far its just floors, walls and windows, no textures or fancy objects, but I am working at 1:1 on the design layer while trying to cut a section at 1:500.

Cutting to render in open GL (low) took over 40 minutes to not happen, (twice), I've now switched off rendering any layers I can and knocked the dpi down to 72, but that was about 15 minutes ago and the progress bar top right of screen is only just showing blue so I think I'm in for a long wait...

Does drawing at 1:1 actually slow things down in this situation - am I being daft to work this way or is the geometry actually the same at all scales? (is it the same case if using textures/ fills etc)

I guess this is a fundamental VW question that I'm still not sure the answer to, I'm inclined to work at 1:1 - it seems 'easier', but if it effects render times etc, I'm quite happy to work at any other scale!

(that vp has just completed - thanks for the dpi advice Peter)

I am running OSX 10.4.6 and frequently repair the permissions etc

VW 12.5.2