PhotoWorks - Model is too large to be rendered 1

[Overworked1]

I have been experimenting with PhotoWorks for a couple of days now (as I wait for my Self-help guides to show up), and I am running into a new problem that I cannot find a solution for. I am trying to render an assembly that is around 200 parts (I cannot tell exact number because for some reason my statistics button is grayed out), and I am getting the following error message. "The Solidworks model is too large to be rendered." Is there anything in particular I should be looking for to fix this? The assembly is a basic 15' belt conveyor.

I am using SW 2008 SP 4.0. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

[ctopher]

Seems like a memory or video card issue?
What are your specs?

Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 06/08
ctopher's home (updated Jul 13, 2008)

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

What are your system specs?

If your stat's button is greyed out, you may have install problems.

 

[Overworked1]

I was afraid some people might say it is a computer issue.

AMD Dual Core 4000+ - 1.78 Ghz
2.00 GB Ram
NVidia Quadro FX 1500 - 256 MB Ram

I was able to render about half of the assembly as a sub-assembly just fine, but when I put the two sections together into one assembly, I started getting the error message.

 

[AnnaWood]

Definately a weak computer in terms of the amount of memory and the CPU that you have.

Cheers,

Anna Wood
SW2008 SP4.0, Windows Vista SP1
IBM ThinkPad T61p, T7800, FX570M, 4 gigs of RAM

http://designsmarter.typepad.com/solidmuse

http://www.phxswug.com

 

[dieterle]

I get this all the time, try going to
Photoworks - > options - > [system options] -> enable memory settings


Also you can try rendering to file, and not to your screen.
Make sure you close all other memory intensive programs on your computer.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Are you using the /3GB switch?

 

[rockguy]

I would definately enable the 3gig switch if you haven't already.

Rob Rodriguez CSWP

http://www.axiscadsolutions.com

http://www.robrodriguez.com

http://designsmarter.typepad.com/rob_rodriguez/

Eastern Region SWUGN Representative

http://www.swugn.org

http://www.nvtswug.com

SW 2007 SP 2.0

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

thread559-155411

 

[SBaugh]

From the SW Knowledge base:

Solution Id: S-022021

Question:

What causes the PhotoWorks™ error message "The SolidWorks model is too large to be rendered."?

Answer:

PhotoWorks makes an up-front estimate of the required memory, before rendering. This is to avoid situations where the user waits for a rendering, only to run out of memory near the end. If a user encounters the warning "The model is too large to be rendered" they should try the following steps:

1) Try enabling/disabling PhotoWorks memory management in PhotoWorks options. Normally it is recommended to enable this option with large assemblies, but there are situations where it can be over-cautious and block a rendering that might *just* complete without running out of RAM.
2) Close any unnecessary applications to free up more memory
3) Close any other models in SolidWorks before rendering
4) Render at a lower resolution - if using render to file specify a lower resolution. Consider what resolution is really necessary for the final output. The resolution will have a SIGNIFICANT impact on the memory used. Note: the current (SolidWorks 2008) limit is 11580 x 11580 pixels.
5) Reduce the document image quality (In Document Properties)
6) Enable /3GB mode in boot.ini (32 bit systems only). See Help and Support section of Microsoft® website for more details on this.
7) Simplify the assembly to avoid loading unnecessary components (e.g. internal components) into memory
8) Reduce the level of detail in the parts - repeated pattern features can lead to complex geometry which can use more memory and increase render time. Consider using a mesh appearance (under Plastics) or perforated appearance (under Rubber) instead; the illumination type can be modified to customize the appearance e.g. to make it appear metallic. For similar reasons, use surface finish settings to represent surface patterns like dimples, treadplate or knurling - rather than modeling these features.
9) Try rendering in lightweight mode. Although in SW2007 and earlier this can sometimes cause higher memory usage - see Knowledge Base Solution S-013346.
10) If the above steps show no improvement, test on a 64 bit system (with SolidWorks x64 edition). 64 bit systems can address a significantly larger amount of RAM, whereas 32 bit systems are limited to 2GB for applications (or 3GB when using the /3GB switch described above).


Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

"If it's not broke, Don't fix it!"

faq731-376

 

[Theophilus]

I often find my sessions of SolidWorks creeping up to ~1.5GB of RAM being used. In this case, I shut down SolidWorks and restart to clear that RAM. You might also try this right before creating the rendering to maximize the amount of RAM you've got.

Even if you've got less than 3GB of memory, enabling the /3GB switch will help out. Some graphics cards need a further command in the boot.ini file, but with your Quatro card I don't think that's required.

Your assembly file matters, too. I've done animations before with hundreds of parts in the assembly. I had to rebuild the assembly to keep the animation programming and render-time down to something reasonable. So I clustered what I could into sub-assemblies--and where possible, saved the sub-assemblies as a single part file. This requires reapplication of PhotoWorks materials, but uses much less of the computer's resources.



Jeff Mowry

http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com

A people who value security over freedom will soon find they have neither.

 

[rockguy]

Here's what I do when I recieve that message.

Control/Alt/Delete to bring up the task manager
Close SW to free up memory
Re-open SW and watch the memory usage.
Open the file I want to render and watch the memory usage.
Set SW to "high" priority in the task manager.
Try rendering at my desired resolution.

If I still recieve the error I lower the resolution until the render will complete (the error goes away). The resolution limit of PW might be 11500 x 11500 pixels but I've never been able to save an image larger than 6000 pixels on my 32 bit machine.

Rob Rodriguez CSWP

http://www.axiscadsolutions.com

http://www.robrodriguez.com

http://designsmarter.typepad.com/rob_rodriguez/

Eastern Region SWUGN Representative

http://www.swugn.org

http://www.nvtswug.com

SW 2007 SP 2.0

 

[Overworked1]

Diererle - I changed the system option you spoke of and I seem to be getting favorable results. I was able to render the file I was having problems with on a high anti-aliasing setting. Thank you very much for the suggestion!

In regards to the 3gig suggestion, does anyone know if you still have to do the hotfix mentioned in the article since service pack 2 is out now? It looks like the article was wrote during service pack 1.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

The Windows hotfix was required for SP1 only.