Sketchup handles in a "funny" way RAM and Page File ?

[derei]

I noticed that when I open two Sketchup windows, the second one often works horribly. And it doesn't help if I close the first one. I'm wondering if this has something to do with Page File. If second SU process loads on virtual ram, it may explain the poor response, but I can not understand why it doesn't improve when I close the first opened window. And more strange is that the response time on first opened window don't degrade.

[thomthom]

hmm... I've not noticed this. I'd suspect the graphic card or its drivers.

[solo]

Neither have I, I usually have 2 or 3 instances of SU running at a time, never seen any abnormalities yet.

[derei]

Hmm, if it would be the graphic card, wouldn't it affect both instances equally? Just the second on gets affected. First runs smoothly.

[thomthom]

Could be that only the first instance get sufficient resources.

I normally run 1-4 instances each day, done so since I started using SU 3-4 years ago - never experienced what you described on any of the machinery I've used. That's why I suspect this is not a SketchUp issue but some kind of hardware or system issue.

What graphic card, driver version and OS do you have?

[derei]

@thomthom said:

I suspect this is not a SketchUp issue but some kind of hardware or system issue.

What graphic card, driver version and OS do you have?

Windows7 Ultimate, NVIDIA default (windows) drivers and grapcic card is kind of cheap 8400GS see here second model (PV-T86S-WANG)

driver version:

[Gaieus]

Try to at least update your driver:
http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

[derei]

@gaieus said:

Try to at least update your driver

OMG I had three SketchUp instances and all of them responded well. The forth one was bad luck . Thanks for the tip, people !
What for should I look to a video card to improve my computer's performance? Do I need a VC with more memory? The textures that I use are stored in video card RAM for OpenGL rendering?

[Gaieus]

Well, you said t has 256 Mb memory which is the minimum HW requirement according to the SU site but recommended is 512 (and up, of course, but 512 would do). I am not sure how much improvement you could get however. SU downsamples images for display anyway. Do not check "use maximum texture size" in the OpenGL settings (you render with Twilight anyway, don't you, and that will display whatever you actually load) and use antialiased textures under Model info > Rendering (set this in your template as it is a model based setting).

[derei]

These are the settings for OpenGL in Sketchup; I checked Model Info and I use antialiased textures.

So, in the end, if I want to change my video card, what specifications do I need ?

[Anssi]

Dereei,

Using a high degree of antialiasing and antialiased textures are both features that have an adverse effect on graphics performance. I have got used to the jaggies, so I usually keep antialiasing at 0x.

I remember reading from some old threads that the number of supported open windows using OpenGL is the main difference between "Professional" and "Consumer" -grade graphics cards (read: between GeForce and QuadroFX). Every SU session uses, I understand, a number of those windows, not solely the model view.

Anssi

[Gaieus]

I only suggested aa textures because (at least as far as I remember ), that was the GSU Team's recommendation.

However I also have 0x AA settings for geometry although my card 8an 1Gb nVidia GeForce 9600 GT) could also handle 4x.

[derei]

@anssi said:

Dereei,
I remember reading from some old threads that the number of supported open windows using OpenGL is the main difference between "Professional" and "Consumer" -grade graphics cards (read: between GeForce and QuadroFX).
Anssi

So, what you are saying is if I want to open more windows, I have to change the class of the graphic card? Well, I'll stay on max 3 SU instances then . It's more than enough for me. I usually need two, in case that I need some geometry from other model.

[Gaieus]

@unknownuser said:

I'll stay on max 3 SU instances then . It's more than enough for me. I usually need two, in case that I need some geometry from other model.

Amen!

[maarek]

Hi, I have qestion and I think it belongs to here.
Im working on quite large model of surroundigs for building site coordination. Each object, was modeled separately and now I want to import them to one skp file. I tried to simplify model as much as possible (hide lines,delete anchors, insulation,doors, frames... everithing which is not visible from outside) After reaching 1,5GB ram it crashes due to out of memory...but I have 32GB Ram and almost 80% free while SU makes me unhappy...

So my qestion is...Is there some operating memory limitation for SU?
Could it be due to graphic card ?
Have you any tip how to accelerate performance, without changing uoter visual style?

Thans

Mark
[img]s11.postimage.org/qk4mj6cpt/PROBLEM.png[/img]

[thomthom]

SketchUp is a 32bit application - it has therefore limitations to how much memory it can address.

If you're on 32bit Windows, or an older SU version, then you can address only 2GB. If you have recent SketchUp 8 and 64bit OS then you can address 4GB.

I've had some very large models - but I've never had anything consume 1.5GB!! o_O How many faces and edges does your model contain?
I've only ever seen SU use that much when I was rendering with V-Ray. And that was then really V-Ray using the memory.