Disk full not enough memory problem in 3D

[Dave Brach]

When I go to the 3d view I am getting the message "Disk is full or not enough memory to create 3d data structure (error code:12)". Is there a trick to deal with this or am I stuck? I got a new computer about three months ago and just assumed that with 8GB of RAM I'd be covered. Suggestions?

[Karl Ottenstein]

See this thread for suggested methods for tracking down what part of the model is causing the problem:

http://archicad-talk.graphisoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=22693

[Dave Brach]

the method you suggest does not really work for me because the problem doesn't happen every time I go to 3d and it does not happen at any predictable time and it happens in different files. I am working on about three different projects at the moment. About an hour after opening any given file, maybe the sixth or seventh time that I switch back an forth from 2d to 3d, I get the message. Then I have to shut down the file and open it back up. Then the process repeats itself.

[Anonymous]

I assume you have plenty of hard drive space. ArchiCAD does require space for the temp files.

8GB can be a limitation on really big models but I think this is only in extreme cases. I work on some huge files but I have 32 in my workstation and 16 in my laptop so my lack of this problem is not really indicative.

Another possibility is flaky RAM. I have seen similar problems with aftermarket memory. I don't recall seeing it with OEM memory but I imagine it is possible.

[Dave Brach]

Well, I have been ignoring this problem, just restarting every time it happens. But of course yesterday it happened during a client presentation and really pissed me off. Can't figure it out. I have 730 GB of 900 GB free space on my hard drive. 7.6 GB usable of 8 GB RAM. Just for kicks I opened my largest files on my old laptop (6 GB RAM 2.0 GHz processor) and it seemed to work fine. Any insight would be appreciated. Is this really a memory/disk space problem or could this error message be triggered by something else?

[David Shorter]

This may be a silly question but are you sure you are running 64bit windows 8

[NCornia]

Dave,

Here are some recommendations I have:

A. Examine the polygon count and the number of element interactions, as discussed here: http://www.archicadwiki.com/3dSpeed (Polygon Counting Tool for 16 can be found here)

B. Are 3rd party or custom objects beings used in the project? What about add-ons? The next time the error occurs, before restating the computer, try excluding 3rd party objects or elements created by add-ons in the 3D view to see if it will generate. Also, check the file sizes of objects in the embedded library. I have seen some cases where simple looking objects are 40-60 MB in size and account for more than half of a .PLN file's size and create unwanted drag on the file's performance. Eliminate or replace these objects with a better alternative.

C. Open the Windows Resource Monitor via the Task Manager and check in the Memory tab to see a listing of data about memory usage. In particular take note of the "Commit (KB)" readings and the corresponding "Commit Charge" graph to notice how the virtual memory is performing. If this is maxed out then the error in ArchiCAD is correct.

The fact that a restart on your computer will clear out the problem for a time makes me think that there is a hungry application or service which is eating away at the memory on the system. I have had experiences where some fairly common applications (MS Outlook, Firefox, Safari etc.) have been the cause of scarce resources.

Since you are in my region of support I will contact you directly as well to troubleshoot directly.

Best regards,