Object Processing Limit?

[Chadwick]

I am trying to have an aerial view of a site with landscape elements in it - trees, flowers shrubs. When I marquee the entire site and try to open it in a wire frame view - the information window showing the process pops up and stops about 2/3 through the progress bar. Then the amount of minutes it will approx. take to finish keep going up and up - I let the computer try to calculate it for two days and it just kept going up. I then tried just half of the site and it only took about a minute to generate the wire frame. It seems like there is a point where there are too many objects in the view and the software cannot calculate them and just keeps working at it infinitely.

Does anyone know if this is true, that there is some kind of object amount/polygon limit to what ArchiCAD can process in the 3D window? If not, does anyone know a way around this? I cannot upload the file due to privacy reasons.

Thanks in advance

Note: - The site is rather large, I would say about 300,000 SQ FT. There are plants, shrubs and flowers scattered all around the green areas.

[Anonymous]

The complexity of the plants could be pushing the machine past its limits. Perhaps 1GB RAM is not enough for this model (the processor certainly seems adequate).

It is also possible that there is some particular element (plant object or site mesh) that is hanging the process. You can check this by a binary search. Model half the site (as you have tried). If there is no problem model the other half. If the problem recurs keep cutting the remaining part in half until you zero in on the problem. If it does not occur in either half then maybe you do need more RAM.

[Chadwick]

Well, I don't think it has to do with the machine because everything runs fine. There is no reduction in speed for the machine. I can operate in all kinds of other programs while ArchiCAD is trying to generate a wireframe view. The machine doesn't really chug at all. The problem that scares me is that ArchiCAD will seem to try to generate this wireframe infinitely - I let it run for over 24 hours and the time estimate just kept going up. Thats what leads me to believe there is some kind of limit to the # of polygons it can process.

I tried the binary search method and it resulted in the tree objects that were slowing it down. I guess they have too many polygons or are way too complicated for mass use, which is weird because in close up views where you would only see 1 or 2 trees, they don't look that good. I guess its just a poor object. I will replace with other trees and see if that works.

[Anonymous]

What you describe sounds like some sort of endless loop error, like REPEAT...UNTIL some condition that never occurs. Since you seem to have traced it to some particular trees, definitely replace them.

[Dwight]

Remember the words of the second-rate World War One poet Joyce Kilmer (Val's second cousin twice removed) interpreted as if he was a contemporary computer modeler:

"I think that I shall never see
As many polygons as in a tree."

[David Maudlin]

Chadwick wrote:
I tried the binary search method and it resulted in the tree objects that were slowing it down. I guess they have too many polygons or are way too complicated for mass use, which is weird because in close up views where you would only see 1 or 2 trees, they don't look that good. I guess its just a poor object. I will replace with other trees and see if that works.

Chadwick:

Two related issues:
1. When ArchiCAD generates a 3D view it goes through 2 steps: first it calculates the entire model (or whatever has been selected), then it actually creates the specified view in the 3D window. Even if there are trees not showing in a particular 3D view, they will be calculated during the first step.
2. So if any trees will not be shown in the particular view you are creating, then use the various selection methods (layers, marquee tool, arrow tool, Image>Elements to Show in 3D...) to eliminate them from the model generation.

Replacement of some or all of the trees, or changing some of their parameters may also work best.

HTH

David

[Dwight]

Let me plug ONYX TREE PRO as an excellent producer of fluffy, realistic trees. The Hoshino library also makes effective bushes.....

When combined with the secret translucent leaf material described on page 161 of my book, you can populate an entire city block with beautiful 3D trees and still have a reasonable rendering time.

[Anonymous]

Dwight, I hope the Guy or Gal sitting down in the peach colored shirt talking to the Shirtless tan fella, has some sun-screen on.....

[Dwight]

okay, mr perfectionist, so she's a little pale.

[Anonymous]

Let me plug ONYX TREE PRO as an excellent producer of fluffy, realistic trees.

Dwight,

In what format do you import the objects from Onyx???
How large are the files??
How many of those trees can you realistically insert into the AC file?
It looks like a pretty good tree making software.