What slows down a file the most...

[Anonymous]

Hi folks,

I am working on a 4 story town house in AC 10, and the regeneration is pretty slow.

In order of greatest impact, here is a listing of items that are causing the cold molasses-like conditions, IMO, am I right?

1. We have set up a number or layouts that include photographs, (Landmarks Preservation Commission presentations). I've tried placing them directly on the layouts, and in detail windows. Would either location affect speed more? Previous version of AC responded badly to placed photos, so i bet things haven't really changed. I can break up the file so the layouts with photos are elsewhere, but that kind of defeats the whole concept of the plotbook....

2. I like using vectorial hatching on exterior elevations, and 3d views. It looks great when you do the tech pen render too, with shadows. However these are slow to generate. So I avoid the auto-update feature.

3. We have a rich materials library, lots of materials, with lots of jpg files and hatches. I bet these take time to load too...

3. Its a little traditional on the interior, so I model the mouldings with Smartparts. for bases, I just use the block to avoid to many polygons, but crowns and panelling, have plenty.

4. The 35 doors are style 9 (six panel), and 35 windows are Double hung, each sash w/ 6 panes. Shutters on the front windows. (BTW, ever notice the shutters don't sit symmetrically on the window? Look at W Edwardian1 10. How is that for great programming? ) This also raises polygon count.

5. The project has each floor as a separate module, so different people can work on different floors. (That teamwork interface is a pain. Selecting layers, floors, elevations and details from an alphabetized list that has nothing to do with the navigator/view map is an exercise in frustration)
Each module runs reasonably, but the collection as a whole drags.

6. I've used SEOs to get the dormers, walls and roofs to work right, and for some other modeling, since that SUPERCOOL SPECIAL MENU was taken away, and you can't SHOW PENETRATION LINES. Don't bother seeing my previously unanswered post...

Why do I write in? Big time killer, and just gets me all worked up.

-Nathan in NYC

[Anonymous]

I wish I could put an idea but I am in question of these items also!
Josepg

[Anonymous]

It is not that I'm an expert and maybe those tips are obvious for you but still:
- when working with model switch off all the layers you don't need to see at the moment like moldings, furnitures, decoration etc.
- like above but when working on plan (all fotos, backgrounds, pics, 2D drawings should have seperate layer)
- for the moldings - I found that nothing slows down calculation more than objects from outer modelers (I'm using ArchiForma), just look at weight of the objects you have created - everything bigger than 250kb is bad. Make sure you are using those only if there is no way to model something with ArchiCAD native tools.
- for the material library - DO NOT load all the materials, only those you're using in the project. I found myself having over 300 mat. in the library and using only 10-12 same time. I made a separate, simple test scene where I play with materials and when I'm satisfy with the results I simply add it to my 'custom materials library' with the '!' in front of name. This way you have them always on top of the list and can easly distinguish them from the others.
- if you're not planing to render baners, app. 1200x800 texture maps is more than you need (just my experience)

Hope this helps.

Cheers