Instances and memory problem

[sine_mare]

I think i missed something...

if i have 30 or so instanced tress that would mean that my memory is not overloaded right? however, when i come to 20 tree instances on scene, my memory jumps to sky and max crashes...

Is there anything i forgot because it is much more convinient than to use proxies which takes forever to render?

just to mention: 3gb switch enabled, memory set to auto and OS is winXP 32 bit.

thanks in forward.

Sinisa

[vlado]

Which V-Ray version is that? What is your "Default geometry type" option in the System rollout set to (should be either "Auto" or "Dynamic" for instances to conserve memory)?

Best regards,
Vlado

[sine_mare]

Vray 1.5 SP1.

I've tried that... all combinations but without success.

[vlado]

Ok... in that case are you sure you did instances and not copies? Memory usage might also be due to other things (e.g. large bitmaps) or a large output resolution.

Best regards,
Vlado

[sine_mare]

inastances, definetly...

well, there is no such big bitmaps on the scene... and my biggest output resolution is 3000 x 2000 px - which renders fine when there are no instanced trees

This is quite confusing since nobody brought that topic before... and this is happening to me on two different PCs in the office.

[vlado]

I see... without the scene though, I can't figure out where else the problem might be. If you wish you can send it to me to vlado@chaosgroup.com and I'll see what's causing the high memory usage.

Best regards,
Vlado

[percydaman]

how many megabytes is your scene file?

[andrewjohn81]

couldn't it also be related to reflection or refraction? If you had to raytrace that scene, even though it's instanced, it could still take an insane amount of memory right?
That may sound dumb, but I was thinking your leaf material might have some translucency or transparency of some sort.

If it's just transparency though you might consider using opacity instead of changing the refract color as you'd probably notice little difference if any.

[paulison]

the thing im wondering is about why you are not using instanced proxies?

I've always thought that this is a much faster option with much less memory usage than just using instanced bits of geometry, but for some reason you say that this will take forever.

The time you take making the proxies will save you a lot of time and headaches later on assuming your 20 trees are all based from a limited range of tree/plant models. if you limit yourself to 4-5 types and convert them to proxies, I think you will find that the number of instanced proxies that you can use in the scene is almost limitless. Also consider simplifying your tree/plant models and get rid of any opacity mapping etc as someone else mentioned

[pixelstudio]

the thing im wondering is about why you are not using instanced proxies?

I've always thought that this is a much faster option with much less memory usage than just using instanced bits of geometry, but for some reason you say that this will take forever.

i thought in the latest version vray tries to see instances as they were proxy's... or at least something when instances are put in the memory or something... is this true?

[vlado]

Yes, in the latest version, if you have many instances they should take far less memory than before.

Best regards,
Vlado