3 GB very slow + crashes

[dennis_kosovac]

Hi! I am working with a 3.5 GB file in 3DS Max 2022 with VRay 5 update 1.2. My file takes extremely long to open, runs very slowly (if it all) and crashes - sometimes immediately, sometimes when I open the slate material editor, sometimes when I run a render. The file was working fine last night when I saved it, shut off computer, and went to bed. This morning I opened the file and immediately started having issues. I've tried opening earlier versions of the file and the same thing happens. I've tried merging the file into a new empty file and the problem persists.

I have no idea what might be wrong. I have 64 GB RAM installed, plenty of memory available, and an AMD Ryzen 9 3950X 16-Core Processor 3.50 GHz installed.

I've attached the crash log here. Any ideas would be very helpful as I am on a deadline. Thank you!

[squintnic]

That is a crazy file. I cant see how you can work with that lol
What kind of data is it? Have you proxied and cached things? Collapsed large amounts of object together, XREFed, removed unneeded modifiers, etc etc
Hard to say what the issue is here without knowing more. We used to do a lot of huge arch vis scenes and never had a file this big unless it was DEM or unoptimized CAD data.

[Neilg]

Best way to work through this is to merge it into a new file, then save selected huge chunks of it to turn into xrefs. It gives you more manageable partitions to find parts that are causing issues. Definitely start aggressively converting high poly objects to proxies. Save a copy if you need to edit in the future and bake it down.

Many of our projects, the render scene has nothing in but cameras and light - everything is broken up into xrefs, sometimes up to 10 for a single image. Makes it much easier to work on.

[kosso_olli]

never had a file this big unless it was DEM or unoptimized CAD data.

The optimized files we get as CAD from customers are up to 8gb in size. A file of 3.5 is totally common and should be handled with ease by 3dsMax.

[seandunderdale]

I got a 12GB car file from a client for my latest job. Had to double my RAM to 128GB....one trim, one wheel set, one interior, no accessories. Just one car, 12GB. Crazy.

[fixeighted]

There are certain limits of hardware spec etc. but 3.5 gb doesn't sound like that much to me.
The issue is likely to be something specific and could take a while to diagnose.
The laborious method (unless you get lucky and it's in the first 100 objects) of gradually merging to a clean scene may be a good start.