Say for an average image with maybe a cyclorama background, V3 and M3, 2 or 3 props. I use P5 and have 1 gig of ddr ram and as yet have not had the dreaded "out of memory" warning but I've heard a lot of people say they have. Is there a general relationship between the size of a Poser file and how much memory Poser needs to complete a render? Thanks 8) Catlin

Poser needs all the memory you can give it ... and then screams for more. ;=] The "Out of Memory" msg usually is a result of Poser not being able to find a texmap ... not the fact that you are actually out of memory. You can test this by moving a texmap for a known figure to a different folder (outside of Poser) and then loading the figure. cheers, dr geep ;=] P.S. Don't forget to move it back. ;=]

You can monitor how much memory any particular scene requires using the "Windows Task Manager" screen. Press the "Ctrl" and "Alt" and "Delete" buttons all at the same time - this brings up the Task Manager screen. Now click the "Performance" tab button. Down at the lower left you will see "Commit Charge" and "Total." Total is the amount of memory your system is using at that instant. "Total" goes WAY up during renders. Once the Total exceeds your RAM memory, your hard disc will start to work overtime to simulate addition "ram", and your system will slow down horrifically. Bottom line, when that hard disc light starts coming on a lot during renders, it's time to buy more RAM. But based on my limited experience, 1 gig is plenty for almost anything, except maybe for really, really crowded scenes, or scenes which use more than roughly 20,000 Poser hairs. Just monitor "Commit Charge Total" during renders to get a realistic idea of how much memory you really need for the type of scenes you do.

I'd tend to agree that 1 gig should be more than enough in most instances... unless you're still using Win 98. Win XP is a superb complement for Poser.

I'm using Win XP. One thing I was wondering with the task manager, in Bryce I usually set the priority to high, which slightly helps with render times. Would it be ok to do the same with Poser, 'cos I know that when you do this with some apps it causes a meltdown, ie. PhotoShop. 8) Catlin

Good question catlin. Anyone tried it?

I don't think changing priority will help in the least. Poser's memory handling is absolute pants. It's basically a Stone Age core with some bells, whistles and tinsel bolted on. As mentioned in another thread, it's a wonder it works at all. Don't misunderstand me here, I think Poser is great for what it does, but some of the things...well, the Yiddish phrase "Oy vey!" springs to mind. Short answer... 1GB should be adequate. Maybe.

XP handles program priority dynamically. It automatically allocates resources to programs with equal priority based on activity and other considerations. The best approach for big applications is to leave them all at NORMAL priority, and let XP figure out who gets what and when. XP juggles RAM and other resources based on what each program asks for, how active it is, and also things like how often you switch from one program to another. But if you assign memory-hog programs to above normal priority, you can actually reduce total system performance since XP is less likely to "borrow" RAM from a high priority (but idle) program to allow running programs to go faster. The worst case is when two resource hungry programs both have high priority - they get in each other's way.

I've been running Photoshop and Poser at the same time. I've noticed that the program that is not running really has very little impact on the system performance, EXCEPT that when Photoshop is idle but contains a large image it can easily tie up 200+ megabytes of RAM. The RAM tied up by Photoshop can not be used by Poser, and vice-versa. So there's another reason for lots of RAM. There are exceptions of course, such as if you don't use a loaded program for a long time XP will finally stash that program's data to disc to free up some RAM for more active programs.

Sounds like you're fine for your setup.

Simply make sure your scene doesn't use more RAM than necessary: Keep texture map at reasonable sizes (no need for a 4096x4096 map on a background prop), hide/disable invisible body parts (e.g. hide the hip if your character is wearing pants), turn shadows off for lights that don't need them, keep your shadow map sizes as low as possible (instead, adjust the shadow lite cams) etc. That'll not only reduce the amount of RAM your scene needs but most likely speed up both preview and rendering.

Thank you all for your comments, I will get to grips with Poser one day and everything I've been learning since coming in here has helped me very much. Now I've just got to find a way to make my own memory active to remember all the details. lol 8) Catlin