Running Vue4.2/WIN XP Pro 58G left on HD Scene so far = 304 oj's & 8,996,428 poly's EVERY time I try to save this particular scene I'm working on..the bar at the bottom does not move & box appears in the middle of my screen saying "Vue OK". I hit Ok & the scene on the screen goes completely white. I can still see the layers on the side & the pic in the preview window. However, all objects have disappered off the screen. This is a 1st for me, this has happened at leat 6-7 times today. I have rebooted several times, as in puter off & on. I don't get it...I've done scenes triple this size with no problems. Working up a severe snit here and am at a loss as to what to do. Thanks - Debby

The .bak has become corrupted now as well....DAMN!!!!!! I just can't believe this even after multiple saves the whole damn scene is gone now........grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Sorry for the rant..but a weeks worth of work down the toilet..all is corrupted :( COL = Crying out loud

ok....how big is the file you are saving. Also you can always rename the bak file to .vue and try to load it. Grouping is also a very improtant thing to remember as well as hiding layers. It will save them faster and easier, as well as load them next time. I had a file once that was only 100mb, and around 8mil poly's it took it almost 15 minutes to save the file. Dont get in a hurry, as sometime depending on what you have in the file, it can take a very long time to save it. Hope this has helped you. James

Look at posts by me here about huge files, Big files, do a search for that. It can be done. My record is 1.5 gig Vue file. Oh and if you had done that numbered saves you would only be a few hours back from where it died.

Thanks guys...I've actually had to start over....I've started saving in steps renaming..as in scene1,2.3. I think the grouping thing could be the problem as I'm trying to create a forest on a mountain.....it's the conifers LOL MP - that would have worked but I was NOT saving in increments..lesson learned.... Timefighter - that last save that did not corrupt was 660,448KB. TF - patience was not a thing...The save bar stopped dead & box appeared that said click OK....but no message or alert appeared. When I clicked OK all went dead. Oh well...starting over & trying to be happy LMAO ;)..Not really LMAO...just arrghhhhhhhh

I've made up to scene #3...even after only adding 3 more trees the file would not save & crashed :(..I'm so lost, as this is my 1st problem ever encountered with this :(.

HIDDEN LAYERS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Timefighter suggested it so I didn't say anything about it. It's your only hope. Stop trying to display everything at once. When things are placed drag to a hidden layer. A forest of trees requires thinking a bit. Try 10 miles out to 1/4 mile out trees, maybe use alpha planes. You'll never be able to tell if there meshes or planes. There is tutorials here on how to make the trees you are using alpha planes.Mix and match is best or your asking for trouble. Turning the line detail down a bit also helps lots. A scene like this can be a nightmare if not done correctly. Don't tell me it can't be done cause I managed to render such a scene with over 5000 trees. There is two ways to do it. The hard way like you just discovered or the easy way. Pick well.

I had this sindrome last summer. I did a vast search of all the related questionares available in this forum. The solutions I have found from here and my own ideas, I concluded that, "The concurring saving issues are either caused by runtime errors OR import of a corrupted object." I may be VERY wrong and probably is; but since then I never had that problem again. So, you ready for this? :-) I THINK layers, grouping etc. are great help moving Vue faster and prevents it from freezing; but saving is a different animal. First idea, "run-time issue" ... Think about it, even if you try to move a BIG file from one folder to another folder it doesn't happen in a snap, it takes a few seconds. Same principal applies, when you are trying to save the LARGE Vue file it will eventually take a little time! Which is probably halted by some other program running in the background. So, I suggest you close all background programs, make sure your firewall is up & running and then work with your big Vue files. I am little sceptical about my second idea, so I'll hang on to it for now. :-) Let me know if this works for you, that way I'll know my research paid off! :-)

MP is fast! I have to agree with him on trees ... For background using hundreds and thousand trees are not a smart move! Use alphas, very time and memory efficient. Why push yourself into Vue pit!

Gotcha MP.....However the mountain is not THAT far away...I know I can use alpha planes....But I want all the trees to look the same....know what I mean??? I guess you do...I'm only up to about 40 trees :O....now where near any numbers I've seen posted. What do you mean by Line Detail??? And YES I've grouped everything & hidden everything before "attempted" saving. Thanks....I've gotten to scene #3..so NOT that bad rolling eyes Off to try again...Thanks folks for your patience, have never had this happen before.... Debby

Attached Link: http://www.memturbo.com/thoeryofoperation.htm

Well if you read this and then think of Vue saving a a big file you'll see what the problem is. Now it might not be vue but I use this program and don't have this problem. Lots of free ones out there though now. Like I'm thinking something else dies like the graphics card driver or something. ICQ pinging the server anything something dies cause it needs to write to the swap file and that brings the Microscoft house of glass down.

Nish and MP I don't have thousand of trees, I only have about 30-40 Conifers carefully placed & sized..... I have 1G of mem....I did try "turning off" things in my task manager..but then Win crashed LOL(not really LOL)..so...off to attempt something different. The noutain is fairly up close..not in the distance so to speak. Oh well, off to make alpa planes :(

MP - I've rendered & done scenes 3x plus this size & no problems..all I can figure is the trees....I'll figure it out, I might be bald by then..but hey I can buy a wig ;) Thanks, Debby

You know where you turned off the open gl? Go back there. Turn down the line detail of the meshes. You need to on a big project like this. "But I want all the trees to look the same.." Huh? So you drop a tree into your project and render only( render only selected objects) it with alpha channel and plunk it onto a alpha plane. I bet it will look the same. Render about 20 different trees this way. Make crosses with two planes so the shadows are correct. got to be exactly 90 degrees and also has to be that way to the camera. Plant in the distance. Save . Plant real meshes. Render.

Well you could try this. Group the trees say in 4 groups eash and save them as Vue objects. Least then you crash you only have to reimport them. Sounds like a swap issue. It's running out of memory before it writes to swap. Then it gives the too bad so sad and starts writing to the swap. Time it comes back to see what's going on several processes have crashed waiting.

Ok MP - I don't have OpenGL on...I've bought the alpha plane forest from a distance thing and when I applied the "plane" The colors where off and the tree are not of the same type..call me anal but....:(...Hubby is going to try the swap mem thing..I'm not a tech guru to that extent, :)...... Getting close to bedtime here....will let hubby do his thing, and try again in the AM. Thanks again for all your patience...it IS appreciated!!!! One of the "calmer" forums around here ;) Thanks & have a great night Debby

Thanks MP for the lead (link). I still think dlk's problem is somewhere in the background. Could very well be swap. Or may be run time? lol ... dlk, if you are crashing Windows while cleaning up Task Manager, then you must be closing wrong files! You supposed to look into the files (image names) that has Your name (User) next to it. You can play safe by just cleaning out your system tray at the beginning and see if it helps. PS. dlk, I know a place they make nice wigs and price is very reasonable. LOL

nish Well if you read that page it tells you why the programs die.It shows the slippery slope of how a glass puter dies. That's why I posted it. Debby Your suppose to make new alpha forest with the trees you are using right now. There is tutorials here for that. They will match perfectly then cause there the same trees. You render them in the scene you got there so the lighting is the same but you just render the trees nothing else and use those images for the alpha plains. Million tons of spyware running in the background could kill ya too. I've fixed some computers here and have found hundreds of spyware apps running in the background. No wonder why the computer don't work. I know you have open gl turned off. See I use that above program to free up memory before the programs die. It helps lots, but there is also excellent free ones around that do the same thing.

I have come to the conclusion, it's the trees..the more I add is when things started going nuts. I have SpyBot & all is clean. Off to make alpha planes :) Thanks, Debby

You can also use backgound terrains as fake conifer forrests by using a splatter type brush in Photoshop and painting splatters onto a bitmap. Uses more polys than an alpha plane but you can animate perpendicular to it and is fairly convincing if you stash them behind real trees. I've also done this flying over forrests and using alphas on the leading edge of the terrain and periodically making clearings that reveal more real trees. You can make some great alphas with stuff off the web or by taking pictures of trees that are quite convicing also. Bot

Deleted 90% of the trees & turned them into Alpha's. That solved the problem.... Back to watching my hair grow back now...LOL Debby