If you use Auto (final) render, slide the dial to where you get 2048 on Max Tex size. Then hit render now. Going higher really puts the squeeze on resourses. 2048 should be plenty for a scene with 3 figures. I'm surprized you crash. It usually tells me there is not enough memory to load a texture and clicks off to the workwindow. Before you pass final judgement, I would assess RAM and memory management. This is where a lot of crashes really come from. I had blackout (DOS) crashes with SR1 until I flipped slots with 2gigs...just an example of how personalized it can be. Have not crashed 1 time since... Bucket should take care of itself. There is a tab in prefs to set it up. It reduces itself auto. as needed.