I keep getting this error when ever I try to render more than one character in a scene. I think this is absurd because I have 4 Gb of RAM and an Nvidia 8800 Gts video card. It happens every time though.
Here is the 2 characters rendered with out background objects.

After adding the background objects. I try to render with the same settings to preview the scene.

I get this error a few times and click ok

Then I get this one a few times as well

When I go back to the preview window I see that the character on the right has the textures messed up

Here is my system info

I even changed the virtual memory and it did not seem to help

Anyone know what I am doing wrong?

The problem is that Windows 32bit programs can't access more than 2gb of ram.

Looking at the figure sizes on the screen a full res texture is a complete waste of time, you won't be able to see the little details anyway. I would reduce the textures in a paint program to 50% or even 25% of their normal size. Each time you half the image size you reduce the ram required by 4.

Also you can use the same texture on both figures and reduce your ram needs by half.

one I see is that you have too many gizo's on your computer..

and I would like if someone can tell me again how to expand xp pro up to 4 gigs, thanks...

Totally agree with David.J.Harmon.From the screenshots your system alone is looking like a resource drainer.
1.First of all, I don't see why having those "tiny" programs run all the time.They are supposed to be used only when you have problems or you want to test something...
2.You may not think so, but those fancy themes eat more than you may think.Actually more than 25% so it's actually a choice between "coolness" and performance.
I run Windows 2000 on a 3.6 GHz dual core with 4 GB of RAM and 3 SATA II hard drives.For the things we do (and that includes you too) the size and speed of the videocard it really doesn't matters.Anything above 64 MB is just enough.
Everything I run on my system is almost instant, and so far I didn't met any scene in Poser that I wasn't unable to render.Also, never got an error, except when a component (texture, geometry) wasn't present.
What's the secret?Simple, rapid processor, rapid and big sized RAM (I have Mushkin HP2 6400) and also rapid HDD's.Mine's aren't big sized but very fast and with large buffers.Apart from that, I have set 8 GB of swap on the primary HDD and anothe 8 GB on another HDD, wich makes up for 16 GB of swap.Windows automatically sets your swap on the primary HDD (the one with the OS on it) at RAM amount+50%, wich for my 4 GB would have been 6 GB total.But that ammount is just minimal and you should set it to at least the double size.Also, setting the swap on main drive is not a good idees, since is draggin down performance.Actually, setting anything you use on the main drive is not a good ideea.For instance, my Poser libraries (because I also have many of those for the same reason of performance) are located on a different drive than the one I am running Poser from.Also, the "swap" space for Photoshop is on a different drive from the one Photoshop itself is loading.The files I work with in Poser and Photoshop are located on the third drive, and so on...

And btw, I don't see why you installed Vista.You need performance, right?Not eye candy.
Vista is the slowest and most resource demanding system up to date.It requires a minimum of 4 GB of RAM to work properly and you should not run it without at least 32 GB of RAM if you are to make renders.
Why don't you install Windows 2000 for a change, and try again to see if you can render that scene of yourse.If you can, then you got my point...

Now, I don't know what you mean David.J.Harmon but if you reffer to the RAM the XP can recognize, you can have up to 3.7 GB.That is the ammount recognized both on Windows 2000, Windows 2003 and XP SP2.I just installed the RAM and started the Windows.Nothing else...
I also have a 512 MB integrated video card wich also eats up RAM.
Other than that I don't know what to say.To me, a complex scene with one level of raytracing and ambient occlusion for all elements plus 5 lights with shadows is rendering at 1000x1000 in around 4 minutes.

Best regards!

1. the /3 gb switch in win xp , just search microsofts site , they have a tech paper on it .

2. Its fairly hard these days to get a new system without vista.

I would check the texture sizes and calculate out the required memory to hold those textures. 
( l x w x color depth in bytes - so 4,000 x 4,000 x 24 bit color is 16,000,000 x 3 (24/8) which is around 48 meg per image. An application can only address 2 GB of memory with another 2gb for system use for that task ) 

Turn on the performance tools and track memory usage , leave the monitor open while rendering  and observe the memory used by the task when it crashes.

Use render in seperate thread , and delete texture cache before rendering. A good idea is to save the scene , and restart poser so it allocates memory from scratch.

I render up to 6 figures V3, M3 and david with clothes and textures on a system with 512 mb memory. 

Attached Link: http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/83ec0ffe-ee04-4d53-8b87-25d1f05c954e1033.mspx

Vista can and does use anywhere from 500 meg to 1.5 Gig of RAM depending on what bells and whistles you're running, I have 8 Gig RAM but I still turned all the Vista "pretty's" off like the sidebar and stuff, also Aero is a waste, how many times do you use it, turn it all off and that wil free up loads of RAM. Also Vista use Superfetch where it guesses what you use software wise so if you've used other software a lot before Poser it may allocate memory to those programmes, it does adjust but takes time!

Check out this microsoft page for performance tips!

And for the last point, the preview textures appear to be messed up due to OpenGL issues with Vista (particularly the lack of native support for same). The actual textures are not affected, just the pre-vis rendering. Cool image concept, btw....... ;)

I don't use Vista so I don't know if this will help.  Poser has a memory leak.  The longer you have it open, the worse it gets.  Once you have your scene set up including your render settings, save the scene, exit Poser, and then reboot the system.  Open Poser, reload the scene and render.  Try rendering to disk or file rather than the viewport or a new window.

Just as side note: it looks like the prop you're using is one by Stonemason and even he says that particular one is a resource hog.

Just raising the point.

1. Get rid of Vista. It's a DRM infested resource hog
2. Get rid of V4.2. She's a magnet infested resource hog
3. Reduce all textures to 1500 x 1500 or less.
4. Delete all unneeded morphs.
5. Make all covered bodyparts invisible and let Poser ignore backfacing polys.
6. Export your figures and re-import as solid objects.
7. Run your figures/objects through a polygon reducer like Polytrans.
8. Render in separate passes and reassembly later. (You can set up shadow catchers to keep the shadows in the correct places)
9. Get more RAM and a 64bit system.
10. Wait for Poser Pro to be released.

The Temple ruins.
The trick to that prop set is replacing the materials. The original material settings mean that each and every part of the temple has its own hires texture, and since we're talking a lot of props here the texture memory adds up.
Replace all those texture maps by a procedural shader, and your memory woes are over.
Works for my system anyway.

Reasons to install Vista: drivers. I have two systems now that absolutely require Vista (one desktop, one notebook). Drivers for XP/XP64 are just not available for the hardware in those systems.

If you turn off the unnecessary bells and whistles in Vista, it is'nt that bad.

Attached Link: http://badvista.fsf.org/

"If you turn off the unnecessary bells and whistles in Vista, it is'nt that bad."

Vista is defective by design.
It's not the bells and whistles.
It's the DRM crap.
I'll never EVER install a system that uses MY hardware and MY power to SPY on ME on behalf of some fatcat MAFIAA types.

If some kind soul ripped all that DRM crap out of it, I EVEN MIGHT consider using Vista.
But then again...
I already have a fully functional DRM free operating system so why bother.

Nope, XP is here to stay for a LOOOONG time.

And who knows, maybe in a few years Linux will be finally as user friendly and compatible as Windoze is today, so I might ditch M$ alltogether.

Agreed about the DRM crap. But if you don't use the computer as a home theater, with HDTV and the latest audio gadgets, that DRM crap doesn't kick in.
The fact that Microsoft/nVidia/ATI still haven't worked out the OpenGL issues is worse IMO.

And if there had been drivers for the hardware, I most certainly would have stuck to XP 64 bit. 

"Reasons to install Vista: drivers."
 - How so?I have a latest generation computer and I am running Windows 2000 on it without problems.I hope you are not relying on Windows to recognize your computer components...because that is a big mistake, even if it does.
You should have your own CD's with drivers for each component (when you purchase them new, they come with at least one).If you have that, you can run any OS on your system.I can even run Windows 98 on mine...:)

And yes, get rid of Vista.At least don't keep it on a 1.8 GHz dual core...

If you got a 64 bit processor get XP 64 as i use xp 32 and 64 and even with 2 gb memory i can render bigger scenes in poser 7 even mem hogger under 64.
Good news is looks like Microsoft going get windows 7 out next year which is good news indeed, not for vista users though, as they will have an obsolete operating system.
Whatever microsoft try and do with vista they cant fix the faults unless they rewrite the whole operating system, and windows 7 will be 64 bit only.

The Intel ICHR8 XP64 drivers don't work as they should. If you have an ICHR7 southbridge, no problems.
My older Q6600 system (P965, ICHR7) runs XP64, and runs it very well.
The newer system (P965, ICHR8): couldn't get it stable under XP 64, but it works fine under Vista 64. Same story for my laptop.

I don't know the story when it comes to the nVidia chipsets. Might be better, might be the same.

Quote - I keep getting this error when ever I try to render more than one character in a scene. I think this is absurd because I have 4 Gb of RAM and an Nvidia 8800 Gts video card. It happens every time though.

To use more than 2GB of your RAM, you need a 64-bit CPU, a 64-bit OS, and a 64-bit version of Poser.

Quote - Just as side note: it looks like the prop you're using is one by Stonemason and even he says that particular one is a resource hog.

Just raising the point.

..if only I had a penny for everytime I was credited for that set,The Temple Ruins are made by The Hankster
it's a great looking model(probably the best looking set of ruins available) but all that detail which would now be done with displacement, back then was done with polys...so it can be a bit heavy to work with

Cheers
Stefan

Poser 7 doesn't really mind when it comes to polycount, it can render an awesome lot of polys without a hitch. It's the multiple hires textures that is causing the out of memory problems. Again, reducing texture sizes (those human figures probably don't need 4096x4096 textures, 2048x2048 is more than good enough) and replacing textures by procedurals will get you there.

In fact, I just finished a render containing this exact same temple prop, 15 human figures, 9 of which have strand-based hair, loads of reflections, IBL/AO, displacement,  hi-poly vegetation, the whole kaboodle.

>> ..if only I had a penny for everytime I was credited for that set,The Temple Ruins are made by The Hankster

You mean, I've had that in my archive under your name for the last two years, and it's in the wrong place?????????

Man, I'm gonna sue someone!

:)

Well, I render in Vue, 64 bit, 8 gig RAM system, so it aves me that problem :p

I did a tutorial on optimizing Poser figures for Vue.
SOme of it applies to pure Poser.
get VSO IMAGE RESIZER, which is uber handy gadget, right click any image, it shows up as an action you can do in WIndows, and it lets you resize pics.

So what I do is...copy original textures back into same folder, so I have high rez originals if I need them.
For most renders you do NOT need 2000 or larger textures (pin ups, yes).
Then resize originals down to 1024 or similar.

Thus when items load, they use the smaller originals. Saves TONS of RAM ;)

http://www.silverblades-suitcase.com/tutorials/htm/18.html

Quote - Totally agree with David.J.Harmon.From the screenshots your system alone is looking like a resource drainer.

But that's got nothing at all to do with the problem, looking at the page file size...

A simple image like that shouldn't give you out of memory problems. Check out the attached image, rendered on a 2Gb RAM machine. Original size 1100x1029, scaled down for posting only. All textures used are at least 1024x1024, some 2000x2000 and some even higher. No gimmicks used, complete scene rendered completely in Poser (mind you, I've done way larger scenes then this one). Took 1 hour to render on my machine. I forgot how many lights I did use, but it's over 20 and at least half of them cast shadows. The image even used volumetric rain (3 instances for the best effect), not just an overlay.

The secret? As little applications and processes running as possible, in essence only firewall, anitvirus and display stuff. New startup before rendering, load scene render right away. Scale down as many textures as possible, but I never scale down under 1024, but this image used as stated before still some large textures.

My machine: WinXP home (good old 32 bit) SP1 (yes, no service pack 2 on my machine, it's a resource eater), 2Gb Ram, Athlon64 3500+, lot's of GB free harddisk space (at least 12Gb on the one where WinXp has been installed on. Poser is installed on a different harddrive), ATI Radeon X1550 512Mb (Everyone says the gfx card is not important for rendering, but it has an effect on the the way your cpu and ram is being used. The better the gfx card, the more memory on the gfx cars itself, the more efficient your cpu and ram will be used, since the gfx crd will take away some of the stress on it).

Why am I giving you my specs also? Well they're part of the secret also. When it comes to Poser, it's one of the best setups you can use. Granted, it may not be the fastest anymore, but it is the most efficient one and that counts. Where high end machine fail to render large scenes or high resolution, my good old outdated beauty still preforms fine and outshines all the $$$$ spent.

Quote - "Totally agree with David.J.Harmon.From the screenshots your system alone is looking like a resource drainer."

But that's got nothing at all to do with the problem, looking at the page file size...*

That  has a lot to do with the problem. Poser doesn't use the page file correctly at all. If you run out of physical memory with Poser while having Gb's of page file left, you're still in trouble.

Quote - That  has a lot to do with the problem. Poser doesn't use the page file correctly at all.

NO APPLICATION USES THE PAGE FILE!!!! Windows uses the page file. > Quote - If you run out of physical memory with Poser while having Gb's of page file left, you're still in trouble.

The 2/3GB per process limit for 32 bit Windows applies. But that's all there is. No other running process takes away from that memory. I had 2 Poser applications running, both using 1.7-1.8 GB on the same PC at one, with Windows only seeing 2.75 GB of the 4GB.

Quote - That  has a lot to do with the problem. Poser doesn't use the page file correctly at all. If you run out of physical memory with Poser while having Gb's of page file left, you're still in trouble.

One of my previous systems (AthlonXP 2800+. 1 GB RAM, XP Pro ) had no problem rendering Poser scenes that took 1.5-1.8 GB. Slow, a lot of page file use, but it finished the renders alright.

When the page file has to be extended during a render, Poser will hang - it doesn't wait for Windows to return the requested memory. But if you set your initial page file size large enough (I had it set at 3 GB on that AthlonXP 2800), the page file won't have to be extended, and Poser will plod on (Or crash due to another problem).