I think I posted a thread about this specific problem in the last couple months but now I can't find it =(

so....here goes again...
(deep breath)

Recently I switched from an Nvidia geforce card to an ATI Radeon card. (yes im using the latest Catalyst drivers v10.6 released 6/16/2010)

Now Poser has certain problems when preview display is set to openGL. (one of which was selecting vertices in the cloth room and was adressed in a previous thread)

The biggest problem is when using the "create movie" feature. If openGL is on when compiling a movie (even just as individual frames) memory page usage rises and rises until Poser crashes (the program disappears from my screen). If I cancel the movie process before the crash the system's memory page usage stays at the elevated level it reached when cancelled until I close Poser.
If the preview display is set to SreeD instead of openGL this memory escalation and crash does not occur but posing and manipulation of scene elements in SreeD mode is much slower than openGL especially when many polygons are involved.
Also SreeD displays scene elements differently than openGL
.
The only solution to this problem I've found so far is to use openGL to pose my scenes then switch to SreeD when compiling an animation but changing this option every few minutes slows down the workflow process considerably.

I dont want to have to replace the card.
So any ideas what I can do about this?

I attempted to submit a ticket to the smith micro support page but that doesnt work (the page loads with errors so some required fields cannot be filled out).

ATI burned me a long time ago and I never went back.  I hear about tons of problems with ATI and OpenGL, I know there are a lot of people who experience no problems but it sure seems a common factor when problems like yours pop up.  I vaguely remember there is some selection box setting that can help specifically for ATI people, I don't recall the details.  Pretty sure this is something Ratscloset (John at SM Tech Support team) has suggested to people in the past (search his posts).

I've had the same problem with selection in the cloth room and hair room but mine only started when I changed my card from ATI to Nvidia

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?thread_id=2800702

One thread (linked) mentions the need to download the full Catalyst Suite to make sure OpenGL is updated rather than just the drivers.

Quote - There are definitely some driver settings that used to need changing for ATI cards, and ISTR there was also a particular tweak for Poser.ini related to ATI OpenGL picking.

One thread (linked) mentions the need to download the full Catalyst Suite to make sure OpenGL is updated rather than just the drivers.

I read through the link you provided. Although the problems stated there are different and deal with different version of Poser the card mentioned by some of the posters is the same one I have (radeon HD 5770).
I got the full catalyst suit a few days ago hoping it would help (the one released on 6/16/2010) but it didnt help =(

its really starting to look like ATI and Poser just dont get along.

I went back and forth for days trying to decide between an ati card and another Nvidia card but settled on this one because of directX 11 support and slightly more power for the money.

"it was a bad call, Ripley. It was just a bad call...."

Have you adjusted any driver settings ?

I'm pretty sure one of the simple things to do was to set "Use application settings" where that option is offered.

The other possibility is that something part of Windows is interferring, so you might want to try turning off Aero (assuming Win7 has it or some equivalent).

you can try running dxdiag from the start>run menu option. Its not particularly useful but will tell you if any of the directx stuff is bad. 

I think ratscloset ?  is the rendo name of one of the smith micro poser support guys, you could try a pm.

heres a tweak from Kaibach

*edit the poser.ini file located in C:Documents and SettingsApplication DataPoser 7poser.ini and change

PREVIEW_OGL_OBJECT_BBOXPICKING 0

to

PREVIEW_OGL_OBJECT_BBOXPICKING 1*

I do not have it up now, but there is a Knowledge Base Article on this at Smith Micro.

There are several different things.. one is some ATI cards force on certain features which are great for games, but no so good for 3D apps like Poser. Turning off some of these or changing to Application Control normally resolves the issue.

I would need more details to be sure, but that would be a good start... I can not recall what version of Poser you are using, that may also change the specifics.

Yeah the tweak Markschum named is the one I remember helping quite a few people.

Quote - Have you adjusted any driver settings ?

I'm pretty sure one of the simple things to do was to set "Use application settings" where that option is offered.

The other possibility is that something part of Windows is interferring, so you might want to try turning off Aero (assuming Win7 has it or some equivalent).

I have not adjusted any driver setting as I dont know which settings to adjust and I do not want to cause any new problems without knowing what exactly to change.
I already have the Catalyst software set to "use application settings".

Quote - you can try running dxdiag from the start>run menu option. Its not particularly useful but will tell you if any of the directx stuff is bad. 

I just ran "dxdiag" through start>run but Im not sure what information I should be looking for in the windows that open. I ran directx and directdraw tests and those went fine.

Quote - heres a tweak from Kaibach

*edit the poser.ini file located in C:Documents and SettingsApplication DataPoser 7poser.ini and change

PREVIEW_OGL_OBJECT_BBOXPICKING 0

to

PREVIEW_OGL_OBJECT_BBOXPICKING 1*

I edited the poser 7 ini file as you suggested  then attempted to compile a preview animation and the memory usage still built up until poser crashed. =(

Quote - I do not have it up now, but there is a Knowledge Base Article on this at Smith Micro.

There are several different things.. one is some ATI cards force on certain features which are great for games, but no so good for 3D apps like Poser. Turning off some of these or changing to Application Control normally resolves the issue.

I would need more details to be sure, but that would be a good start... I can not recall what version of Poser you are using, that may also change the specifics.

I have had "use application settings" enabled since i installed the card.

I ran across a knowledge base article (which may be the one you are referring to) when atempting to fill out a support ticket at smith micro. The article is entitled "My graphics program keeps crashing or disappearing" which appears on page one of the knowledge base.
This article, while nicely put together, does not mention my specific problem and suggests basic fixes I have already tried such as:
 1) switching to sreeD (thats what I have to do now when making an animation)
 2)making sure I have the latest drivers for my gfx card ( I have the full catalyst suit released 6/16/2010)
 3) reducing hardware accelleration (which would be something I would need to change back to full for anything outside of poser....besides the fact that reducing hardware accelleration defeats the purpose of using the openGL setting in Poser)

I just created a Catalyst graphic settings profile for poser in which I turned  anisotropic filtering and mipmap detail all the way down as stated in the article but the problem remains.

What additional details would you need?

Im using Poser 7 SR3 (version 7.0.4.220)
AtI Radeon HD 5770 with full 10.6 driver suite (released 6/16/2010)
Using Windows Xp Pro Version 5.1 (build 2600.xpsp_sp3_qdr.100216-1514)

I greatly appreciate everyone's suggestions but im losing hope =(

http://www.realtech-vr.com/glview/

this is an opengl viewer and render test utility.

it might provide more information for someone at smith micro to identify an opengl problem.

The download link is in the red area on the right.