64bit Windows

[Donovan]

I seem to be having intermittent crashes. when rendering a variety of presets. I haven't seen any mention of it on the forums. I also noticed that when I render the sketchup process jumps to 100%. Isn't the render supposed to work in the background? I have a hunch its the 64 bit OS but I thought someone else might have some insight. I just purchased a license and I love the interface and workflow. I want to be able to use it as its intended.

Thanks
D

[Chris]

Rendering in the background doesn't mean it uses less than 100%. It just means that if another application wants to run, priority will be given to that other application. But it will still run at maximum CPU, no matter what (this is assuming you are using the maximum suggested threads).

As far as crashing, the only thing that comes to mind is memory (RAM) limitations. Even though you have a 64 bit OS, Sketchup and Twilight run as 32 bit applications and so are limited in the amount of memory it can use. If you have a lot of high-resolution textures, and /or a very high amount of geometry, it is possible that SketchUp / Twilight is using up all the available memory when you go to render. This is especially true if you are rendering large image sizes (ie 3000 +) or you are rendering with interior / interior+. Those presets use 'super-sampling' which means your image behind the scenes may be 2 or 3x larger, and that can mean a lot of memory.

[Donovan]

Here is the error I get.

Error signature
AppName: sketchup.exe AppVer: 7.1.4871.0 ModName: kerkytheaecho.dll
modver: 0.0.0.0 Offset: 000600b1

[Chris]

I'd say fairly likely the problem is memory. Try rendering a very small size, like 200x200. If that works, then it's almost certainly memory. If it doesn't, then it's possible there is a geometry issue that we need to look at it. Assuming the file isn't too large, you can send it to support at twilightrender dot com.

[Donovan]

Thanks for your help. I am still having problems. I went through all my materials and significantly reduced my sketchup file size. I have been experimenting with different settings and watching task manager. I do think it is related to memory although I have 3.99 GB of it. The positive side is that I get good results when I export to Kerkythea. The only problem with that is when exporting multiple scenes only the visible geometry from the first scene is exported. I wonder if things would be different if twillight called kerkythea as a separate process to render. So at this point I will probably only do preliminary rendering with twillight and then export to Kerkythea. I have a sinking suspicion that it is my system and not the fault of Twillight. From the forum entries so far it looks like I'm the only one with the problem. Your help is greatly apprecieated.
Thanks
D

[HeeBeeGB]

Hi I too had noticed this when I did renders on the demo version (before I got my licence). Solution was to make sure that the power setting under control panel is optimized to performance (At least this is how my machine is set up).

I guess my machine was trying to power save. Also, closing all other apps helps as well.

[Fletch]

This is frustrating, Donovan, as I have used Twilight for a very long time on a 64 bit system with zero crashing problems... it would be very difficult to diagnose with so little info.

You can of course send the file for testing to support at twilightrender dot com for testing if you think it will help, we are glad to give it a try.