Improving the speed in modeling and detailing

Posted Fri, 26 Jul 2013 09:13:49 GMT by Tijana Zivanovic

We have a PC with i5 CPU , 16gb Ram , 500 gb hdd , ati 6450 1gb ddr3 vga and we are having problems with big projects.My project size is over 40 Mbytes, it is a transmission line tower with over 2000 elements by now, loading of project is about a minute or two, more complexed actions also takes a long time, saving a document usually lasts a few minutes... Additional we have problems with deleting elements,it takes a few minutes and afterwords program crashes.
What is your recommendation for hardware upgrade to make program faster...
I have read about speed optimization...but can't find how to do it ?

Answer

Posted Fri, 26 Jul 2013 10:02:45 GMT by Mihai Sandu Graitec ROMANIA

There is an F.A.Q. document on our website where you should find useful information about improving the speed in modeling and detailing. You can find it at http://www.graitec.com/en/FAQ_view.asp?FAQID=832&Language=EN&Name=How+can+the+speed+in+modeling+and+detailing+be+improved%3F.

Also, when it comes to handling large models, such as yours, we recommend that you divide the structure into smaller parts, stored in separate drawings. The smaller the file, the easier it will be to work with it. When you need an ensemble view, you can bring all of them back using external references.
If you need further investigations on your particular model, please contact the local Graitec support team.

Posted Tue, 06 Aug 2013 11:58:05 GMT by Tijana Zivanovic

Mihai, thank you for your reply. I read the FAQ document and followed your instructions related to separation of model into smaller parts. The problem with separation is as follows. The numbering in this case does not suit the requirements we have, i.e. same positions are not recognized as such, the parts are copied as blocks, which I cannot explode afterwards etc. In addition, in this moment I cannot even split the "large" model I made, as the program crashes on this event.

Do you have any instruction on how to optimize (temporary elements, any preference) or purge the model (purge command does not help), accelerate the work or any other suggestion? Also, if you could suggest any change of hardware it might be useful. Our hardware supplier has no clue. We are very short of time and in deep trouble if we don't solve the issue very soon. Thank you in advance for your help.

P.S. Our local Graitec support team cannot handle this problem. Is there any other address?

Answer

Posted Tue, 06 Aug 2013 15:16:50 GMT by Dumitru BERTEANU Graitec ROMANIA

Another good way to improve the speed is by using model views to isolate sections of the model (but without having to use XREFS or blocks). Informations can be found in the following FAQ : http://www.graitec.com/en/FAQ_view.asp?FAQID=959&Language=EN&Name=How+are+large+Advance+Steel+models+handled%3F

The hardware used fits the AS requirements. Other ways to improve the speed is also to have a model with no errors / few collisions. An error that can appear in the model and slows it down is specifically mentioned in the initial FAQ mentioned by Mihai, at point 8 (the cope can't be processed message). Try to avoid having this type of errors.

With the use of model views the speed of modelling will be greatly improved. When the whole model is visible, based on its size and the amount of objects, the speed can decrease as the objects are rendered real time. A good way to decrease the rendering time is to turn off the presentation of bolts (set them to system line only).