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number of max polygons dependent on available Ram

ZBrush Usage Questions
#1

Hi

I’ve been using the demo1.55b version of zbrush but I have just orderd zbrush2.

I notice that they recommend more than 512MB or RAM if you wish to do multi million polygons but the minimume requirements is 512MB. I got to wondering just what the constraints would be for number of max polygons you could display as you go up from 512 to 1G of RAM. I’m interested in this because I am trying to decide if I would really need more RAM for my system to create what I would be working with.

For example I would like to manipulate and make clothing objects for poser charcters. I also am bryce user and I may like to create objects to be used in that program or just simply use them in zbrush should it prove to fullfill my needs. I often do post work with either paint shop pro or photoshop. I am not planning on doing animations at this point. Just fine art and 3D creations and rendering. based on this would 512MB of RAM provide enough memory to do these things with good results?

What is the max polygons that should be used with 512MB of RAM? And if I were to exceed that max will it crash my system or just the program? Would this make the object unretrivable if that did happen (what am I thinking… of course it would be unretrevable since the program closed without saveing… doh:lol: ) But would it cause any problems with the last saved version before being dropped/dumped from memory?

Now I currently have two choices should I need to upgrade my RAM I can either go with 256 or another 512 giving me a total of either 768MB or the equiviant of 1G of RAM.

does anyone know the approximate limits of each of these Memory amounts on polygon count? I’m sure others might be interested in this info too…

512MB = approx x # of polygon max???
768MB = " ??
1GB = " ??

Thanks in advance… for answers and putting up with my sometimes irritating questions. :stuck_out_tongue:

#2

I believe that with 512 MB of RAM you’ll max out at around 500,000 polygons. 1 GB will let you hit a couple of million polygons. Not having enough RAM to divide your mesh as far as you’d like won’t crash anything, but ZBrush will give you a message stating that you can’t go any higher.

The bottom line is that the more RAM you have, the better. Not only does it increase the number of polygons you can work with, but it also decreases the amount of time that it takes to perform operations such as switching between subdivision levels.

#3

hi I had 768 on my old system.

I could with careful planning work with up to about 1.5 m polys but it really really slowed down.

make sure you have lots and lots of disk space available, get some sort of ram cleaner/booster/optimizer, and for serious modelling sessions plan things out a bit ahead of time…like doing as much work in lower poly subd’s as possible etc etc.

model in one session, leave zb, use your ram optimizer/cleaner and return for texturing kind of thing.

It sounds like for wwhat you want to do that would be enuf…but enuf is never enuf:D

#4

Thank you both. This gives me an idea of what my limitations will be until I get my memory upgraded. BTW where can a find one of these RAM cleaner/optomizers or what ever they are calling it. That sure would beat having to shut down to clear the ram for something that was still haning in memory that isn’t really needed. I’d like to look into that.

As far as the max polygons I hope that I’m not seeing things in the wrong light but I don’t think I will have a problem at first staying under that count. I’m still learning how to use this and I am certainly starting with a very low amount of know how when it comes to modelers. So the objects I will work with for now will be small or for poser cloths. By the time I get the hang of it and want to go a little higher I should have my RAM upgrated to the equivelant of 1G. I wish it was more but that’s the max on this system. My other system can go higher but I can only afford to upgrade one at a time. :confused:

The only possible problem I can see right now is if I import a poser obj model and it has to many polygons to add the clothing. but since this isn’t a problem for me when using poser or bryce I don’t think that this is going to be a problem with zbrush. Especially since poser tries to keep to lower polygon counts and smaller sizes. If it does however I believe taking it in sections depending on the clothing I want to model should limit polygons further… such as not exporting head , hands, and feet for things that will only cover the torso, arms and legs. or only exporting the feet and legs into an obj to make boots for. I think you see where I’m going with that idea.

I know it’s a bit annoying to see something all typed out that seems so obvious you a lot of you but I felt that doing so would help other newbies like me who want to use the program for the same reasons. so I hope all you guys that are proficient with this program can bare with me while I ask questions to learn and my wordyness that is an attempt to help others who have the same question.:smiley:

Thanks a bunch I really appricate your thoughts and comments

#5

okay I know I seen it some where with working with zspheres although I am not sure if that represented the number of current poly counts or not. but I can’t seem to find it with mesh objects. Where do I look to see how many polys my object has currently?

Sorry if this is in the wrong forum… please move it if it is so that I know where to put this type of question at. Still getting used to these forums here.

#6

poli.jpg
Andreseloy

#7

doh okay now I feel like a real idiot…:lol: thanks :smiley:

#8

Hi,

I found this thread in a search, and even if it’s an old thread, it asks my question exactly.

I have 1.25 gig of RAM. ZB3 (which I dearly love) set my max polys per mesh at 3.75 million. Did ZBrush read my system stats on installation and determine this figure? Or is this just a standard figure which I can safely increase? If so, what would be a safe number? I just eyeballed the Renaissance Princess in the subtool thread/beta forum and am itching to zoom on up into the 8 million range. :smiley:

Also, in the Compact Memory slot, I changed the setting from 256 to 1024. It seems to deter some of those ‘low on virtual memory’ pop ups. Is 1024 a good figure to use?

And, lastly, I have Ramrocket. Do the RAM boosters really help? I disabled it, to see what would happen, and I can’t tell much difference.

Any and all advice greatly appreciated…

Jan

#9

1024 is a good setting for your system, since it leaves RAM left over for your OS. You might even push it up to 1200, but I wouldn’t go higher than that.

As for the MaxPolysPerMesh setting, ZBrush chooses this based on your system’s RAM. You can adjust it, but should not go more than double the default value.