8

984 Appendix B: Troubleshooting 3ds Max
• Each version of 3ds Max is programmed and
optimized to use newer video technology than
what was previously available. If you haven’t
upgraded your video card in the last year, or at
least updated video drivers, there is a very good
chance 3ds Max will not star t as quickly as in
previous versions. You can also try a different
3ds Max video configuration.
• If you have not defragmented your system
recently, 3ds Max could exhibit a slower start
time. Defragmenting the system can also
streamline the loading of large files that tend to
swap to vir tual m emory.
Files Take a Long Time to O p e n
The size of a fi le often defines how quickly it loads
into 3ds Max. However, if you notice an increase
in load time from one design session to another, it
could be an indication that 3ds Max is not finding
enough memory to operate efficiently or that the
file needs to be optimized.
The first thing to check is your system memory
allocation. Per the 3ds Max system requirements,
you should have a m inimum of 256 MB of physical
memor y (R A M ) and 300 MB of swap space.
Recommended R A M is 1 GB w ith a 2 GB swap file.
Here’s how to check y o ur memory and swap-file
allocations.
To check RAM a nd swap-f ile allocation on Windows
2000:
1.
Right-click the My Computer icon on your
desktop and choose Properties from the menu.
This opens the System Properties dialog.
On the General panel, you should see
information about your computer. The amount
ofRAMshouldbelistedonthispanel.
Note: The RAM may be displayed in kilobytes
(KB) instead of megabytes (MB).
2. Open the Advanced panel, and click the
Performance Options button.
ThePerformanceOptionsdialogisdisplayed.
3. Check the “Total Paging File Size For All
Drives” setting in the Virtual Memory group .
If you have 256 MB of RAM, you should set the
Virtual Memory to approximately three times
the R AM, or 768 MB.
To check RAM and swap-file allocation on W indows
XP:
1.
Right-click the My Computer icon on your
desktop and choose Properties from the menu.
This opens the S ystem Properties dialog.
On the General tab, you should see information
about your computer. The amount of RAM
should be listed on this panel.
2. Open the Advanced tab and click the
Performance Settings butt on.
ThePerformanceOptionsdialogisdisplayed.
3. Click t he Advanced tab, and check the “Total
Paging File Size For All Drives” setting in the
Virtual Memory group.
Ifthephysicalandvirtualmemoryareset
appropriately, then you’ll have to check the
model. If the model does eventually open, do the
following:
• From the File menu, choos e Save As and save
the scene under a different name. Then try
opening the new file to see if it loads faster.
• Review some of the objects you know have large
modifier stacks. Performance can be improve d
if you collapse the stacks of objects that you’ve
completed.
• IfthemodelusesXRefs,makesuretheXRefs
are locally accessible. If they’re located on a
network server, the long load time could be due
to high network traffic.