Is my computer good enough?

[keea1111]

Hi Everyone,

Can someone help me figure out if my computer is up to speed for what I'm doing with SketchUp Pro/LayOut. I'm finding that rendering my models into LayOut, takes about 3-5 minutes for 1 SU insert. Recently, I traced a Google Earth Map and brought the lines into LayOut over about 160 acres. Just for the SketchUp model to appear in LayOut took about 5 minutes. The SketchUp model size is about 3000 KB and the LayOut is now 1900 KB. I have a Dell Intel(R)Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.8Ghz 1 GB RAM.
I have done smaller models with Layout and worked well in rendering time, but not sure why this is struggling along so much?
Can anyone give me their opinion on if I need a larger memory or graphics card, etc.? thanks so much, Keea

[modelhead]

I think there are many answers..."yes" to start with because you are using the tools and they seem to work but "no" because they are now slowing your workflow or at least you are here wondering about performance. I have a 1 gig box with no card on the same desk as a 12 gig with twin cards. On the small box I play with small models and small projects on a small scale it does almost anything. On the big box I really get cooking with many copies of many apps all to support a workflow that gets me to some kind of finnished piece efficiently. So the answer is you have to find the setup that matches your expectations and the demands of your hobby or your work.

[sketchyarchitect]

I have the smae problem, layout 3 is extremely slow, however when i first used it this wasn't the case, in the mean time i have installed(and uninstalled) vray. could this effect layout's performance. Also any tips on how i could change the settings so as to speed layout up? thankyou in advance

[bjanzen]

Raster is faster: leave edit rendering in low res raster. Save higher res or vector rendering for later in the process.
Control rendering yourself: uncheck Auto render to decide when you want to render things.

When you're ready to do a big rendering, run it over you lunch time or overnight, when your computer isn't doing real work for you.

b

[bjanzen]

Oh, and buy a service bureau employee a beer and ask them how they do high end printing... the tricks are usually the same.

b
... former writer of software for service bureaus.

[Richard]

Mate my system is CRAP and to get a workflow happening in LO with large images imported it helps if you firstly open the image in PS and use the "save for the web function" to reduce image quality, you can re-reference this later to the original if needed!

In some cases I also have to section the image up if it is a very large trace, make a few yariations of your base image, section it to say 6 parts with white space for the rest, import the first image trace that space then re-refernce the image with the next section and so on. The massive white space drops the image size considerably!