More of a hardware question than anything… I’ve got a Dell laptop that I’m running Blender on, and I’m currently in the process of sculpting a model’s facial features. I’ve been gradually subdividing as needed for each level of detail to the point where I’m at 6 levels of subdivision. At this point, Blender becomes really choppy to use, and if I attempt to add a 7th level of subdivision, the program just closes. No warning dialogue from Blender or Windows, the program just closes out. I’ve even tried running with Blender being the only program open & running, but still run into the same issue.
The laptop I’m running is using Windows 7 32 bit, has an Intel Core i5 processor (2.60 GHz) and has 4GB of installed RAM. It’s running an Intel graphics card, so GPU rendering is not an available option.
I guess the real question is, since I’m obviously at the limits of my system’s hardware for what I need, is there anything I can do to keep progressing on this model using my laptop’s current configuration? Or am I pretty much SOL for continuing this model with my current system?
I’m contemplating selling this laptop and an older Asus laptop to put funds toward a new laptop. (I know a desktop would be better, but I need the portability) If I wind up going that route, what models/configurations would anyone recommend? I’m currently modelling a character, but I want to add full rigging and begin doing some animations as well, so I need a system that will be able to support that.
I don’t think there is anything you can do about this. Subdividing will always slow down Blender. However, the more RAM you have, the more you will be able to subdivide without it slowing.
I’d advise you buy a new computer, with dedicated graphics and at least 8GB of RAM.
32 Bit will be limiting you and potentially causing the crash, as Blender can use a Max 2GB of your 4GB.
If your going to get a new device, you’d want 8 or 16GB RAM, a Quiad i7, and something like a nVidia GTX 750M or greater (depends on if you want to use Cycles GPU or your CPU, depending on how good your CPU is it can be faster than a laptop GPU)
There are a few things you can do with out needing to get a new laptop. instead of subdividing to 5 or 6 levels, use dynamic topology sculpting so that only the areas get subdivided, or if you’re doing this with edit mode have good edge loops so you only need to add more loops in the facial areas.
The real limitation in your system is the Intel GPU - adequate for low-poly work, but unusable for anything else. That’s the reason why Blender crashes at higher subdivision levels.
The subdivision modifier has two settings just for such occasions. You have the viewport levels and the render levels. I rarely set the viewport past 2. If you need more smoothing or detail in the final render you can set that level higher. Set your viewport level to 0 and your render to whatever the highest your system can handle.
I looked into using Dynamic Topology, but all the detail from my base mesh was translated back into large square blocks (my base mesh was created from a subdivided cube), and all the details I’d been working on in sculpt mode have been eliminated. The tutorial I was following on sculpting a human head uses the multiresolution modifier, and as his level of detail increases, he keeps bumping up the subdivision levels. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXjG8jEa9SI)
It sounds like I either need to scrap my current progress & start over using Dynamic Topology, or I need to upgrade my laptop to continue working at this level… Choosing the more cost-friendly option, am I better off just dropping my base mesh (subdivided cube reshaped into a full figure) and starting all over? The reason I ask is when I hit the Dynamic Topology option, everything turns into rather large areas, and loses a lot of the initial shaping. It looks like something like a sphere would work better for this?
Thanks for all the answers so far… it looks like a new laptop is definitely going to be at some point in the future. At this point, it looks like I just need to do what I can to limp along with my current setup until I can upgrade my system.