Voloview 3 program needs optimizing? - SLOW with large drawings!

[Anonymous]

Our city recently bought a copy of Voloview 3 in order to allow our public
works supervisors to view our master utilities plan, an Autocad 2004 file
about 9MB in size. Load time is several minutes on a fairly recent computer
running windows 2000 with 512MB ram, straight from the hard drive. While
it's loading the computer can't be used for anything else. Printing is very
slow also, you can pretty well take a coffee break. Strangely enough it's
almost the same speed over a wireless network. On lesser computers it's
useless (freezes while loading on a Pentium 800Mhz with 256MB ram and Xp.

If anyone can provide help I'd appreciate it. We had planned on purchasing
several more but with this kind of performance we won't.

Robert Thomson
City of Miramichi
Civil Tech
506-623-2020
robert.thomson@miramichi.org

[Anonymous]

9MB is a hefty file. I have no magic bullet to share with you to improve
performance. I am guessing that the reason the time on the wireless network
is about the same is because you are CPU bound. If you were I/O bound, you
would see a difference. This means you need a faster CPU for a file that
big. An alternative is to generate a DWF file and use the free Autodesk
Express Viewer. That's what I would do. The money you would have spent on
Volo View could be spent on changing your process to generate the DWF files.

"Big Bob" wrote in message
news:07D021AE0F1F8F3C8F14F99DC9FF1D02@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> Our city recently bought a copy of Voloview 3 in order to allow our public
> works supervisors to view our master utilities plan, an Autocad 2004 file
> about 9MB in size. Load time is several minutes on a fairly recent
computer
> running windows 2000 with 512MB ram, straight from the hard drive. While
> it's loading the computer can't be used for anything else. Printing is
very
> slow also, you can pretty well take a coffee break. Strangely enough it's
> almost the same speed over a wireless network. On lesser computers it's
> useless (freezes while loading on a Pentium 800Mhz with 256MB ram and Xp.
>
> If anyone can provide help I'd appreciate it. We had planned on
purchasing
> several more but with this kind of performance we won't.

[Anonymous]

Have you been able to compare Opening times on a computer that has AutoCAD
also installed on it? This would give you a valid comparison. I also have
experienced very slow load times compared to AutoCAD itself. Compared to
most other 3rd party dwg viewers, VoloView is unfortunately slower...

John

"Big Bob" wrote in message
news:07D021AE0F1F8F3C8F14F99DC9FF1D02@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> Our city recently bought a copy of Voloview 3 in order to allow our public
> works supervisors to view our master utilities plan, an Autocad 2004 file
> about 9MB in size. Load time is several minutes on a fairly recent
computer
> running windows 2000 with 512MB ram, straight from the hard drive. While
> it's loading the computer can't be used for anything else. Printing is
very
> slow also, you can pretty well take a coffee break. Strangely enough it's
> almost the same speed over a wireless network. On lesser computers it's
> useless (freezes while loading on a Pentium 800Mhz with 256MB ram and Xp.
>
> If anyone can provide help I'd appreciate it. We had planned on
purchasing
> several more but with this kind of performance we won't.
>
> Robert Thomson
> City of Miramichi
> Civil Tech
> 506-623-2020
> robert.thomson@miramichi.org
>
>
>
>
>

[Anonymous]

Have you tried VPLT.EXE to open the DWG file? Was this quicker?

VPLT.EXE is found in the install folder of VV3, that is if you installaed
the Plot Module from the install routine.

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I  have checkt the performance of the different viewer
with an Delphi program:

1.26MByte Ascii DWF: (sec)

size=2>                
  
LoadFile                
 MakeViewer +

size=2>                                     
               
    LoadFile

Whip : 
4.3sec         5.0sec

VV   : 
2.4sec         4.1sec

AEV 
:  8.2sec        
8.9sec

And the same Information as a DXF-file
(9.25MByte) needs 25Sec to load by doppelclick on the File (Hand
stoped).

VV is not so bad with dwf. But
DXF?

Thomas Bornhaupt

PS: i make it always twice so the
information was in the cash of the computer.

"Big Bob" <
size=2>bob@big.com> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
href="news:07D021AE0F1F8F3C8F14F99DC9FF1D02@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb">
size=2>news:07D021AE0F1F8F3C8F14F...
size=2>...

> Our city recently bought a copy of
Voloview 3 in order to allow our public
> works supervisors to view our
master utilities plan, an Autocad 2004 file
> about 9MB in size. 
Load time is several minutes on a fairly recent computer
> running windows
2000 with 512MB ram, straight from the hard drive.  While
> it's
loading the computer can't be used for anything else.  Printing is
very
> slow also, you can pretty well take a coffee break. Strangely
enough it's
> almost the same speed over a wireless network.  On
lesser computers it's
> useless (freezes while loading on a Pentium 800Mhz
with 256MB ram and Xp.
>
> If anyone can provide help I'd
appreciate it.  We had planned on purchasing
> several more but with
this kind of performance we won't.
>
> Robert Thomson
> City
of Miramichi
> Civil Tech
> 506-623-2020
>
href="mailto:robert.thomson@miramichi.org">
size=2>robert.thomson@miramichi.org
>
>

>
>
>

[Anonymous]

You want to move away from accessing DWG files: unless your City requires
access to the file to make changes and issue revisions, you really should
not be accessing DWG or DXF file format at all.

All you want to do is VIEW, and PRINT when needed: you don't want the
liability of having access to a modifiable file format like DWG or DXF.
Consult your department's Legal Counsel, I bet he will freak to know your
team accesses 'modifiable' files.

You should be asking for DWF, or spending your money on DWF conversion
software instead: then all you need to use is the free AEV product (or any
of the other free or low cost viewers) for viewing and printing files. DWF
files are very very small, but contain all the information the DWG file has,
without exposing your department to any issues of 'modifying' originals and
so on.

PDF is another alternate: again, with a free viewer, you only spend the
money for file conversions.

Again, stay away from DWG files: you are not in a position to be accessing
files that can be modified and open you to any liability issues.

--
Dean Saadallah
Add-on products for LT
http://www.pendean.com/lt
--

[Anonymous]

"Scott Sheppard" wrote in message
news:71534BA77C58C96266396112AAC13D4E@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> 9MB is a hefty file. I have no magic bullet to share with you to improve
> performance. I am guessing that the reason the time on the wireless
network
> is about the same is because you are CPU bound. If you were I/O bound, you
> would see a difference. This means you need a faster CPU for a file that
> big. An alternative is to generate a DWF file and use the free Autodesk
> Express Viewer. That's what I would do. The money you would have spent on
> Volo View could be spent on changing your process to generate the DWF
files.
>
Scott,

I had tried a DWF file some time ago . I wasn't able to get the detailed
required to zoom in and view our utilities system at street level.

Robert Thomson

[Anonymous]

If you crank up the precision on the DWF to high, you should be able to get
very detailed zooming.

"Bob Gates" wrote in message
news:7E5FEBEF6035C21240BE35299C97F9BE@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> I had tried a DWF file some time ago . I wasn't able to get the detailed
> required to zoom in and view our utilities system at street level.
>

[Anonymous]

On my Pentium 4, 2Ghz, Ge4 card and 768MB Ram:

Autocad map 2004: 24sec
voloview 3: 3mins 16sec.


"John Schmidt" wrote in message
news:D55239C0269FC270D1B5EC55CAA962C8@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> Have you been able to compare Opening times on a computer that has AutoCAD
> also installed on it? This would give you a valid comparison. I also have
> experienced very slow load times compared to AutoCAD itself. Compared to
> most other 3rd party dwg viewers, VoloView is unfortunately slower...
>
> John
>

[Anonymous]

Wow,

On my Pentium 4, 2Ghz, Ge4 card and 768MB Ram:

Autocad map 2004: 24sec
voloview 3: 3mins 16sec.
VPLT.exe 18 sec.



"cadsysmgr(Tim Miley)" wrote in message
news:6FDE9A926E0B2B842979CFB13A9BB69B@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> Have you tried VPLT.EXE to open the DWG file? Was this quicker?
>
> VPLT.EXE is found in the install folder of VV3, that is if you installaed
> the Plot Module from the install routine.
>
>

[Anonymous]

I had tried both PDF and DWF in the past, was unable to obtain a high enough
resolution despite experimentation.


"Dean Saadallah" wrote in message
news:765B2896A2F9B80150F296161677E363@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> You want to move away from accessing DWG files: unless your City requires
> access to the file to make changes and issue revisions, you really should
> not be accessing DWG or DXF file format at all.
>
> All you want to do is VIEW, and PRINT when needed: you don't want the
> liability of having access to a modifiable file format like DWG or DXF.
> Consult your department's Legal Counsel, I bet he will freak to know your
> team accesses 'modifiable' files.
>
> You should be asking for DWF, or spending your money on DWF conversion
> software instead: then all you need to use is the free AEV product (or any
> of the other free or low cost viewers) for viewing and printing files. DWF
> files are very very small, but contain all the information the DWG file
has,
> without exposing your department to any issues of 'modifying' originals
and
> so on.
>
> PDF is another alternate: again, with a free viewer, you only spend the
> money for file conversions.
>
> Again, stay away from DWG files: you are not in a position to be accessing
> files that can be modified and open you to any liability issues.
>
> --
> Dean Saadallah
> Add-on products for LT
> http://www.pendean.com/lt
> --
>
>

[Anonymous]

That's controlled by the output program: by default, PDF and DWF are set low
unless the file creator sets the programs correctly.

Try it again, demand at least 600dpi and provide detailed plot style
settings (like only using MONOCHROME or NONE for example).

--
Dean Saadallah
Add-on products for LT
http://www.pendean.com/lt
--

[Anonymous]

My guess is you have a lot of polylines. AutoCAD has a special trick for
loading those quickly that Volo View does not have. VPLT is essentially a
copy of AutoCAD which is why you see comparable speed.

"Big Bob" wrote in message
news:D16E37C9F5967A640F769968FBD7E542@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> Wow,
>
> On my Pentium 4, 2Ghz, Ge4 card and 768MB Ram:
>
> Autocad map 2004: 24sec
> voloview 3: 3mins 16sec.
> VPLT.exe 18 sec.

[Anonymous]

Are these the times for starting each application or the time required to
open the particular 9Mbyte file ?

If it is the time to open your files I suggest you associate DWG and DXF
files to VPLT.EXE and leave the DWF files to VoloView 3.


> Autocad map 2004: 24sec
> voloview 3: 3mins 16sec.
> VPLT.exe 18 sec.
>
>
>
> "cadsysmgr(Tim Miley)" wrote in message
> news:6FDE9A926E0B2B842979CFB13A9BB69B@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> > Have you tried VPLT.EXE to open the DWG file? Was this quicker?
> >
> > VPLT.EXE is found in the install folder of VV3, that is if you
installaed
> > the Plot Module from the install routine.
> >
> >
>
>

[Anonymous]

That's correct. Most of the propertylines and road network are polylines.
Ditto for Storm, sanitary and water services. That explains why I've had so
much trouble with Voloview.

A simple answer we've been looking for.


"Scott Sheppard" wrote in message
news:20C6173D688DB7D3E0B6682B6F39823E@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> My guess is you have a lot of polylines. AutoCAD has a special trick for
> loading those quickly that Volo View does not have. VPLT is essentially a
> copy of AutoCAD which is why you see comparable speed.
>

[Anonymous]

Hi:

I wish myself that the performance speed of VV3 would be optimized. I find
that our floor plans open in more time that it takes for AutoCAD to open
them.

Additionaly, I find the help files inadequate in scope. Something more like
Windows troubleshooter would be appreciated.

Plotting is also a hit and miss, and I find little disscussion on this
topic.

Also, could we not have separate news groups for VVE and VV3?

Sorry for the rant.

Dave
"John Schmidt" wrote in message
news:D55239C0269FC270D1B5EC55CAA962C8@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> Have you been able to compare Opening times on a computer that has AutoCAD
> also installed on it? This would give you a valid comparison. I also have
> experienced very slow load times compared to AutoCAD itself. Compared to
> most other 3rd party dwg viewers, VoloView is unfortunately slower...
>
> John
>
> "Big Bob" wrote in message
> news:07D021AE0F1F8F3C8F14F99DC9FF1D02@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> > Our city recently bought a copy of Voloview 3 in order to allow our
public
> > works supervisors to view our master utilities plan, an Autocad 2004
file
> > about 9MB in size. Load time is several minutes on a fairly recent
> computer
> > running windows 2000 with 512MB ram, straight from the hard drive.
While
> > it's loading the computer can't be used for anything else. Printing is
> very
> > slow also, you can pretty well take a coffee break. Strangely enough
it's
> > almost the same speed over a wireless network. On lesser computers it's
> > useless (freezes while loading on a Pentium 800Mhz with 256MB ram and
Xp.
> >
> > If anyone can provide help I'd appreciate it. We had planned on
> purchasing
> > several more but with this kind of performance we won't.
> >
> > Robert Thomson
> > City of Miramichi
> > Civil Tech
> > 506-623-2020
> > robert.thomson@miramichi.org
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>

[Anonymous]

Take a look at Autovue, by Cimmetry. Why does a third party company get it
right over the original??????????

Dave
"EngDept" wrote in message
news:C106945442545CD029C49C2E8457CEA8@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> That's correct. Most of the propertylines and road network are polylines.
> Ditto for Storm, sanitary and water services. That explains why I've had
so
> much trouble with Voloview.
>
> A simple answer we've been looking for.
>
>
> "Scott Sheppard" wrote in message
> news:20C6173D688DB7D3E0B6682B6F39823E@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> > My guess is you have a lot of polylines. AutoCAD has a special trick for
> > loading those quickly that Volo View does not have. VPLT is essentially
a
> > copy of AutoCAD which is why you see comparable speed.
> >
>
>

[Anonymous]

Those guys at Cymmetry are my friends. I love AutoVue, but it does not treat
objects as objects. Only Volo View has the object enablers to let it know
that stairs are stairs. The handling of this intelligence takes longer than
just processing lines, arcs, and text. You are comparing apples to oranges.
Cymmetry also sells their viewer for a higher prices, because it views a
gazillion different formats.

"David Millar" wrote in message
news:E5AE4312D6B724AC7416A3A4B114AD1C@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> Take a look at Autovue, by Cimmetry. Why does a third party company get
it
> right over the original??????????