Impression (Read Only)
cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Impression 3 - Constant Crashing!

28 REPLIES 28
SOLVED
Reply
Message 1 of 29
deane
8544 Views, 28 Replies

Impression 3 - Constant Crashing!

We're coming to our wits end using Impression 3... It is now crashing more often than it ever has.  This problem is on multiple machines with multiple files.  These are only 2-5 MB files, that are in FAST DISPLAY,layers and blocks purged, all layers grouped, all other programs closed, and the hotfix installed.

 

MACHINE SPECS:

-Windows 7 64-bit

-Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4 GHz

-8.00 GB RAM

-NVIDIA Quadro FX 1500

 

Crashes While:

-Panning 'too quickly' (WORST OFFENDER)

-Using line or rectangle tool

-Importing Blocks

 

Other quirks:

-After several crashes, Impression 3 refuses to launch when clicking on .irf file in windows explorer.

-Layers display in a different order than how they are truely stacked.

 

PLEASE HELP IF YOU HAVE HAD ANY OF THESE ISSUES AND SUCESSFULLY FIXED THEM!!!  Has AutoDesk given up on Impression or will there be a future release with these problems resolved?

 

Tags (1)
28 REPLIES 28
Message 2 of 29
TexShalter
in reply to: deane

I find it to be a VERY graphic intense program - even with quick view.

 

Be sure you have sufficient ram, a decent video card, and by all means don't run other big programs while using impression.

 

I've had some luck saving the styles needed and then opening the cad file from scratch again. ( not updating cad geometry to many times)

 

Also, try a reboot just before starting.

 

 

Message 3 of 29
GaryMarkham2113
in reply to: deane

I had this happen and with the same sort of spec machine... except it's a 32 Bit machine. The problem we found was Windows 7, I contacted Autodesk and sent me a hot fix, which you need to up date 2 application extensions. the Custom Controls and the UILib extension.

 

If your stuck let me know and I will send you what I was given.

Message 4 of 29
deane
in reply to: GaryMarkham2113

See even with the hot fix I've found it to be a huge problem.  Its most definately having to do with stretching or creating any line/fill type that has modeling/irregularity to it. 

 

Its really too bad because the frustrations we're all feeling in our studio are leading to exploration of other software packages...

 

I'm very suprised Autodesk doesnt seem to care.

Message 5 of 29
TexShalter
in reply to: deane

Dear Gary,

If Autodesk sent you an unpublished hotfix, could you please share it with of us here.

Thank

Message 6 of 29

Hi,

 

Due to our Internal security, i'm not allowed to attach items to blogs etc.. but post your email and I will send it directly, so you can post it.

 

Regards

 

Gary

Message 7 of 29
deane
in reply to: GaryMarkham2113

I'd love to recieve it as well if you wouldnt mind forwarding it to:

 

deane@slamcoll.com

 

Thanks so much!!!

Message 8 of 29
TexShalter
in reply to: deane

Dear Gary,

Here is my email, hope I can return the favor someday.

 

rtull@rtull.com 

 

Tex

Message 9 of 29
nrschmid
in reply to: deane

Can you also email me, too?

 

Thanks-

gymratbookworm@yahoo.com

Message 10 of 29
dfair4450
in reply to: deane

Would you please send it to me as well? hpell@lunz.com

Message 11 of 29
makovich
in reply to: dfair4450

I checked your specs and your video card is very outdated.

It has only 256 Mb of RAM.

 

I guess it is the real problem behind those crashes. You can do much better with a recent video card with at least 1Gb of RAM.

You don't even have to spend the big bucks for a Quadro-family card, even a regular gaming card of recent manufacture will work better.

 

Regards,

 

Max V.

Message 12 of 29
dfair4450
in reply to: makovich

We have a NVIDIA Quadro 600 in our current machines... not sure where you got the information that our hardware is outdated.

Message 13 of 29
makovich
in reply to: dfair4450

I'm sorry, you are right. The specs I read were not posted by you but deane.

 

Can you post your specs?

 

Impression 3 has been working fine on my machine and is far from top of the line, I'll post my specs just for comparison:

 

Processor: Intel e5400 dual core.

RAM: 4 Gb

OS: W7 64-bit

Video Card: Nvidia Geforce GTS 450 - 1Gb RAM

 

So, you see, it's nothing top of the line but it runs Impression well.

I applied the hotfix since I'm using Windows 7.

 

Are you using any other special hardware or software?

As an example: Revit Architecture 2012 has a bug that makes the rendering module crash when you have a Wacom tablet present. The only workaround is to manually unload the drivers before entering the rendering module of Revit A.

 

Regards,

 

Max V.

Message 14 of 29
deane
in reply to: makovich

Well... As much as I WISH that you were right, it seems that is not the problem...

 

My new machine's specs are:

Processor: Intel Xeon

RAM: 18 Gb

OS: W7 64-bit

Video Card: Nvidia Quadro 600 - 1Gb RAM

 

Was very hopeful that this would fix the issue, but it still crashes when trying to render 'complicated' fill and edge types in real time.

 

Thanks for all of your thoughts to date... Anyone heard anything about Impressions 4???

 

To be continued???

 

Message 15 of 29
makovich
in reply to: deane

The probable culprit is your VideoCard.

 

It has only 128 Mb of RAM, it's just not enough for Impression.

 

You need a VideoCard with at least 512 Mb of RAM, if you can't afford a new Quadro with these specs, you can try a gaming card like the Nvidia Geforce 460 GTX, which works well with Impression.

 

If you go with a gaming card, I recommend you go with Nvidia (instead of ATI), because their drivers are usually much less buggy when working with CAD programs.

 

By the way, I asked Shaan Hurley (from Autodesk) about Impression and he says that he loves Impression and that apparently Autodesk has not dropped Impression, but they have not announced new updates.

 

Regards,

 

Max V.

 

Message 16 of 29
deane
in reply to: makovich

I'm slightly confused... I have a Quadro 600 now...

Message 17 of 29
makovich
in reply to: deane

In reply to both, deane and heatherpell,

 

You seem to have really good machines.

 

But I have noticed there are some combination of gradient fills with a stroke with roughen cause Impression to crash.

I had a file with several layers of different styles which suddenly would crash.

So I opened a backup file and re-created the steps leading to the creation of the crashing style, this way I and isolated it as the culprit.

In the end I had to resort to modifying the style to a less complex combination and that way I had no more crashes.

 

I have tried creating that particular style from scratch in other files, even a new file and it always results in crashing the program.

 

So I learned that there are combinations of style components that make Impression crash.

 

I hope you can recognize which styles might be causing your problems and maybe opt for a slightly different look for those styles and avoid the combinations that produce crashes.

 

Try opening the CAD file without your custom styles and see if it's the styles what make your machines crash.

If a new file works fine, then start importing and applying your styes one by one. This way you will find out which style(s) are crashing your machines.

 

You will probably have to re-do some styles, but with a little creativity you will find a way to get a satisfactory result.

 

I know this is only a workaround and not a real fix, but his is what has worked for me.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Cheers,

 

Max V.

 

Message 18 of 29
GaryMarkham2113
in reply to: makovich

One issue that makes Impression crash is if any of your imported CAD layers are not in Index Colours. If they are True Colours then this has a massive impact.

A I have noted before the use of windows 7 also has an impact on impression an thus the hot fix.

 

After I  corrected these two items impression has worked well...

 

Bring on a version 4 if that is what is on the way!!!!

 

Gary.

Message 19 of 29
makovich
in reply to: GaryMarkham2113

Thanks for the heads up Gary.

 

I haven't had a problem with that specific issue since I try to assign layers the standard Autocad colors, but it's good to learn of a known bug.

 

I have asked again about Impression support or new releases but nobody seems to know.

I hope that if Autodesk does not continue support, they sell the rights to other developer, because it's a completely different approach from other programs and I find that with the increasing capability of the new video cards it's even easier to work with. I see this trend continuing for the foreseeable future.

 

Impression's only problem is some bugs left and compatibility with W7, specially since Autodesk is already dropping support for Vista, and XP should follow soon.

 

 

Message 20 of 29
masrulpilami
in reply to: deane

could i have it too gary...:)

if i dont bother you please send it too to my email

masrulpilami@yahoo.co.id

really thanks

Can't find what you're looking for? Ask the community or share your knowledge.

Post to forums  

Autodesk Design & Make Report