The following are performance tips for viewing models in the Web Client.
Video Cards
When considering a video card, select a video card designed for OpenGL-based, 3D-intensive scientific or engineering applications.
In addition to the video card, the device driver is also crucial to performance. We advise trying various card and driver combinations prior to committing to a particular card vendor.
After configuring your computer, be very careful about installing operating system updates or gaming software, because doing so can dramatically affect performance. Also, make sure you can return your machine configuration to a previous state.
For laptop computers with built-in graphics, sometimes the graphics chip manufacturer has a better driver available than the one installed by the laptop manufacturer. However, because the use of a non-laptop manufacturer driver might void your warranty, be sure to check with both the graphics chip supplier and the laptop manufacturer before using a non- laptop manufacturer driver.
Virtual Memory
To maximize viewing performance when loading Smart 3D models (.zvf and .vue), limit the total file size to less than 1 GB. You can use the Intergraph Smart Interop Publisher to reduce file sizes. For more information, see Reduce the translated file size.
If possible, set paging files to the maximum fixed size (one per partition) to mitigate any issues when opening large datasets or datasets containing large individual graphic objects.
Set the minimum and maximum virtual memory settings to the same value for best performance. If the page file has to grow, it can become fragmented. Although the operating system can address only 2 GB of virtual memory at one time for each application, the swap space can be larger because multiple applications can be in virtual memory at the same time.
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For FAT and FAT32 file systems, virtual memory is limited to approximately 4 GB.
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For NTFS file systems, virtual memory is limited to one approximately 4 GB page file per partition. The NTFS file systems can have more than one page file by using a page file on more than one partition.
File System
To maximize viewing performance, you can load sets of model objects instead of an entire plant object.
If your workflow allows, you can organize your data by discipline and/or volume filters when publishing Smart 3D models into SDx.
Make sure the system is using the fastest file system.
Data Fragmentation
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Hard Drives - Perform defragmentation on your hard drives regularly. File fragmentation on the hard drive slows down the system and the application.
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System Page Files - Keep the system page files defragmented as well as the disk drives. The page file is a system file and cannot be defragmented while the system is running. A fragmented page file may be scattered all over a disk drive and will not perform efficiently. If a page file becomes too fragmented, the system may not be able to open an extremely large 3D model.
Typically, you defragment the page file at boot time, separate from the real-time disk drive defragmentation operation. Tools are available to defragment the page files.
Other tips
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The Web Client steams 3D viewing, which does not typically commit an entire model in full detail to RAM. When a user views an entire model from a distance, the viewer loads only a subset of the 3D graphical objects at lower detail so the user can quickly view the entire model.
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To overcome slower network connections or limited RAM:
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When a user pans or zooms in, the viewer streams in full detail only the required 3D graphical objects from the selected area.
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When a user pans or zooms out, the viewer removes the 3D graphical objects from RAM.
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We recommend that users navigate to their area of interest as quickly as possible. This allows the viewer to stream relevant 3D graphical objects as quickly as possible. One way to do this is to use the View Item in Model command.