The release of Maptek Vulcan 64-bit has been one of the most
anticipated events in mining software in a long time. Users of Maptek Vulcan’s mine modeling software
have been looking forward to the 64-bit version ever since their first error
message: 'no more free graphics device segments'. This new version promises to take advantage of
all of the increased RAM memory in today’s modern computers. The popular belief was that the new version
would be able to load more data, load it faster and without changing from small to larger Dynamic Memory settings. In reality, it has been plain to me for a while that access to
increased memory limits should allow you to load more data but at the same
processor speed, effectively making the
software seem even slower than it already is.
I’ve had some time to work with Maptek Vulcan 8.1.4 64-bit
and have to say that I am very pleased with the results. The ability to load more data on the screen is
a huge advantage. If I have to load data
at the old speed and wait a little longer for a response, I can live with
that. Just save me from the ‘no more
free graphic device segments’ error.
The Dynamic Memory settings in Maptek Vulcan allocate how
much memory is given to two processing groups. The first group is for loading CAD data and
triangulations/grids on the screen. This
is the memory you are increasing when you increase the Dynamic Memory to ‘Larger.’ This memory allows you to load large
triangulations or your entire topo strings layer, it also restricts the amount of memory available to
apply to the second process, crunching numbers. Number crunching applies to block model
processes and all background calculations. Loading a block model slice on screen is
actually memory intensive for this second process group. A common mistake for Maptek Vulcan users is
to increase Dynamic Memory when a block model slice won’t load when, in fact,
the opposite would solve the problem.
Recently, I have been having troubles with the Dynamic
Memory settings in Maptek Vulcan 32-bit.
I have large topography triangulations that I work with on a regular
basis. I also have a correspondingly
large block model whose slices I need to load frequently. I have been constantly going back and forth
between large 'custom' Dynamic Memory settings to view the triangulations and 'default' Dynamic Memory settings to view the block model slices. The 64-bit version of Maptek Vulcan has
saved the day. With access to more
memory I can now leave the Dynamic Memory settings at my 'custom' (larger than 'Larger') settings
and still display the block model slices with the same settings. This is a huge improvement.
The upgrade to 64-bit software isn’t the end-all of great
programming. Remember that your
processing speed is still the same so when working with really large datasets
the wait time can be tedious. Another
thing that I don’t understand is the warning I get with my custom Dynamic
Memory settings. I still get the error: “MAXSEG
is larger than 100,000. This is above
the recommended value, but is still valid.”
Why is this error message still here?
Isn’t the point of a 64-bit version, that I CAN load datasets with more
than 100,000 points?
If you are planning to work with large datasets it can take
some time to choose settings that Maptek Vulcan is happy with. There are several settings combinations that
will cause Envisage to report errors. For example: MAXTRI is LARGER than MAXEDT*2 or
MAXEDT is not equal to MAXTRP. To avoid
these errors you may want to use the same Dynamic Memory settings that I use:
- Object Points (MAXEDT): 2,500,000
- Graphics Segments (MAXSEG): 2,000,000
- Triangles: (MAXTRI): 5,000,000
- Triangle Points (MAXTRP): 2,500,000
- Grid Points (MAXGRD): 3,000,000
- Compositing Points (MAXCMP): 500,000
Remember that the error for too many Graphics Segments will
come up but can be ignored.
The next big improvements that Maptek Vulcan should be
looking into are:
- Making Dynamic Memory settings truly dynamic (i.e. memory gets used as it is needed, not set in stone by panel settings)
- Increasing processing speed. The ability to load more data needs to be supported by loading that data (and working with it) faster.
Maptek Vulcan 8.1.4 64-bit Release Notes
For more information on Maptek Vulcan training:
Maptek Vulcan - Training
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