Replacing Too-Large Images

[gloranphile]

I have several smart images in my Realm that are quite large and crash the program upon opening. Two questions for the group:

Does anyone know of a way to quickly replace these?

What is the maximum size for a smart image so I can go through my maps and resize accordingly?


Thanks!

[Silveras]

Maximum size depends on your system's memory, as I recall.

Smart image sizes may be multiples of the base image size, as there are overlays for the reveal mask (at least, if not more).

Between those two things, I don't know if it is possible to say that any specific size, other than very very conservatively small, is going to work for all users.

[Viking2054]

Isn't there a size limit in MB of the picture file though... I don't remember what it is though.

[eponette]

Anyway, unless I'm wrong, images on screen doesn't need to have high resolution. Except if you want to zoom in and out a lot.

[davidp]

There is a hard-limit of 30,000,000 bytes for any image, audio, video, foreign object, document brought into Realm Works.

We warn for images over 12,000,000 pixels (comparable to a 4,000 x 3,000 image) in size but still allow them to be loaded.

The hard limits on size are very dependent on system resources and when during a session you try and load the image. If it is very early before doing much in Realm Works, it may be fine for a certain size. If you try and load the same image after having been working a lot with Realm Works, you may get the out of memory exception. This is due to using more memory as you run and also memory getting broken up into smaller pieces (memory fragmentation) which means allocating the memory for the image as one chunk is not possible.

And as stated, multiple images are needed at a time when manipulating smart images. And those images need to be uncompressed.

So if you loaded up a 4,000 x 3,000 pixel image, it would use up around 48,000,000 bytes when it is uncompressed in memory. Now figure you have a reveal mask of the same size.... And then a combined image of the two of the same size.... And if you have an overlay, there's another one needed.

[gloranphile]

Thanks David, appreciate the in-depth answer! I'm getting crashes even with 32gb RAM.

Is there a way to remove and replace the smart images with pins I entered before my realm got big without crashing the program each time?

[AEIOU]

Are there pins? Have you deleted and replaced the image? Have you deleted pins?

I have several smaller smart images that crash me to desktop if I try to delete. But every time I think about them I am too busy to send my database to LW to unravel.

I have hit the limits quite a few times on other smart images and RW gives a nice warning message.

[Silveras]

Thanks David, appreciate the in-depth answer! I'm getting crashes even with 32gb RAM.

Is there a way to remove and replace the smart images with pins I entered before my realm got big without crashing the program each time?

That's probably going to need a support ticket, I'd guess.

If the application crashes as soon as you try to load one specific Realm, you may be able to get back into it by removing the local preferences.... that lists what tabs you had open, so that RealmWorks can open them again when you open the Realm again.

If that works, you could then TRY to open one of the Topics and delete the image. You may also need to delete the pins, as well.

If you still have the original image around on your system, a graphics program like Photoshop or Gimp should let you get a look at the size and quality of the image. You may be able to get away with creating a lower-quality version and replacing the one you have with that.

[gloranphile]

I'm going to try to resize my existing images (some are upwards of 58 MB) using photoshop and open each of the offending Topics and replace one at a time.

I do have pins throughout, and if I resize the images (not change quality), I obviously lose the pin locations. The issue with some of my images is that reducing quality by a large amount would definitely hurt visibility of wide swaths of land... I guess trial and error will have to work.

[rob]

Realm Works is currently a 32-bit product. As such, it can only use a maximum of 4GB (best case), regardless of how much RAM your computer has installed.

There is no way to remove or replace the image without first loading the smart image into the content pane. So you'll need to load the smart image, clear its image, and then select the new image in its stead. After doing this for some number of images, you may end up crashing due to the out-of-memory issue. At that point, you should be able to restart and resume where you left off. You should not find yourself unable to restart, since the issue is memory fragmentation, which gets reset when you restart.

In other news, I'm just silly tired. I saw your signature at the bottom of your posts and misread "Mythras" as "Zathras", which made me go WTF and laugh out loud. The thought of somebody playing Zathras as a PC is absolutely hilarious. For those not familiar with Zathras, he's a fantastic character from the old Babylon 5 TV show (from back in the mid-90s). Here's a link to a classic scene of his below. Now imagine a game where someone plays him as a PC. I'll just sit back with a bucket of popcorn and watch... :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j-76eLz1hc

[IMoriarty]

I had a similar issue with the image sizes, as I have a very large world map, with tons of detail, and hundreds of pins at this point.

I had briefly considered slicing up the larger map into quadrants (or smaller), and having a full map at a lower resolution with pins linking to the full-res sliced images to keep any given map under the limits.

Kinda like a poor man's google maps tile implementation, I suppose.

Haven't tried it though, I don't have the heart to reconstruct all my pins yet.

[gloranphile]

Thanks again for the info Rob, appreciate it!

I sent over my db to DavidP since I can't even open huge maps I'd previously been able to open without crashing RW (even with a completely fresh open). I suppose I shouldn't have gotten cocky with the size of the maps when initially loading them ("Bah, I've got plenty of memory, what could go wrong?").

I'm not familiar with Zathras, as I was never into B5, but now I've got a new NPC in mind! :)

[Zaphod Beebledoc]

Realm Works is currently a 32-bit product. As such, it can only use a maximum of 4GB (best case), regardless of how much RAM your computer has installed.

There is no way to remove or replace the image without first loading the smart image into the content pane. So you'll need to load the smart image, clear its image, and then select the new image in its stead. After doing this for some number of images, you may end up crashing due to the out-of-memory issue. At that point, you should be able to restart and resume where you left off. You should not find yourself unable to restart, since the issue is memory fragmentation, which gets reset when you restart.

I've just ordered some replacement RAM for my laptop to double it up to 8GB. Should help a bit :)

In other news, I'm just silly tired. I saw your signature at the bottom of your posts and misread "Mythras" as "Zathras", which made me go WTF and laugh out loud. The thought of somebody playing Zathras as a PC is absolutely hilarious. For those not familiar with Zathras, he's a fantastic character from the old Babylon 5 TV show (from back in the mid-90s). Here's a link to a classic scene of his below. Now imagine a game where someone plays him as a PC. I'll just sit back with a bucket of popcorn and watch... :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j-76eLz1hc

I haven't watched the show in a while. Cheers for that! :D

Zathras. Zathras. Zathras. :D