Optimizing ArcScene

There are many potential reasons why the interactive speed of ArcScene could be limited. It may be due to factors such as the volume of data you are displaying, the symbology options for one or more layers, your application settings, or the hardware you are using. In all likelihood, it will be a combination of these issues that is slowing ArcScene performance.

The most effective way of improving performance to meet your needs is to optimize the layers within the 3D view. For information on how to optimize layers see these topics:

• Optimizing raster and surface layers
• Optimizing 3D multipatch layers

You can also improve the performance of ArcScene by adjusting application and machine settings. Important optimizations include the following:

• Increasing the virtual memory size
  • When your machine runs out of physical memory, it starts paging to virtual memory on your disk drive. ArcScene may need to consume this virtual memory, and enough space needs to be allocated for its use.
  • The virtual memory size should be at least twice as large as the physical memory. For example, if you have 512 MB of physical memory (RAM), you should allocate at least 1024 MB of virtual memory.
  • You can access your virtual memory settings on the My Computer > Properties > Advanced tab.
• Disabling expensive layers during navigation
  • If you have one or more layers that are particularly expensive to render, it is useful to suspend them while navigating. This allows a smoother navigation experience. The layer will be displayed again as soon as you stop moving through the 3D view.
  • You can specify that another, less expensive layer be displayed only while navigating to replace the suspended layer as a navigation guide.
  • The layer's navigation behavior can be configured on the Rendering tab of the Layer Properties dialog box.
• Improving the hardware
  • The most effective hardware improvement is to increase physical memory (RAM).
  • Another effective hardware improvement is to upgrade your graphics card, especially if the current card does not have OpenGL optimization built in.

It is worth noting that ArcScene keeps the entire 3D view in memory (RAM), or in paged virtual memory, and is therefore particularly susceptible to being slowed down by very large datasets. If you must display large amounts of data in ArcScene, you should spend more time optimizing that layer type.