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I run out of memory switching between image sets that fit in memory.

 Switching Image Sets Overflows Memory If you run out of Targa memory when your Cel Animation object is displaying one sequence of images and you switch it to another sequence of images, even if you know that second sequence fits in memory, you may be running into a consequence of how DekoCast reads and displays Cel Animation images.

When you change the image set a Cel Animation object is displaying (that is, you change its "files" parameter or use its object editor to browse to a new set of image files),  the Cel Animation object takes the following steps in sequential order:
  1. read the new images from disk into PC memory
  2. allocate a new Targa memory buffer to hold the images
  3. download the images from PC memory into Targa memory
  4. switch seamlessly from displaying the current images to displaying the new set
  5. release the Targa memory occupied by the old images
  6. release the PC memory occupied by the new images
so even though both image sets are never visible at the same time, there still has to be enough room in Targa memory to hold both sets simultaneously.

If you don't need a seamless switch between the image sets, try this workaround:  first set the "files" parameter to "" - an empty string.  This should hide the current set of images and release its Targa memory.  Then set the "files" parameter to the second image set.  This should avoid the overlapping memory use problem.

If you're doing this in an Action, you'll have to do the clearing of the "files" parameter and setting of the new "files" value in different frames, just because of how parameter setting works in Actions.  Also, the releasing of Targa memory may not happen instantly, and you may need to wait a few frames between clearing the "files" parameter and setting its new value.
last modified 8/26/2005

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