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I'd tried to run a really big fluid simulation with FLIP Fluids (built from source on Linux). I am not using the default fluid simulator. However, I wasn't happy with the quality of it, so I upped the resolution to some very big number. I promptly ran out of memory. Oops.

Anyways, once I set the settings, I'm wondering if there is a way for Blender to estimate (or if it isn't included, a way for me to calculate) how much RAM a fluid simulation will take. Repeatedly trying different values will take too long.

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  • $\begingroup$ This plugin looks like it is in active development. Have you asked this question on its github page? $\endgroup$
    – Ron Jensen
    Nov 22, 2021 at 3:53
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    $\begingroup$ The short answer is that it would be too complicated to calculate an exact amount of RAM that a FLIP Fluids addon simulation will use. The memory needed to be allocated is dynamic and depends on many factors such as fluid movement and placement of liquid at any point in time. A very rough estimate would be to look at the voxel count displayed in the FLIP Fluid Simulation panel. For example, check the amount of memory being used when run at a low resolution, then increase resolution and multiply the RAM amount by a factor of (high_res_voxel_count / low_res_voxel_count). $\endgroup$
    – RLGUY
    Nov 22, 2021 at 3:59
  • $\begingroup$ Another tip would be to minimize RAM usage by fitting the domain tightly around the liquid effect that you are creating. Less empty space in the domain means less memory needed to be reserved. github.com/rlguy/Blender-FLIP-Fluids/wiki/… $\endgroup$
    – RLGUY
    Nov 22, 2021 at 4:02
  • $\begingroup$ @RLGUY That is very good to know, thanks so much for explaining! Would you mind posting that as an answer? It would make it easier for people to read what you said. $\endgroup$
    – cocomac
    Nov 22, 2021 at 5:15

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The short answer is that it would be too complicated to calculate an exact amount of RAM that a FLIP Fluids addon simulation will use. The memory needed to be allocated is dynamic and depends on many factors such as fluid movement and placement of liquid at any point in time.

A very rough estimate would be to look at the voxel count displayed in the FLIP Fluid Simulation panel. In general, the amount of memory required for a simulation is proportional to the amount of voxels in the domain. enter image description here

For example, if the voxel count is 2 Million at a low resolution and this takes 1GB to simulate and if the voxel count is 16M at a high resolution, an estimate of memory could be to multiply 1GB * (16M / 2M) = 8 GB of memory.

Tip: minimize RAM usage by fitting the domain tightly around the liquid effect that you are creating. Less empty space in the domain means less memory needed to be reserved. Documentation: https://github.com/rlguy/Blender-FLIP-Fluids/wiki/Domain-Object-Settings#how-large-should-i-make-my-domain-object

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