memory allocation failure.

[Stromberg]

Maybe you have 64-bit xp then, and if not vista uses more memory by default.

[Pibuz]

You guys correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that "memory allocation failure" is not only a limitation due to the OS. Everyone knows that 32bit windows only allow the use of 3.5 GB of RAM (an exceeding capacity won't be even recognized by the OS), and that a 64bits OS admits a wider range.
But I usually keep an eye on memory usage through the task manager while rendering, at least during the starting moments. And it occurred to me sometimes that the memory usage was really mean, but I actually got the error. Even if the overall RAM usage was even lower than 2GB in total (all open applications). So I've got some clues about Indigo 32bits not being able to handle a pre-defined amount of information at one time (1.5GB?). I still have to test the 64bits version, but I think that that amount increases in that case. Next time I have this kind of problem I'll post the scene.

[fused]

And it occurred to me sometimes that the memory usage was really mean, but I actually got the error. Even if the overall RAM usage was even lower than 2GB in total (all open applications). So I've got some clues about Indigo 32bits not being able to handle a pre-defined amount of information at one time (1.5GB?). I still have to test the 64bits version, but I think that that amount increases in that case. Next time I have this kind of problem I'll post the scene.

What you are experiencing is probably that indigo is at a certain ram level (lets say 1.5 GB) and tries to allocate memory for something so big that it would exceed the usable(or available) ram. it then throws the allocation error.

[OnoSendai]

Memory allocation of large buffers (e.g. 1GB) can often fail on 32 bit OS's even when the total used by a program will be < 2 GB. So you might be seeing that.