So I have a great PC and graphics card, one that runs unreal engine really smoothly! But the same locations / 3d sets that work in unreal cause iclone to slow down to a crawl. For certain projects I would like to work entirely in iclone but is there a way to know how big an object iclone can handle before it becomes unusable? Basically the set I want costs 200 dollars, but i dont want to spend 200 dollars and then find out that the set will just make iclone crash.

It is mostly a question of how much vram do you have? And typically you don't want to exceed over half of the vram available as the program slows down significantly after that point.

iClone is not ideal for large scenery in the same way you would do one in unreal engine. iClone is no game engine and its not designed to perform like one, so for larger scenes you typically want to use clever tricks and such as background layers that give the illusion of depth. iClone does not even support proper LOD settings or scatter/grass tools so that's another thing to consider.

You can however use iClone in conjuction with Unreal Engine, with iClone driving the animations for the characters in Unreal Engine via the live-link plugin which is free to indies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AFvbtLSVMY

I find it so buggy. Where I use livelink or fbx, it always imports the characters with ridiculously bright textures and just doesn't look right.

My VRAM found with directxdiagnostics for my GeForce RTX 3090 is 16,329 MB. How do I know if I am exceeding this?

In addition to that excellent information, let me add/correct a few things:

1) iClone indeed is governed mostly by your GPU.  You want the fastest possible, but also the most memory possible.  And you can subtract 4GB out of that GPU's ram for basic iClone operating (so it's not "half" as the above says - but if you have 8GB then it is indeed "half".  If you have 12, then you will be left with 8GB.  Etc.)

2) It's not polys that are a problem - I routinely have scenes of 6-8 million polys without issues even before I upgraded my GPU.  It boils down to two things: the material map sizes and the number of objects.

3) Material maps that routinely run 4K are a Bad Idea - using 1K is usually the best (there are exceptions depending on the map).  

4) Objects is a problem in terms of handling inside of iClone.  You can have an 7GB scene with two objects that works just fine, but a 4GB scene with a few hundred won't be workable inside of iClone.  There are ways to combine objects to bring it down, but it's always a consideration.

If you're talking about some sort of Daz scene (unlikely, given the cost you quoted) I can always tell and show you how well it will work inside of iClone. But if it's made for other software it's pretty much a crapshoot.  But on that topic - you should always see if Daz can offer what you want first.  It's cheaper, and often extremely well made (but ask me before you buy anything).

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Alienware Aurora R16, Win 11, i9-149000KF, 3.20GHz CPU, 64GB RAM, RTX 4090 (24GB), Samsung 870 Pro 8TB, Gen3 MVNe M-2 SSD, 4TBx2, 39" Alienware Widescreen Monitor
Mike "ex-genius" Kelley

so this is the one I want:
https://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/3d-old-classic-library-8k-pbr-textures-1767057

but it sounds like even with its 86 objects the textures would be too much, and the thousands of books as objects would surely make it crash. That being said, is it not possible for me to use the existing objects and export some of the bookshelves as their own independent object, so it remains at 86 basic objects?

That being said, you mentioned Daz being an easier option that you could confirm for me.
https://www.daz3d.com/fg-bluson-library
This seems to be pretty much what I want that i can recolor / redecorate for that more old fashioned look, and only 1/10th the price. Would it work in iclone just fine?

perhaps this one would be better?
https://www.daz3d.com/oxford-library

I'll tell you about both of those but I'm tied up in a meeting for an hour or two.  I promise I'll get back to you before the end of the day.

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Alienware Aurora R16, Win 11, i9-149000KF, 3.20GHz CPU, 64GB RAM, RTX 4090 (24GB), Samsung 870 Pro 8TB, Gen3 MVNe M-2 SSD, 4TBx2, 39" Alienware Widescreen Monitor
Mike "ex-genius" Kelley

Thanks so much! I'll check back tonight.

Here is a library from CGTrader  3D model Classic Library for Blender Eevee and Cycles VR / AR / low-poly | CGTrader
This one has over 2 million polygons. Maybe you can use it as a test file. It cost only $12, reg $24.

Okay, here is the Bluson Library, first.  After you use my Python script to grab all the textures, and adjust the GI settings for the lights AND link all that can be linked together materials wise, you end up with a scene of 3.8GB.  It works quite well in iClone (all the chairs and even the bookstacks and bookshelves are separate and movable - if you end up with working issues you can always merge some or all of them):





The Oxford library would also work well in iClone.  It comes in at 4GB with a bit of linking.  It's a bit darker overall than the other library, and of course has a British feel, but the chairs AND tables are separate and all works well.  



I did have to add a bit of HDR effect to try and brighten it up, but overall it's just much darker (all that dark wood).  Remember, there are no lights in either scene -- just GI illumination caused by the objects I enabled as GI.  You can improve both scenes quite a bit by putting your own lights in, but it's a lot more work (as a rule I tend to stay away from work :>.

I like both libraries and it really would depend (to me) on what I wanted - American or British.

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Alienware Aurora R16, Win 11, i9-149000KF, 3.20GHz CPU, 64GB RAM, RTX 4090 (24GB), Samsung 870 Pro 8TB, Gen3 MVNe M-2 SSD, 4TBx2, 39" Alienware Widescreen Monitor
Mike "ex-genius" Kelley