5003 Error from Looping 3D animation

Question

Hey all,
I routinely convert Flash animations to video by importing them into After Effects. Before doing this, I always switch all Movie Clips to Graphic Loops so the animations play live in the timeline... Its the only way to have nested animations show up when you import .swfs into After Effects - I think!
Well, I've never had any problems with this, it always works great. Until now. I've always wanted to add a little true 3D to my animations and was stoked on the inclusion of this in CS 5. I made a loop of 3D stripes on the "ground" of an animation (looking out the window of a train car, the 3D strips are to simulate passing vineyards) and it looks AWESOME! So, in preparation for taking the whole thing over to After Effects, I switched the loop (not the tween itself with the actual 3D effect, which I know can only be applied to a Movie Clip) to a Graphic Symbol, extending it to the end of the main timeline, and switched to loop. Inside Flash, it appears to work perfect, showing the 3D pan live when I scrub the playhead. Again, AWESOME! Then, I go to preview the movie and it breaks when compiling for some reason. giving me the "5003" Error. I'm so confused about this, because no other "movie clip" attribute, when applied to a movie clip that is nested, for live playback reasons, inside a looping Graphic symbol gives me a problem. I can use any filter, any blend mode no problem. If it works for live playback on the main timeline, it works for the published .swf and looks great when rendered to raster video in After Effects.
A lot of people say I should switch to After Effects if the end animation is intended to be video. The problem is that I love the animation environment in Flash and for my style it is perfect. I don't  do alot of swooping or panning or whatever kind of stuff that AE is great for. Plus, synching sound is easier for me within flash. Soooo... My question is, has anyone found a way to make use of the 3D animation capabilities of CS5 in a way that is exportable to video, ie. AE? Is there a way to adjust my file to avoid the 5003 error? Or, on the other hand, is there a better way to import .swfs into After Effects that makes use of non-interactive looping movie clips?
Thanks for any help.

Answer 1

Thanks for your comments Mylenium, I originally thought it might be VRAM, but at 1gb (still quite an acceptable size from what I can tell - I'd expect more than 3 x 3d files for that) I originally dismissed it as the complexity of the files seemed quite low for it to be this. I'm still not completely convinced its the VRAM though because of the error message it gives, and have tried it on more complex 3d models and using more of them and it works fine on those. Seems odd about not letting me create a new document too. Would like the money get a 6gb card but a bit out of the budget range at the moment.
Do you know of a way to "optimise" 3d files so they take up less VRAM, for example reducing any unwanted textures, materials, vertices or faces within PS in a similar fashion to how illustrator can reduce the complexity/ number of shapes/ points etc? Cant ask the client as they dont have the time or I'd do this . Does rendering quality make a difference, or changing to a smart object? Doesnt seem to from what I've tried.
Re: using a dedicated 3d program, I'd be a bit reluctant to lose the ability to rotate / edit/ draw onto/ light etc objects within Photoshop now that I have a taste for it and go back to just using 3d renderings, otherwise I'd go down the route as suggested for a dedicated 3d package. Thanks for the suggestion though.