I have seen what you describe and have had contact with Encore (company that makes Punch) regarding this. Here is an excerpt of a conversation over email support after I sent them a file that was acting as you describe…
Steve -
The file is way to complex to be converted into a proper step file using the 2MB of memory that a 32 bit program is limited too. We were able to export it in our Shark FX title, which is 64bit, however the step file turns out to be 590MB.
The reason for this is the file is made up of almost 80000 triangular meshes (ViaCAD works in quad meshes) in 24000 groups. The mathematics and linking alone pushes the 4 MB limit of the 64 bit programs. On top of the shear numbers, using the 3D printing Power Pack plug ins (these plug ins can help diagnose issues with mesh models) we found that there are thousands of duplicate facets and open edges among other general issues which adds to the strain on the resources of the program.
The developers are doing some more testing to see if there is any way to simplify the model and if they do come up with a workaround, I will pass it along.
Sincerely,
Todd Q.
Customer Service and Technical Support
After understanding the limitation, I was able to work around it by splitting the design.