Smooth GUI ? is it ever going to happen?

[DMuzik]

Indeed, this issue is what's keeping me from upgrading from v1

[fartooloud]

It's been a while since I updated Bitwig, pretty sure this wasn't an issue in 2.0, but now in 2.2 it is, using OSX on a dustbin Mac Pro.

[Enrize]

Something really wrong happening with the Bitwig GUI.

I have latest 2017 Macbook Pro 15'' with discrete AMD Radeon GPU and integrated Intel HD Graphics.
When i run a project with native devices that has built-in spectrum analyzer like EQ5, Reverb etc the GUI becomes very sluggish. Scrolling is lagging and very choppy.

But what really bugging me is that my Macbook Pro always switch to discrete GPU and start to running extremely hot, fans are getting crazy and battery dies instantly.

Now there is most interesting part:

I've downloaded a tool called gfxCardStatus which can manually switch to integrated graphics. And guess what? Bitwig GUI still lags BUT my laptop is now quiet and cold, battery life is normal again.

So? Whats the point? It seems the GPU is not making any difference in the end? I even think it runs better on integrated GPU (maybe because the Macbook is not overheating anymore and overall system responsiveness is better).

Bitwig team should concentrate on those things already. Something wrong here. I don't have such things in Logic Pro X and Ableton Live. In fact other DAWS doesn't even switch to discrete GPU and runs perfectly fine on integrated GPU.

To add, even 3D software apps doesn't heat up my discrete GPU as Bitwig does! Man, its just the user interface...cmon

[gelabs]

I found that the GUI is quite sluggish/choppy when using devices knobs, especially filter knobs.

Edit: Only when using mouse, when the knob is mapped to a HW controller it's smooth

[TeotiGraphix]

To add, even 3D software apps doesn't heat up my discrete GPU as Bitwig does! Man, its just the user interface...cmon

3D software apps don't run at 60 FPS or whatever Bitwig runs at either. You can't compare a 3D app to Bitwigs UI unless it is constantly rendering indefinitely.

My comment is coming from the fact you said 3D software app, not 3D game.

[pekbro]

Well if anyone is desperate to test their java 3d performance, you can try
Drakensang Online (graphics example): https://youtu.be/zT8fETnj4hU
Or to a lesser degree Minecraft.

Both are written entirely in Java FYI...

[connmach]

wouldn't it be a smart move for y'all to start a non-chit-chat forum topic/thread where she or he who has these lag problems can post the exact hardware specs (and even maybe software packages)?
databases == knowledge

or let "pollmaker" antic604 do his thing on this.

just thinking aloud

[pekbro]

Heres another long shot to try for the mac users, that might not have occurred
to you: Try setting your monitor color space to sRGB, the default color space for
Java 2D. If colorsync is having to transform between differing color spaces,
its possible this could be adding some overhead, particularly at high resolutions.

-Cheers

[antic604]

"pollmaker" antic604

LOL

[hihu]

So I did some tests again. After having about 73 tracks in the project and a lot of effects scrolling trough the arranger view is no that smooth anymore while playing the project. When I stop playing it gets smooth again.

But it only occurs when a lot of graphs are shown and only when the project is playing. It's way apart from not usable. It's just a little bit. All controls of the effects and synth are working fine and also the main menu (also while playing).

[Hanz Meyzer]

It is very slow if you work at 2x fullhd, so 3840 x 2160 pixels. Dunno about Windows. Also there will be a huge input latency for mouse actions, it feels then really annoying to use, not precise at all. I really hope they will massively speed this up. It works quite fine here at fullhd, but 4K is 4 times the pixels of fullhd, so we need a 4x speedup

[Hanz Meyzer]

hihu: What resolution and OS do you use?

Here, I have the following results:

Hackintosh macOS 10.12.6, Nvidia gt1050 2GB, 3840x2160 screen (4K), system scaling set to fullhd: Analysers and graphs are displayed smoothly, but clicking and zooming in the arranger is slow as hell, esp. while there are lot of blocks, even more while playing. It's really laggy then. Also clicking around in the arranger. Near frustrating. The machine otherwise works very fast, with other DAWs, graphics and video software.

macbook Pro late 2013 retina, intel iris pro, 2880 x 1800, system scaling set to "smaller", so it is like a 4K resolution (the system will calculate then with more pixels, important for test!), macOS 10.13.0: Same result as above.

Also seen now a bunch of reports and also a youtube video, mac users showing some frustration about it.

Heres another long shot to try for the mac users, that might not have occurred
to you: Try setting your monitor color space to sRGB, the default color space for
Java 2D. If colorsync is having to transform between differing color spaces,
its possible this could be adding some overhead, particularly at high resolutions.

How can I do that?

[pekbro]

https://support.apple.com/kb/PH25231

I don't know which would be sRGB specifically, this one: sRGB IEC61966-2.1
is recommended by Avid for Macs with similar problems in ProTools at 4k.
Definitely worth a shot...

-Cheers

[olaims]

Zooming is always a hell.... also when I show up the automations on the arrangement view......

Since always really laggy....but we have to live with it


Windows10 + 16GB Ram + i5 3570k + Nvidia 1080

[Hanz Meyzer]

Yeah it obviously is not gfxcard related at all, so assuming parts of the gui then are drawn by CPU, and this drawing is quite slow from programmer's view. And I think you can expect a better speed, yes. I frequently zoom-in and out, and that stuttering makes the work a bit of a pain. Maybe the devs are so used to many behaviours so they cannot realise it.

https://support.apple.com/kb/PH25231
I don't know which would be sRGB specifically, this one: sRGB IEC61966-2.1
is recommended by Avid for Macs with similar problems in ProTools at 4k.
Definitely worth a shot...

Thanks!