Graphic processing power for Tracks Overview window

[Tripi]

I've been noticing that scrolling around the Tracks Overview window in the latest DP is very slow and sluggish. Not impossible to use, but it feels choppy when scrolling down my long template. Moving around horizontally is pretty slow also. My computer is certainly up to the task, and maxed out on RAM. Just wondering what I could do (other than less tracks) to make it smoother. DP is the only software on my computer that has this graphic issue. Didn't there use to be a setting called Work Quanta that had something to do with this?

thanks!

[Tripi]

I should add that it seems to only be the Tracks Overview window. My Sequence window scrolls very smoothly up and down, and left and right. Weird.

[dinobass]

I've noticed the same

[Tripi]

That's two of us, but I'm thinking this is definitely baked in to the latest version of DP.

Try this quick experiment: Create a completely empty project. Add 250 MIDI tracks. Increase the tracks size until there are about 60 tracks visible on the page in the Tracks tab. Now try scrolling down. It's pretty choppy. If you change to the Sequence tab, it scrolls nice and smoothly.

Am I nuts?

[bayswater]

Agree. It seems to be a recent thing. Same sequence is fine in the SE window. Maybe this is a result of the recent changes to the Track Window to allow vertical zooming.

[Gravity Jim]

Yes. You are nuts.

Does your 12-core have the original video card in it? My 12-core 5,1 had a seriously wimpy card... like 256 megs of VRAM. I replaced it with a ATI Radeon HD 5870 with a gigabyte of VRAM. It doesn't stall regardless of conditions: I can run DP alongside a 4K, full screen video stream with so much as a dropped frame.

I see you're still running Yosemite and 9.02. I'd also suggest checking out the current Sierra OS and the most recent version of DP... much better memory handling.

But graphic glitches are rarely related to software or general hardware: it sounds to me like your graphics card is choking on the number of details you're throwing at it.

[Tripi]

Thanks for the ideas. I should update my signature here. I'm on Sierra with 64gb of Ram. I have two ATI Radeon cards in my computer that power 3 monitors and a big tv monitor. I can throw anything at this computer, and it doesn't break a sweat. I really doubt it's a hardware issue, especially since every other program I use scrolls smooth as expected.

I'm wondering if maybe DP is thinking about something on the Tracks window differently? If you scroll the Sequence window, you can see partial tracks as they enter the window. On Tracks view, it will only display a full track, no matter how large you zoom in to them.

Anyways, I'm not complaining about silly graphics hickups. This really slows things down when I'm trying to scroll through a large template and work efficiently. I emailed MOTU about it also.

[bayswater]

I see you're still running Yosemite and 9.02. I'd also suggest checking out the current Sierra OS and the most recent version of DP... much better memory handling.

I'm running the latest DP and OS X. I see a noticeable difference in the screen updates in a busy Tracks Window compared to DP 8.

[congalos]

Hi Tripi!

Same issue here with me. It's also a problem in the MIDI Editor window. It's almost impossible to work. Such a drag (Pun intended). And the SE scrolls fine.

Have you heard anything from MOTU? Hope you're well buddy!

C

[Tripi]

I hope that's the Congalos I think it is!

I did hear back from MOTU. After 15 years of using DP, I finally have an inside man at MOTU HQ that I can ask questions to. He did a quick test, and found that it's a Sierra issue. At least, it doesn't happen in OS 10.10. He tested it on a Macbook running 10.12 and found that it behaved like I described. We are going to do a more thorough test tomorrow. Hopefully it's something they can fix.

[Tonio]

thanks for the info tripi. was considering moving up to Sierra .

guess that's another point against it and to hold off.

[Michael Canavan]

OK here's my findings on my machine anyway. 250 blank MIDI tracks have no real issues scrolling in either Tracks or Sequence editors. Adding MIDI to all 250 tracks both struggle when collapsed to their smallest size. When either is expanded vertically they scroll a lot easier, with the Sequence performing much better when expanded vertically beyond what the Tracks window can do. Graphics card is ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB

[Tripi]

OK here's my findings on my machine anyway. 250 blank MIDI tracks have no real issues scrolling in either Tracks or Sequence editors. Adding MIDI to all 250 tracks both struggle when collapsed to their smallest size. When either is expanded vertically they scroll a lot easier, with the Sequence performing much better when expanded vertically beyond what the Tracks window can do. Graphics card is ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB

What OS are you running Michael?

[Michael Canavan]

Sierra 10.12.4, just upgraded from El Capitan the other day.
Like I mentioned scrolling is 100% affected by if there is data in the tracks and the size of the tracks, i.e. how fast the data is scrolling in and out of view on the screen, although it does seem like the Sequence editor scrolled all the way out is the smoothest, that could at least in my case be due to the horizontal size of the track being effectively much much larger than in Tracks.

One thing DP does not at all like click drag copying 30+ tracks of MIDI! Not that there's much precedent for that beyond testing..

[Tripi]

Just out of curiosity tonight, I tested this same experiment with my old G4 PowerBook running DP5.13 (probably the greatest version of DP ever!). 250 MIDI tracks glide up and down with the scroll bar perfectly. This is a 15 year old laptop with 4GB of Ram in it.

Anyways, MOTU knows about the graphics issues, and confirmed it with me. I'd seriously pay $1000 tomorrow for a version of DP that had a smoother interface like Ableton Live. I just feel like DP gets clunkier to use every time I open it. Things like user interface and having a smooth work flow are worth a hundred times more than having 30 virtual guitar pedals in a DAW. Just my 2 cents.