Poor performance with M1

[Nnooo]

Files with large tiffs (linked files) still take ages to do anything. I am working with 16bit tiff and 16bit design files and opening and saving the new beta file is taking over 10 mins and using loads of virtual memory?

How am I meant to make one file with lots of art boards using the same linked image (high resolution) to create multiple variations I want to batch export? It is making the app completely unusable and I really don't want to have to make lots of different files just to have each version in.

[Nnooo]

Just curious but is there any reason you don't save a png cached version of the linked images into the afdesign file? That way for display purposes you could use one or more smaller, faster images when displaying and then still use the actual high resolution asset when exporting the file out? When the original asset changes and is updated via resource manager you could then recache/recreate the png previews.

Also, from a curiosity point of view, are you loading each linked image into its own "memory slot" even if the same image is used more than once? It just seems super unoptimal at the moment to use Affinity Designer with image linked or otherwise?

[MattP]

All Affinity products should be reusing the same in-memory representation of the data, whether it be placed as linked or embedded. There should be very little memory overhead for copy/pasting the image multiple times into the same document. If there's something odd going on, then we really need an example document or source image to work from and follow your recipe to investigate?  

[Nnooo]

Ok I’ll upload an image and file in a bit. But if that’s the case why does each version of the image not update to be unpixelated at the same time?

I’m doing this all on an M1 MacBook Pro with 16gb memory. Unsure if that makes a difference?

[Nnooo]

Here you go.

So I dunno if it is related but all my files are stored in the iCloud Drive. I have a folder in there for all my digital art, would this slow things down?

I also notice that using a 150dpi image is loads faster than the 300dpi I am using.

forSerif.zip

[Old Bruce]

5 hours ago, Nnooo said:

So I dunno if it is related but all my files are stored in the iCloud Drive. I have a folder in there for all my digital art, would this slow things down?

 

Yes it will depend on the speed of your network.

[RNKLN]

3 hours ago, Old Bruce said:

stored in the iCloud Drive

Not sure, but I believe this shouldn't be an issue. iCloud stores data locally and then syncs to the cloud.

[Nnooo]

That’s what I thought. 

[Nnooo]

Just as an aside using one of those files is writing 36+gb to my hard drive while the app is in use. Presumably as cached memory?

[Busenitz]

On 8/3/2021 at 1:13 PM, RNKLN said:

Not sure, but I believe this shouldn't be an issue. iCloud stores data locally and then syncs to the cloud.

Probably not the case, but if your hard drive is full, and depending on the settings, it is possible that it's not downloaded if there are other items downloaded between uses.

[Nnooo]

19 minutes ago, Busenitz said:

Probably not the case, but if your hard drive is full, and depending on the settings, it is possible that it's not downloaded if there are other items downloaded between uses.

They are definitely downloaded to my computer and got heaps of hard drive space...

[Nnooo]

So is there any update to all of this as currently it is making the app super unusable for me...

Things I have tried (I am on an M1 MacBook Pro 16GB ram 1TB HDD)

1. Changed the display settings from OpenGL to Metal (no noticeable change, should M1 use Metal or OpenGL?)
2. Moved the files and relinked the placed image to outside of iCloud Drive (no change files still as slow)

My current work flow is:

1. Close all apps except for Affinity Design
2. Open one file
3. Wait for 5-10 mins
4. Remap the images to the different colour variant
5. Wait 5-20 mins for this to finish
6. Save
7. Wait for 1-10 mins for this to finish (seems random amount of time, sometimes super fast other times takes forever)
8. Change the colours and rename the layers
9. Frequent hangs or pauses as the app selects what I am renaming and caches or updates the image preview
10. Save and close the file
11. Can be instant or can take up to 10 mins with a long saving bar.

Literally no idea what is going on. The Tiffs I am using are @200mb each and were created and edited in Affinity Photo which handles them with no issues and is lightening fast. It is making me really wonder if I can keep designer as part of my workflow. All I am using it for is to add vector border and number (via text) each of my images and overlay a photo and then batch export each final image. The file is literally 20-30 artboards all with the same image on them just with different text or layout..

[Nnooo]

Thanks but to be fair I reported this bug in the beta and it’s not changed since you released…

[Chris B]

Hey @Nnooo

With your file after a ctrl runup, I get asked to authorise the folder - if I do this, the file essentially becomes unusable—as does the app.

When I run up a second time, the file is absolutely fine after the 12 seconds it takes to render the images in the doc.

[Nnooo]

11 hours ago, Chris B said:

Hey @Nnooo

With your file after a ctrl runup, I get asked to authorise the folder - if I do this, the file essentially becomes unusable—as does the app.

When I run up a second time, the file is absolutely fine after the 12 seconds it takes to render the images in the doc.

What’s a ctrl runup?

[walt.farrell]

1 minute ago, Nnooo said:

What’s a ctrl runup?

Press and hold the Ctrl key. Click on the application to start it. When you get the Clear User Data dialog release the Ctrl key.

[Nnooo]

Do I need to do this each time I open each of these files? I have 20+ of them?

[Nnooo]

11 hours ago, Chris B said:

Hey @Nnooo

With your file after a ctrl runup, I get asked to authorise the folder - if I do this, the file essentially becomes unusable—as does the app.

When I run up a second time, the file is absolutely fine after the 12 seconds it takes to render the images in the doc.

Have you tested this on an M1 MacBook? And what settings are you resetting in the runup?

 

I’ve just done this and my first file is still sitting not rendering the images (it’s been more than 12 seconds) and I don’t get asked about authorising a folder either?

 

I followed your steps too (ctrl runup, opened file, quit the app, opened the app and the file). 

[walt.farrell]

14 minutes ago, Nnooo said:

Do I need to do this each time I open each of these files? I have 20+ of them?

No.

[walt.farrell]

8 minutes ago, Nnooo said:

I followed your steps too (ctrl runup,

What options did you choose on the Clear User Data dialog?

[Nnooo]

First time I tried just the default selected. 

Second attempt all of them. 

[Chris B]

Hey Nnooo,

Yes I was using an M1 MacBook - the fact you aren't being asked to authrosie the folder might be a huge clue as to why you are getting such poor performance.

I'm not sure why the file is struggling after a ctrl runup (reset) so I'm going to speak to development today. 

[Chris B]

This is now logged with your files and experience, along with what I'm seeing and also a colleague. Note that this doesn't seem specific to the M1 because my colleague was also seeing poor performance after a ctrl runup.

[Nnooo]

Great thanks for following this up! Finger crossed we can get to the bottom of this as I love your apps!

[Nnooo]

Any news on how this is going?