Sluggish plugin GUI, what can cause this?

_Stevie_ · 12-11-2018, 09:22 PM

I fiddled around with a lot of plugins today and found out, that the knobs become sluggish / don't react at once, when quickly jumping from one to another (as seen in the video). Then, the currently affected knob does not update the GUI immediately, but only after a very short while (but still noticable). Does anyone know, what could cause this?

_Stevie_ · 12-12-2018, 06:43 AM

From what I can see, this seems plugin independent.

phonofranz · 12-12-2018, 06:49 AM

You've probably run into some OPENGL issues, system-wyse.

Plugins' GUI can't rely on hardware acceleration.

Check your video adapter drivers and OPENGL libraries.

_Stevie_ · 12-12-2018, 11:17 AM

Hm, I have the newest ATI drivers installed.
Do you think it could still be OpenGL, even if the problem seems intermittend?

_Stevie_ · 12-13-2018, 06:03 AM

Well, I just fiddled around a bit. Apparently this seems only to affect the Windows version of Reaper.

It's the Reaper GUI in general. Closing all FX windows takes very long, the GUI hangs and shows white plugin GUIs, etc... Bypassing FX also takes considerably longer.

Tried this on an iMac and there it works as expected.

mschnell · 12-13-2018, 06:08 AM

As all GUI stuff is done in a single OS Thread, a single plugin that takes long to return from it's graphics callback might be the culprit.

-Michael

_Stevie_ · 12-13-2018, 07:30 AM

Is there anything we can do about that?

Concerning the opening and closing GUIs:

I just checked how it behaves in Cubase. Opening the GUIs takes pretty much the same mount of time as in Reaper. But closing is almost instant.

Whereas in Reaper, closing takes as long as opening the GUIs.

_Stevie_ · 12-13-2018, 08:12 AM

Test on my 2012 iMac (Mojave):

Opening is wayyyy faster than on Windows, closing still takes a while:

_Stevie_ · 12-14-2018, 07:32 PM

Okay, closing the FX GUIs is fixed. Apparently for every GUI that is closed an undo entry is created, this slows down the closing process.
When consolidating the undo points in a script, the GUIs close immediately.

Now, only the sluggish GUI problem remains...

foxAsteria · 12-14-2018, 08:14 PM

certain ones are just slow in my experience. Some only the first time and some everytime.

Travesty · 12-15-2018, 08:02 AM

I had to turn off fx follow track selection because of this. The lag was too distracting

Sedativ · 12-15-2018, 03:48 PM

I have the same problem when using some Waves or Fab filter plugin. I thought it was only me. I was using Waves 9,but now I have downgraded to 8 again and it seems to be working way better. It has to be something related to an OpenGL issue. Waves plugins rely a lot on OpenGL, as I've come to read from others.

foxAsteria · 12-15-2018, 07:58 PM

Maybe try the other version? I'm testing a plugin rn that has this problem with the 32-bit version but not the 64-bit version.

_Stevie_ · 12-16-2018, 08:19 AM

These sluggish GUI problems are really strange. I experience them in several places... What resolution are you guys using?

karbomusic · 12-16-2018, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by _Stevie_

Well, I just fiddled around a bit. Apparently this seems only to affect the Windows version of Reaper.

It's the Reaper GUI in general. Closing all FX windows takes very long, the GUI hangs and shows white plugin GUIs, etc... Bypassing FX also takes considerably longer.

Tried this on an iMac and there it works as expected.

I have this occasionally after installing Waves and FabFilter plugs. Though I didn't use it, the fix for FabFilter was to disable GPU acceleration for it. It never seems to occur unless there is a FabFilter and Waves plugin loaded (I think) but it never occurred before I installed Waves so my assumption is there is the occasional conflict with GPU acceleration.

Since it doesn't happen to me that often, I just created a toolbar button/keyboard shortcut to close all open FX windows. That way the few times it does occur, I just click that button and about 10 seconds later everything recovers. Otherwise, if GPU acceleration can be disabled for the offending plugin, that will probably fix it - assuming this is the same as my issue.

_Stevie_ · 12-16-2018, 10:27 AM

I atually fixed the FX GUI closing:

Quote:

Okay, closing the FX GUIs is fixed. Apparently for every GUI that is closed an undo entry is created, this slows down the closing process.
When consolidating the undo points in a script, the GUIs close immediately.

Now, only the sluggish GUI problem remains...

But the sluggish buttons remain. Actually, Acustica Audio plugins don't have OpenGL support. It also happens with Softube plugins and others.

karbomusic · 12-16-2018, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by _Stevie_

I atually fixed the FX GUI closing:

But the sluggish buttons remain. Actually, Acustica Audio plugins don't have OpenGL support. It also happens with Softube plugins and others.

Yea, that would be a different issue most likely.