Sluggish/sloooow GUI Bitwig 2.23 macOS Sierra 10.12.6

[jonljacobi]

Since the cpu runs almost at the same speed in both systems, the problem will appear on both systems (almost) equally.

That's not a given by any means. The program is compiled for a different OS with different libraries and methodologies. Waveform 10 performs much better on my slower iMac running Windows than on a faster Mac under macOS. Much. Bitwig in my particular case seems to run about the same and I've never had a complaint.

I have no knowledge of what tools the devs are using, but it's very common for optimization for one platform to lag behind another or bugs to exist on one and not the others.

[Hanz Meyzer]

than on a faster Mac under macOS

Try to set the monitor color profile to "sRGB IEC61966-2.1" and then run Waveform. Quite drastically improved GUI performance here. 10 bit vs. 8 bit color depth I guess. The 10 bit depth mode in macos seems to be slow.

[jonljacobi]

Thanks! Shall try.

[jonljacobi]

Big difference. Still not what I would call snappy, but no longer painful. Thanks.

[mofolotopo]

Just in case it helps anybody: I have major issues with Bitwig performance on my MBP any time it's not using the integrated graphics. The problem is that OSX provides a switch where you can force it NOT to use integrated graphics, but no way to force it to ONLY use integrated graphics. There is a free plugin called "gfxCardStatus" that allows you to force the OS to only use integrated graphics, though, and with that set my Bitwig runs like a dream.

[docbot]

The GUI is currently rendered entirely on the CPU using Cairo graphics library. The performance problems are not to do with our use of Java at all but just the shear number of pixels that have to be painted by the CPU and some areas where we haven't optimized the painting as much as we could (by reducing the painting to just the areas that needs updating and not painting layers that don't need to be for example). However, we are also working on offloading much of the painting to the GPU via OpenGL (at least for all the fast moving stuff like meters, oscilloscope and arranger/note editor). This will make a HUGE difference but I can't say when it will be ready - but rest assured we are aware of the issue and actively working to fix it by making use of the GPU in the long run. So the good news is we should be able to fix this and make it very snappy assuming you have a decent graphics card.

Didi this already happen completely or are they still working on this? Haven't used Bitwig in a while, but remember being so annoyed with the laggy GUI compared to FL

[Hanz Meyzer]

FYI: Switching the color profile is not a thing anymore in more recent macos versions, certainly not on arm macs. Just use the monitor's profile. I actually am getting a worse framerate on my arm mac, if switched to srgb profile.