Resolume Forum

I searched around the forum a bit and couldn't find any discussion of recommended FX usage for best performance. I am trying to reduce the load on my graphics card as much as possible (running many layers with many FX in Arena). Is there a prefered way to run an FX chain which is less processor intensive? Meaning, is it more efficient to add FX on each clip or layer; or do they generate the same load on the GPU? I already know about the option in preferences to turn off composition FX but does anyone know if layer FX generate more strain on the system than clip FX?

Cheers!

In the Resolume Options you´ll find the "deactivate Gloable effects & blend modes" if you dont need the blend modes turn that off an do all your effect stuff only on the single Clip.

And then test it

You can turn off global effects and blend modes and still use effects on clips & layers just not on comps. But if you've got tons of layers, you are limited to the Alpha blend mode.

I think placing the effects in composition, so you don't have to place any effect twice, shuld be the most efficient regarding render passes, but the devs can tell more about that.

some effects like blur are very heavy on the gpu when the fx quality is set high.

if the previously mentioned are not enough,
you can resize your composition to lower resolution, so the graphics card has less pixels to process.

I agree 100% with Raven. You may have to experiment and see which effects take more GPU power.

Thanx all for the replies! I've been experimenting with this for a bit and what I have found seems counterintuitive. I originally thought that the composition FX would be the most efficient but it seems that they slow things down much more than dropping FX on individual clips. I have deactivated global FX and blend modes which has improved performance. Although it is counterintuitive, it seems like Arena performs better when I stack FX on individual clips rather than on the whole layer. I'm hoping to get a dev's input on this to confirm my findings. Cheers!

There's not much I can confirm nor deny, it all depends on which effects you use and how you use them.

But if you already found out what's fastest for you, I wouldn't worry about it. If the fps are flying, who cares what we think