Apple Silicon (M3 Max) performance issues

[NiceTrip]

Hello,

I have a late 2023 Apple MacBook Pro M3 Max, with 96GB of memory. This beast should be more than capable of playing a DXV video file at 60fps, 4K resolution. However, in Resolume Arena 7.21.0, the best it can do is 45fps, and that uses about 55% GPU (bouncing between 41-62), according to the in-app stats. The Composition Settings is set to 60fps, and it is the only clip playing, with no Composition, Group, Layer, or Clip effects applied.

Shouldn't this beast of a machine be able to play 60fps video?

Normally I set my Composition to 30fps, but noticed that it was only doing 25fps, and using 80-90% GPU, only playing a couple of clips. I discovered that a couple of effects on my layers were dramatically increasing the GPU load, even though they were not "active", so I will re-arrange to use clips in a Group, for better performance. But with no effects on clean layers, the FPS still seems to be under-performing. Could more optimizations for Metal be made, to improve performance on this platform?

[tijnisfijn]

What is this something that you also had with the 7.20 version or is this just happened since you updated?

[shudder_inc]

I am experiencing issues with a 2023 M3 Max with 36 GB Memory except my issue is heavy GPU usage. While testing this I found that changing the composition frame rate from 'Auto' to '60' improved/lowered the amount of GPU usage so the issues could be related.

Composition settings 1920x1080 Auto
6 Layers with 1920x1080 content
1 Output Monitor set to 1920x1080 in macOS but seen as 3840x2160 in Resolume (potentially a separate issue)

With no content playing GPU ranges between 37% to 55%

With 6 layers of 1920x1080 content playing the GPU doesn't change much

With a single layer Abstract Field source the GPU increases to around 72% to 88% and has hit into the 90% range

Changing the frame rate to '60' and the GPU ranges 44% to 62% with:
-no content playing
-6 layers of 1920x1080 content playing
-1 layer Abstract Field source playing
-1 layer Abstract Field and 5 layers of 1920x1080 playing
In all of the above the frame rate holds steady at 60 with only occasional drops to 59

I can confirm that I was experiencing issues with high GPU usage with 7.20 but I had not yet tried outputting 1920x1080 from macOS to this monitor or changing the frame rate until after the update.

The GPU usage issue is the same with no output monitor connected

[tijnisfijn]

I made a issue for this and we're looking into it. Thank you for reporting it.

[Zoltán]

You mention layer effects, could you send us your composition to mail@resolume.com with the file and external effects?
If it's too big to attach, we can send you an upload link, just drop us a mail.

Thanks!

[NiceTrip]

What is this something that you also had with the 7.20 version or is this just happened since you updated?

Yes, it was happening before recent upgrades as well.

I just discovered something though - restarting Resolume after changing my Composition 60 FPS enabled it to play 60fps video at 60fps. Previously, I had the Composition set to 30fps, and I had been working with a large range of content and effects for hours before changing the Composition to 60fps without restarting, and that is when it seemed to be stuck at 45fps. Now, after restarting with Composition at 60, it can play and hold 60fps for 5 layers of DXV 4K 60fps content, and starts dropping 1-2 frames at 6 layers, and at 7 layers bounces between 54 and 60 fps. Mixing in 30fps 1080p and 720p videos doesn't seem to matter much, it still plays at around 60fps.

GPU seems to bounce between 50-70% with these tests, which is much lower than how it was before at 30fps setting. I removed a number of effects from my layers that were adding a lot of GPU load.

[NiceTrip]

You mention layer effects, could you send us your composition to mail@resolume.com with the file and external effects?
If it's too big to attach, we can send you an upload link, just drop us a mail.

Thanks!

Ahh, I have already removed the effects that ate my GPU, but I can restore the composition file from backup and send it later. The worst GPU-eating culprits were: "Distortion" patch from the Wire tutorial (with Radius turned to 0), Smoke (from Juicebar), and to a smaller extent: Distortion with FFT Sound Glitch, Acuarela, and Trails. All of these either had Opacity at 0, or another setting that didn't affect video unless I turned a knob.

[tijnisfijn]

Guys, I have a question from the developers. Do you also have this problem if you have a empty composition with just one (the same) clip playing on the seven layers? And when you experiencing these problems are the clips you use playing from internal or external drives?

[Zoltán]

What's the ambient temp, and CPU GPU temps when you see the slowdown?

[shudder_inc]

Guys, I have a question from the developers. Do you also have this problem if you have a empty composition with just one (the same) clip playing on the seven layers? And when you experiencing these problems are the clips you use playing from internal or external drives?

A new composition with no clips set to 1920x1080, Auto FPS and no output connected and the GPU ranges 35% to 45%.

With 7 layers playing the same piece of 1920x1080 content the GPU ranges 30% to 40%. 7 layers each playing different piece of 1920x1080 content and the GPU stays about the same. It drops a bit when playing content but jumps up to 75% to 85% with 1 layer of the Abstract Field source.

Changing the FPS to 60 in the composition settings and the usage drops about 10%.

Connecting 1 output of 3840x2160 and the GPU usage raises about 10%.

The results are about the same using the same content from an internal or external drive, internal was a couple digits higher. All of the content is DXV3.