ATI 3870 + Vista64 = AE CS4 slow interaction

[tajino]

Hi, I'm having serious interaction slowness issue with CS4 and ATI radeon 3870 in Vista64 + Aero desktop composition,ATI catalyst driver 9.5.

Slowness is most obvious if you a layer selected which have several keys, with motion path display on in the viewport, try moving the layer around in the viewport, it takes a second or two before any reaction. It is even worst if OpenGL always on or OpenGL interaction on, slightly better in Adaptive resolution viewport refresh.

However, if motion path display is off, moving layer is noticably faster.

The motion path display also causes slowdown in other areas, like zooming in and out with the ',' and '.' key in the viewport, orbiting camera, etc etc that involve viewport drawing.

I've noticed also AE CS4 comp viewport doesn't get vertical sync (either with Vista Aero on or off), when you do a quick horizontal pan you'll notice tearing.

I'm wondering if anyone experiencing the same issue with ATI card and catalyst driver.

If ATI works for you, which version of ATI catalyst driver do you use?

Thanks.

[Victor Wolansky]

Thanks, I said 6 months becuase this was reported originally more than 6 months ago. And is affecting our productivity big time.

Victor

[rendernyc]

i recently updated my machine from xp32 to win7 x64 and was so glad to finally see past that 2GB limit of ram, but was finding the performance to feel just so strangely slow.

now i see why, after uninstalling my wacom drivers the machine is feeling normal again, but i am a HUGE wacom user and do not enjoy working with a mouse. i find it amazing that an issue like this is unresolved after what i believe i am reading as months of knowledge of the issue.

i really hope there is a fix in the works because im not enjoying the fact(nor is my hand going to be hapy) that i will am about to start a new project and know that i have to use a mouse.

please tell us there is an update on this situation

and thanks todd for posting the link to this. dont think i would have figured it out.

and system specs if it helps is a q6600, nvidia quadrofx 3500. ive tried a few different versions of drivers and this is on win7 x64

i did not have any issue on this exact machine before the upgrade from xp 32

thanks

danny princz

[Victor Wolansky]

I know Wacom is working on a solution on their side, it was confirmed to me directly, that fixes the way they handle excessive requests to the driver, it gets a bit better according to them, but will not feel normal until Adobe does their side, which as I know is fixed in AE CS5, but it should be fixed in AE CS4 too, since a lot of people would not be able to upgrade to CS5 until all the plugins gets ported to 64 bits. So it would be a long run till we all can upgrade to CS5 and get our Wacoms working correctly. Working with a Mouse if giving me already really bad pain on my wrist, not long ago my doctor told me to not ever use a mouse again. This is really bad, especially because it was reported so long ago.

Victor

[ChrisProsser]

Hey Victor,

We will be creating a hotfix for people experiencing this problem. The change on our side is not a simple fix so it will take some time to complete. I haven't worked up a schedule yet, but I'll contact you to test out the beta.

--chris

[TommesKoch]

Hope it will be soon.

[Victor Wolansky]

As a temporary fix, you can create an empty txt file called wintab32.txt then rename it to wintab32.dll and copy it to the After Effects support folder, this will trick the program to not use the tablet features as pressure and tilt, but anyway, not much things use it on AE that I know. It will probably give you an error from time to time, but you click OK and keep working.

Victor

[Victor Wolansky]

Thanks Chris. I hope it does not take too long, my wrist is suffering already from the mouse.

Take care.

Victor

[korgkorg]

which mainboard are you using??

we have similar case with you, once updated the mainboard bios, the problem sloved. We are using ATI HD5700, and Asus P6T mainboard, 64-bit XP and CS4.

[Victor Wolansky]

Hi korgkorg, it is not a mainboard issue, it is a known issue recognized by both Adobe and Wacom cused my excesive information request to the driver. Try to dissable the driver and you might be susprised with even better performance. Or apply the teporary sollution I posted.

[Martin HJA]

I knew there must have been something wrong with my AE install, since it was / is sooo sluggisch. Didn't ever think thogh that it could be my Wacom Driver.

INFO

Wacom released a new driver a couple of days ago (on the 21st. Jan.).
http://www.wacom.com/downloads/driver-detail.php?id=208
In the change log it says:

Driver 6.1.3-5  for USB Tablets on Windows 7, Vista & XP (32 & 64 bit)

Release Date: Jan. 21, 2010
Size: 13.6MB

1. This driver fixes an  issue with multiple graphics applications in earlier versions of 6.1.2.  It is a highly recommended upgrade for everyone who downloaded earlier  versions of 6.1.2.

Did anybody tried this yet. I havent had the time. Please report back if this new driver fixes the issue!

[Victor Wolansky]

I tried, that does not fix this problem, Adobe still have to patch AE. For now you can do the dummy DLL patch I posted and all will work fine with the exception of tools that need presure sensitivity on the program, which will give you an error that you can click OK can continue. I know they are working on a patch they will release... some day. Hope soon.

[Stackola]

Bad news guys.

Adobe fixed that  ...in CS5. I checked that - works fine.

So if U want to use wacom tablet again, just buy a new ae

[Todd_Kopriva]

The After Effects CS4 (9.0.3) update fixes several problems, including a problem with Wacom drivers and After Effects performance.