High CPU usage in Catalina

[robertnovo]

Hi,

Just got a brand new Macbook Pro 16" and I want to address the fact that when simply scrolling through images in the Library module, the CPU load is ramping up alot. 

I'm running

* Catalina (10.5.2), Macbook Pro 16" i9 2.3GHz, 5500M 8gb, 32gb RAM.

* Lightroom Classic 9.1

This is after 2 minutes of opening the app and beginning scrolling.

Now I'd like to know if other people are experiencing this or do I have a faulty machine or something?

--Robert

[cmgap]

Have you tried toggling off the GPU processor  in  the  Preferences tab just to see what the usage is? You shouldn't have to do that but wondering if it makes a difference at all?

You may not be able to toggle that now that I've rechecked my preferences - however what are your Camera Raw Cache Settings set to? With the new MBP you may be able to bump that up  quite a bit - if it's at 10GB try 70GB and then read the CPU load.

[robertnovo]

Thank you for your suggestions.

However, neither disabling the GPU nor increasing cache had a possitive impact.

To reproduce, simply go into Library module -> hit space to bring up a larger preview of the file -> flag photos (I am mainly flagging for removal)

After about 10-15 images, the CPU has gone mad at 780%. If I tab out of Lightroom it stops.

[Jim Wilde · Accepted solution]

Hitting the space-bar zooms into 1:1, which in turn needs a 1:1 preview in order to show the image fully rendered. If a 1:1 preview doesn't already exist Lightroom will automatically start to generate one, which impacts the CPU load. So what you describe is not unexpected, and I can easily recreate the scenario. The high CPU activity should only last for a few seconds while the 1:1 preview building completes (if you just leave Lightroom alone for a few seconds, no need to tab away, the CPU load should drop significantly).

You can avoid this by either building 1:1 previews in advance, e.g. during Import, or alternatively use the Embedded Preview option during import (depending on the camera, that embedded preview may already be full resolution, so no 1:1 preview building would be needed at that time).

[robertnovo]

Hi,

Thank you for clarifing this, it's indeed the "issue". I was importing using the "Embedded & sidecar" preset, whereas before I've been using Standard Previews. Since I am using Fuji RAW, my understanding is that those files doesn't support full size embedded previews, hence the need for processing them while in 1:1 mode.

I'm glad I got this insight, thank you for your response!

[cmgap]

What are you selecting when you  import  for  previews? If you are choosing anything other  than 1:1 and it's a new image Lr will create a 1:1 preview when you zoom. To  test this import  a new  image and  create 1:1 preview when you  import or in Preferences select use Smart Preview when editing and check your activity monitor cpu usage again.

[robertnovo]

CPU is fine while importing 1:1 previews,

Thank you for taking the time to help me 🙂