Hi All,

As part of the 6.0a release I am trying to improve "selection" performance of 3D Canvas. I am hoping some of you will help me try out some test code I am playing with.

I have created a special version of 6.0.0.5 that brings up a message box that indicates the amount of time (in ms) to "select" an object.

If you want to help, here is what you'll need to do:

1) Install the Test version of 3D Canvas 6.0.0.5:

a) Download this: http://www.3d-canvas.com/downloads/3DCPerformanceTesting.zip
b) Unzip to new folder
c) rename 3DC.exe (in your "Amabilis" folder) to 3DC.bak
d) copy 3DC.exe from your new folder to your "Amabilis" folder

2) Make sure that both Object Operations and Object Layers are visible.

3) Drag and drop a cube on to an empty scene.

4) Click on the cube, click on the scene, click on the cube, click on the scene

5) Note the "normal" amount of time required to click on the cube and to click on the scene

6) Post the results here with your system specs (processor/video card/memory)

7) Once you have posted your results Uninstall it:

a) Delete 3DC.exe (from your Amabilis folder)
b) Rename 3DC.bak to 3DC.exe

Thanks,

Richard

I guess I am first. Hopefully not the last

Click on Cube: 60 ms (worst case was around 150 ms)
Click on Scene: 50 ms

A few other tests I ran:

With a few extrude layers applied to the cube click on the cube slowed down to about 80 ms.

I also tried with the "Object Operations Panel" selected rather than "Customize Panels" and got  95 ms when selecting the cube with a few extrude operations applied. And 150 with lots of extrude operations applied.

Processor: P4 2 GHz
Video Card: ATI All-In-Wonder Radeon with 32MBs
Memory: 512 MBs

Richard

Hello Richard,

 In customized panel    123/84
                                   134/87  w/extrudes
 component panel        145/107
                                   156/107 w/extrudes

Initial value 376 that dropped after a couple trys.1st value when switching panels is always over 200.

P4 1.8
ATI Radeon 9000 Pro-128mb
1 G memory

just tested this on my office PC...

AMD 1Ghz, 256Mb, TNT2 mod 64 with 32Mb, Win2000

Click on Cube: 100 ms
Click on Scene: 60 ms

If I don't touch it for 5 mins, then click on the cube again the time goes up to 1000ms for the first click - windows must be swapping some dll's out of memory.

a small addendum

20 extrudes - 130/60 with the operations panel selected.

The figures I got were:

391 - 125 - 125 - 156 (1st time)

and

313 - 109 - 125 - 109 (2nd time)


My pc:

Pentium 4 1.5Ghz
512mb ram
Geforce2 mx400 64mb
Windows xp home

Hi Richard,

These were my results :-

248 - 75 - 159 - 74

and with 20 extrudes :-

239 - 83 - 215 - 82

PC setup is:-

Pentium 4 1.6Ghz
256mb ram
Geforce2 mx400 64mb
Windows me

Cheers
Kevin

My results

Cube

232 - 71 - 90 - 69

with 10 extrusions

207 - 79 - 104 - 77

PC

Pentium 4 2.6 GHz
1 G Memory

ATI Radeon 9600 TX 128MB

Windows XPhome

Thanks all. That is quite helpful.

To be honest I was expecting worse results. It sounds like the delay between selecting something and being able to "do" anything with it is about 1/10th of a second normally and ranges up to about 1/3rd of a second in some cases.

For me this is effectively a "zero" delay since I can't actually move my mouse and click on anything during that short of a period. Does anyone disagree, or perhaps know of a situation where they have to wait for something other than an operation to complete?. (*Paul*, I think you mentioned something about this)

6.0.1.0 (formerly called 6.0a) is well underway. There aren't many enhancements in this release. But, here is what is done:

1) User configurable operations. Via Tools-Options you can select what Operations/Plug-Ins/Scripts you want to be available. The idea is that some people have no need for many of the operations (swirl for example) so there is no reason that they should ever load. It saves memory, saves load time, reduces operation list clutter. It also allows me to provide additional operations that are optionally available without futher cluttering the 3D Canvas environment.

2) The return of Right-Click setting of operation defaults. I still prefer the "remember" technique and that is still the 3D Canvas standard, but there are circumstance where you can't click "remember" or change the setting after the operation is applied. For example there are some operations that, when applied to a group/hierarchy, can't have their "settings" updated after the fact. Thanks to Paul for reporting this!

3) Non-Linear navigation/edit controls. This allows you to zoom out really quickly, scale a large object smaller faster etc. Quite handy really. I am embarrased that I didn't have it sooner. It was an obvious improvement, but I needed someone (Calvin) to actually say "add non-linear zooming".

Up next are an assortment of scripting enhancements. There might also be a modelling improvement coming up if I can figure out how to do it ???

Richard

Sounds nice to me so far. As for the possible modelling improvement, I can't imagine what it could possibly be...except to say I'd still like to see in-place editing for Surface tool primitives so I can add silliness like capes, cloaks, and other fluid shapes to my models easily. Or Alex's analytical mapping, hehe...

What's the potential improvement you had in mind? If I know what it is, I might know places you can look for implementations and research.

-Mel

Thanks Mel. It is a "technical" issue specifically to do with 3D Canvas. Basically it is "How do I add this without breaking everything" issue.

Did you run that test Mel? Or do you not find the delay overly long when clicking on an object?

Richard

I didn't notice any real delay. That is to say, I've used 3DC pretty much on an almost daily basis from version 3.32 all the way up to 5.7 on a...brace yourself... 200mhz Pentium 1 with a Voodoo 3 3000 16MB graphics card. Yep.

I think I probably just got used to it quickly and have always been satisfied enough with 3DC that a couple of rough edges here and there doesn't bother me in the least.

Seriously, I look at how much I actually get done with it and then I think minor stuff like <1 second delays really seems like a rather piddling thing to moan about in the big picture. So I don't sweat it, and I just focus on getting my work done in it.

Of course, I'm using a 2ghz machine with a 64MB Radeon 9000 running the boxed drivers right now, so 3DC also actually seems quite speedy and effective compared to what I was used to on my old 200mhz.

-Mel

please include fast zooming
in case we are trying to view an imported project that is leagues long and wide

add (plus) [alt] is held down

;D

please

icergb,

This really isn't the place for requests. But, non-linear zoom/scale etc. is part of 6.0.1.0 which you can download via the 6.0.1.0 thread (http://www.amabilis.com/cgi-bin/YaBB/YaBB.cgi?board=3DCanvasProGeneral;action=display;num=1057806658).

Richard