100% CPU usage

[vonsomething]

I have the same problem, but on a Mac (dual 2 Ghz, 4 GB Ram). I am not really sure which issue with Painter is causing it to come to a crawl for me - that it doesn't seem to utilize all of the Ram (or 1/2 of it), or that it takes very little to have it using 100% of the processor.

I discovered the processor issue by running activity monitor while I'm working. something I've never had to do before, as I get reasonable performance in other apps. I started running the activity monitor when someone in another thread here suggested that Painter X didn't utilize all available Ram - that's when I noticed the processer issue.

I'm an artist, not a tech guy, so maybe it's supposed to use 100%. I wouldn't care except that *something* seems to be affecting the performance of of Painter significantly when I work with a moderately large file - even with 2 or 3 layers.

The good news for you, zegritch, is that by all accounts Painter is faster and more stable under Windows than on the Mac (bad news for me...) - the bad news is that this might not be the only issue you find with Painter X.

I love Painter when it works, but I've had a lot of problems with version X. I hope they get a substantial update (I'm running 10.1 update now) together that addresses these issues soon, before all the negative comments affect their sales.

Von

[Jinbrown]

Hi,

My system specs are similar to yours but I have less RAM:

Pentium 4
2.53 gHz
512 MB RAM
120 GB hard drive with 68.1 GB free
250 GB external hard drive with 178 GB free, used for Painter IX and Painter X scratch disk
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200
128 MB Video RAM
WinXP Home SP2

I use six full Corel Painter versions, sometimes more than one at a time. Painter X misbehaves when I do one or more of the following:




Run too many other programs while Painter X is running, especially some programs and when I run both Painter X and these other programs all at the same time for too long all. (I can't recall now which other programs running while Painter X is running cause the most problems.)
Have the Enhanced Brush Ghost enabled.
Work with large dimension/hi resolution (ppi) images and large brush sizes.
Work with a lot of Text Layers and/or Shapes.
My suggestions are to:

If you haven't already, install the Painter X.1 Update.
Close other programs while running Painter X.
Go to Preferences > General and:

Uncheck the Enhanced Brush Ghost box.
Reduce the number of days Painter X Auto Saves Scripts below the maximum of 10 days. Two or three days should be enough if you want to save scripts to replay them and then you can Export them to text files to use later if you want to save them longer.

Go to Preferences > Undo and reduce the number of Undos below the maximum of 32, to the lowest number you can manage to work with comfortably.
Work with smaller brush sizes if you notice larger brush sizes slow down Painter X's performance.
If you make a large selection, when you're finished pasting it and don't need it on the clipboard anymore, use the Rectangular Selection tool to make a tiny selection and use Ctrl/Command+C to copy it to the clipboard replacing the large selection so Painter X doesn't have to keep that large selection in memory any more.
Save frequently using Painter's native RIFF format, the first save using File > Save As and following saves for the same image using File > Iterative Save. This will give you a numbered series of files so if anything goes wrong with the current version, you can go back to the last saved version and not lose all of your work.
Every hour or so, close Painter X, wait a few minutes, then relaunch. This will allow Painter's memory to be cleared. (Prior to Painter X, there was a file named Pre-built Brush File that stored information for building brush variants. That file no longer exists but this kind of information is now stored in a temporary memory file that's automatically deleted when Painter X is closed.)
Do regular system maintenance. I run Defrag and other system maintenance tasks like deleting temp files, etc. using McAfee, at least once a week and usually more often.
Download the Painter X.1 Update here:

Corel Painter X.1 Update for Mac and Windows (http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite?c=Content_C1&cid=1153321224268&lc=en&pagename=CorelCom/Layout&pid=1166553885920)

Read the Installation instructions on this page:

Corel Painter X Release Notes Including Painter X.1 Update Installation Instructions (http://www.corel.com/content/painterx/10-1/Readme.htm#Seventh)


I hope this info and installing the Painter X.1 Update will help you get Painter X.1 running more smoothly.

Good luck!


.

[PascalR]

Wow thank you guys for your suggestions, that's great! I am going to try those and let you know.

Cheers!

P.

[genocell]

Hi. Just chimed in to say that I have similar problems with my Painter X.1 as well.

I only use Painter IX.5 for practical reasons but I just reinstalled X and did a test with it and the task manager indicates that Painter X (under the process tab) is using 98% of the cpu usage most of the time. Sometimes 100% cpu usage - all of this with enhanaced ghost feature turned off.

Then I tested using the same brush settings (artist oils, dry bristle, small size) and same document size with Painter IX.5 and guess what? It only used 65-75% of the cpu usage most of the time and at 85% tops.

All the things that Jin suggested I have done it as my normal PC maintenance
routine. It seems to me that Painter X.1 is a little bit resource hungry compared to IX.5.

[vonsomething]

I think I mentioned I'm running the X.1 update as well. I also pretty quickly found the suggestion to lower the number of undos, which I have at 6 instead of 32. I turned enhanced brush ghosting off in the first couple of days I had version X, just because it was a bit distracting, and not particularly useful to me.

To this point, I haven't utilized any text or shapes in Painter. Can't say I never will, but Illustrator's tools are much better for that purpose, and I'd probably integrate Painter and Illustrator elements in Photoshop if I felt I needed vector data in a piece. Not really what I want to produce when I fire up Painter. Also don't think I've used a selection tool in Painter. Just layers and brushes - and not so many layers.

I do work with somewhat large files, at what I consider a normal resolution (300ppi) - because I intend to output them at the dimensions I work at.

As far as other applications running, I do tend to have iTunes running pretty often when I'm working, and sometimes an email client in the background. I can do without these if I have to - although I can run them along with a browser, Photoshop, Illustrator, and Indesign at the same time without my system coming to a crawl as it does in Painter with just the iTunes running. And presumably, 100% is 100%. If an application is using 100% of any given resource, it would seem that quitting another application isn't going to give it more than 100% to work with anyway. I'm certainly willing to try that, just seems demanding for a modern app running on a tricked-out machine.

As I said in my previous post, I'm ok with Painter using 100% of the CPU, if it still manages to perform normally while doing so. If it behaved, I would have never thought to check CPU usage in the first place.

It seems short of a new computer (I'm curious if Intel based Macs see the somewhat more stable performance of Windows machines with Painter), that smaller and/or lower resolution files are the only substantial change I can make. I work at 300 ppi at the intended output dimensions, simply because that is what I do in Photoshop, and is what I was trained to do working in the print industry. Is this not what the majority of Painter users do? I did notice a reference to someone working at a lower resolution and using Genuine Fractals to scale the image up after completing it. But 1. I've never used it, and don't want to count on this sort of solution (which again, goes against the grain of everything learned about image output), and 2. I assumed was a solution for someone with a really slow machine, or perhaps someone who was outputting much larger images that myself.

I'd really like to know what sort of resolution others use, and/or if they work at intended output size. Also whether anyone using Painter on an Intel based Mac sees more reasonable performance.

Thanks,
Von

[twistedmessiah]

the performance in painter X has been extremely slow for me as well. I did apply the X.1 update, and it worked like a charm, without restarting the machine. But then I restarted my machine and the same lag exists again, and just as bad, especially when zooming in and out, or when hitting my space bar to drag the painting around. I tried re-installing the update too. It didn't do much.

my computer is pretty good. 2 gigs ram, dual core AMD 3800+, XFX nvidia 8600

I might just uninstall the whole thing, reinstall. install the patch then try.

[vonsomething]

Sorry to hear that, Twisted. I'm not sure a re-install is going to do you any good (or that it won't).

The tips you can find in this forum, including this thread are probably going to give you about the best results you will find. Keeping the document as small as you can live with makes a big difference, as does choosing your brushes carefully... the performance of different brushes varies incredibly, and you can often modify a quicker brush to approximate the appearance of a slower one. I've also found that just quitting and restarting Painter helps, and fortunately the app launches pretty quickly.

It's still absurd to have to use so many workarounds to use a modern, mature application - but I've gradually learned to combine the tips I've found to be able to use Painter more frequently. If all else fails, consider playing with some different brushes - you may find something you like that allows you better performance. Necessity being the mother of invention and so forth.

If you continue to have problems, be as specific as possible as to the conditions and problems, and it will be easier to advise solutions.



Best of luck,
Von

[genocell]

............

[Giotto-san]

I have the same problem, but on a Mac (dual 2 Ghz, 4 GB Ram). I am not really sure which issue with Painter is causing it to come to a crawl for me - that it doesn't seem to utilize all of the Ram (or 1/2 of it), or that it takes very little to have it using 100% of the processor.

I discovered the processor issue by running activity monitor while I'm working. something I've never had to do before, as I get reasonable performance in other apps. I started running the activity monitor when someone in another thread here suggested that Painter X didn't utilize all available Ram - that's when I noticed the processer issue.



Von

Had the same problem. I'm on an Intel Mac. I went to Painter help and found that they strongly suggested that an external hard drive be used for the scratch and save disks. Preferably a firewire drive.

I happened to have a 200 gig LaCie firewire drive available (being used as a back up for an old iMac), so I stole to use with Painter.

Go into Painter preferences, and under scratch disks, you can check where you want the disks to be written. When your disk mounts on the desktop, you can then select your external drive. I left the space to be used at the default of 80% and saved the preferences.

It's now working fine. The large brushes are quite quick.

Note: I have 2 gigs of RAM so it's not a RAM shortage. Not sure what causes it.

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