DPP 4.7.x abnormally slow on macos (Sierra and High Sierra)

[wmlele]

I am trying to use DPP 4.7.x on two macs using sierra and high sierra, with the same results. 

After the first few minutes the application turn so slow that even trying to open a menu, or switch a tab in the tools palette takes literally *minutes* with the cursor spinning the beach ball.

I have seen people saying DPP was slow, but this is not even the same league. It takes me in the neighborhood of 20 minutes to open and export a *single* image. Then operation themselves are reasonably fast, but then the application stops reacting for minutes. Sometimes even clicking on the background, then back in DPP is enough to watch it spin for minutes.

Both the machines are reasonably specced, there's plenty of RAM, 16GB each with over 10 unused. CPU is shown as idle while the cursor is spinning. Nothing relevant on the console. So it must be some interaction with other software I am using or a bug I am triggering. Just can't figure out where to start looking.

It's a shame because I really look how DPP renders colors.

TIA,

L.

[Tim]

Hello wmlele, 

In order for the community to better under this issue, we would like to ask a few questions.  

-  What is the camera which made these files and how large are they? 

-  Are you attempting to export multiple images in a batch or strictly single photos? 

[wmlele]

Hello, and thanks for replying.

the photos are taken with an 80D and an M5, and they are standard RAW at full resolution. And I am trying to export a single image, but i have issues with just any operation, not limited to export.

Let me clarify something, first: it is not the export itself being slow. Once I manage to start an export, the operation in itself is reasonably fast. The issue is entirely with the user interaction: doing anything, like clicking a button, touching a slider, pulling down a menu, even bringing a window to front, makes the user interface become unresponsive for tens of seconds.

Say I click on the menu bar to open the 'file' menu: the interface freezes, showing the 'busy' spinning cursor for up to 30 seconds, *then* it shows the expanded menu. And this goes for most 'innocent' operations making a single image process a painful slow process.

Ironically, I installed DPP on an old macbook air, which is much less specced than my usual macs, and, while not super fast, is much, much more usable than my macs, on the very same photos, from the same disk drive.

[RobertTheFat]

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@wmlelewrote:

Hello, and thanks for replying.

the photos are taken with an 80D and an M5, and they are standard RAW at full resolution. And I am trying to export a single image, but i have issues with just any operation, not limited to export.

Let me clarify something, first: it is not the export itself being slow. Once I manage to start an export, the operation in itself is reasonably fast. The issue is entirely with the user interaction: doing anything, like clicking a button, touching a slider, pulling down a menu, even bringing a window to front, makes the user interface become unresponsive for tens of seconds.

Say I click on the menu bar to open the 'file' menu: the interface freezes, showing the 'busy' spinning cursor for up to 30 seconds, *then* it shows the expanded menu. And this goes for most 'innocent' operations making a single image process a painful slow process.

Ironically, I installed DPP on an old macbook air, which is much less specced than my usual macs, and, while not super fast, is much, much more usable than my macs, on the very same photos, from the same disk drive.

---

Are your image files on the local machine or on a server? My files are usually on a server, and I get the spinning wheel, accompanied with a lot of activity on my Ethernet switch. I'm thinking that DPP is very inefficient in how it deals with image files that have to be accessed via the Ethernet. I'm using a 100-Mb switch; I'm planning to install a gigabit switch and hope that that helps.

I use DPP4 for editing and Irfanview to add IPTC metadata to the generated JPEG file. (Canon, why can't DPP do that? For that matter, why can't it let you add IPTC metadata to a RAW file?) Irfanview does not exhibit the problem.

[wmlele]

I normally open my files from a network drive (Gigabit network), but this doesn't seem to be the primary factor: I have tried with local files, and from an external usb-3 drive, and I have the same slowness.

At the same time, on the mac air i mentioned, I access my photos through wifi, and while being visibly slower than local files, and showing the spinning cursor occasionally, it's by no means as slow as on my primary machine.

The most relevant difference that comes to mind is that the "fast" Air has a different set of apps, while the "slow" machines are almost identical in terms of the software I have installed.

[Tim]

Wmlele, 

The most likely issue that the issue occurs is due to the files being on a network drive.  You may also wish to let the community know what applications you mention being different between one machine and the other as it's possible that's a cause.  

[RobertTheFat]

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@Tim wrote:

Wmlele, 

The most likely issue that the issue occurs is due to the files being on a network drive.  You may also wish to let the community know what applications you mention being different between one machine and the other as it's possible that's a cause.  

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Yes, quite possibly. Which raises the obvious question: Why did DPP 3 not have this problem? I suggest that the probable answer is that Canon contracted DPP 4, apparently a total rewrite, to an incompetent software house that totally botched the implementation of a pretty good design.

But whatever the cause, the question now is what is the next step? Adobe, the only serious competitor in your world, has adopted a pricing model that is generally hated. The ball lies out there between the pitcher's mound and second base, and we've been waiting four or five years for you to pick it up. Subsequent versions of DPP 4 have improved a little, but the fundamental issues remain. Please don't let this opportunity pass you by.

[wmlele · Accepted solution]

Sorry guys for the delay in replying to the forum.

I've just now upgraded to DPP 4.8.30, and, while not being the fastest kid in town, it's orders of magnitude faster than my experience with 4.7. It's now a tad on the slow side but completely usable. I still see the beach ball, but it's entirely a different experience.

Thanks to anyone who tried to help, and kudos to the anonymous programmer who fixed the issue, whatever it was.

[RobertTheFat]

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@wmlele wrote:

Sorry guys for the delay in replying to the forum.

I've just now upgraded to DPP 4.8.30, and, while not being the fastest kid in town, it's orders of magnitude faster than my experience with 4.7. It's now a tad on the slow side but completely usable. I still see the beach ball, but it's entirely a different experience.

Thanks to anyone who tried to help, and kudos to the anonymous programmer who fixed the issue, whatever it was.

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I'm afraid I don't see how it qualifies as fixed. It rarely goes more than two or three minutes without the "beach ball", which then lasts for nearly a minute.

[wmlele]

It stopped doing that on my side. I still see the occasional beach ball when I am applying some change, but it rarely lasts more than a couple of seconds.

If you're using 4.8.30 I wonder if it then has to do with a macos update? I am current with all the OS updates, last one applied a few days ago. I have installed DPP 4.8.30 yesterday, in a "let's give it one last try", but I didn't double check if I still had the slowness issue before performing the DPP upgrade.