Digital Photo Professional (DPP) 4.5.X is slow (performance)

[raviballa]

I would love to continue to use DPP for its color output. But, where I am struggling with is its slowness to process RAW files. Loading of the RAW files is slow and I cannot tell when my minor corrections are applied to the image (there is no indication of DPP processing my adjustments). The 'Quick Check' of images is good though, without any lag.

Any suggestions?

[KBeat]

Hi Vince,

Here's the deal with the "use graphics processor for image processing" for Mac users. Canon's documentation is a bit weak on this, but let's start there:

"To use this function, a NVIDIA CUDA (Compute Capabilty 2.0 or higher) GPU with at least 1.0 GB of video memory is necessary. Additionally, the latest NIVIDA GPU driver must be installed."

That language is entirely PC. Mac users do not install their own GPU drivers, and even if you have an NVIDIA GPU that meets the requirements, the option in the preferences to use the GPU remains grayed out. I have a CUDA 3.0 capable GPU with 2 GB of video memory, for example, and I could not enable the option.

What you have to do is download the Mac specific CUDA driver from NVIDIA, which is separate from, and does not replace, the macOS graphics driver. You can find the latest release here: http://www.nvidia.com/object/macosx-cuda-8.0.63-driver.html

Once that is installed, you can then enable the option to "use graphics processor for image processing." 

If you have an AMD GPU, you can't use this feature*. This only works for NVIDIA. For whatever reason, and I think it's because this app is just a port from Windows, they elected to use CUDA rather than OpenCL which is built into macOS and would allow the app to leverage any GPU (NVIDIA, Intel, or AMD) for extra horsepower.

*AMD users, I wouldn't fret about this. At least on the Mac, I've found a negligible difference in performance with this option enabled. 

[KBeat]

Here's a quick video I put together showing DPP performance on my system. Some things of note:

• Files are stored locally on an SSD, and there are only 46 images in this particular folder (Canon suggests trying with 10 or fewer, but that's entirely impractical).

• No other apps of significance are running, and more than 12 out of 16 GB of memory are free when launching DPP

• Use GPU is enabled and running (shown in video)

• RAW test image from 5D Mark IV, courtesy of DPreview.com's 5D Mark IV review.

• I have CPU usage displayed so you can see just how much CPU DPP uses to do even basic things like scroll.

• No adjustments had been made to the image prior to opening it in DPP

Just to load the image off a fast SSD is usually in the 10-15 second range, every time. Loading the stamp/dust tab is 15-20 seconds, every time. 

I could put together a video showing the entire correction workflow, but needless to say it's a slog. Doing the same thing, with the same files, in Lightroom and I don't even see the activity wheel once. Loading an image and every adjustment is instant.

I can't speak to Windows, but on macOS it's virtually unusable in its current state. I just can't spend 30-60 seconds of each image I edit waiting on activity wheels. I didn't even show an image export in the video. Exporting that one file to JPG takes about 15 seconds. 15 seconds for 1 image export! Multiply that out times a few hundred for a large job, and you have a long wait. Not good for rush jobs. In LR, that same export is near instantaneous. The app is just very poorly coded for macOS as there is no excuse for this type of performance.

Watch the test video here. 

[raviballa]

@KBeat, you nailed it on the head. Thanks for the detailed description. I have tried everything you did as well. As you said, DPP has the best colors in RAW image processing. If only they could improve the performance, this woud be a great product.

[kzapp]

I have Windows 10, Pentium 3Ghz, 4 GB RAM, not a super fast machine. I recently upgraded to DPP4 and was underwhelmed with how slow it was. Separately, I purchased a Nvidia GT 1030 card to support a 4k screen. I just recently noticed the option in DPP4 to turn on hardware acceleration since I now have the Nvidia card. I will just say that it made a huge difference on my machine. I don't process a ton of photos, but now with the hardware acceleration, it takes a lot less time.

Note that I'm processing RAW files from older cameras that are only 12 MP.

[Waddizzle]

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@kzapp wrote:

I have Windows 10, Pentium 3Ghz, 4 GB RAM, not a super fast machine. I recently upgraded to DPP4 and was underwhelmed with how slow it was. Separately, I purchased a Nvidia GT 1030 card to support a 4k screen. I just recently noticed the option in DPP4 to turn on hardware acceleration since I now have the Nvidia card. I will just say that it made a huge difference on my machine. I don't process a ton of photos, but now with the hardware acceleration, it takes a lot less time.

Note that I'm processing RAW files from older cameras that are only 12 MP.

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Exactly.  Having a separate graphics CPU and RAM makes a huge difference.  Thanks, for posting that tidbit of info.

[nelsonsdavis]

I'm running DPP 4.7.20.0. and Windows 10 pro with all the patches and updates.

I was getting for the longest time, spinning wheels and slow down, program stopping forever.....finally clicke on the program icon, clicked compatiblity mode, run in windows 8 mode, and also check run this program as administrator. Problem has gone away. The picture directories I load uusall have 100-2000 shots in each.

[Valju]

Yes, in windows 8 mode and as administrator, this program is faster.

[nelsonsdavis]

The problem has not gone away. But I think it might have something to do with carbonite. Still testing..........wish Canon would come out with a  64 bit version!

[Waddizzle]

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@nelsonsdavis wrote:

The problem has not gone away. But I think it might have something to do with carbonite. Still testing..........wish Canon would come out with a  64 bit version!

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It is a 64-bit version.  It is most likely your hardware that is at fault.  If you are using a budget laptop, then that explains it.

There is a difference between “minimum hardware requirements” and “recommended hardware requirements.”  I think I read somewhere that Canon recommends using a separate graphics card with at least 4GB of RAM.  Having at least 8GB of RAM helps, and having at least 16GB is even better.  Those recommendations are a far cry from the minimum.

[nelsonsdavis]

Don't think it's a hardware issue. Desktop, intel i4770k, 16 gb ram, 4 tb hard drive, HD7800 series Radeon, asus sabertooth z87, etc, etc.

Program worked fine up till a month ago. 

Have uninstalled and reinstalled. Nada. Uninstalled and installed an older version, nada. I think it's something to do with carbonite, indexing, etc.