12.5.1 Still has lagging GUI with AIR Plugins

[rynggo]

I don't know what to say, but after two updates, Avid still has not corrected the most common complaint of lagging GUI when using plugins that come with the software. This is beyond frustrating. After reading three pages of known bugs in the current release I am convinced that this is no longer a product to be used by professionals, as it can barely accommodate my amateur needs.

Ryan
Former ProTools 12.5.1 user
iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2011) OSX 10.11.4
2.8 GHz Intel Core i7
16 GB RAM
AMD Radeon HD 6770M 512 MB

[Darryl Ramm]

While I'm as frustrated as many others with 12.5.1 this is one Apple likely shares a whole lot of blame for. they've been breaking GUI performance for several releases (see all the "beam sync" related posts on DUC, and that affect many other non-DAW apps from other vendors as well). And more GUI changes (and loss of the beam sycn workarounds) in El Crapitan just made things worse for many people. All largely driven in part by Apple wanting to push the iOS and OS X graphics models closer together, come hell or high water, or end-user pain. Avid did a poor job not warning people about this in El Crapitan.

Other folks posting on DUC about their early testing on macOS Sierra with Pro Tools are reporting their graphics issues have gone away or are reduced. We'll see.

OS X has needed some love for a while and maybe with macOS this will finally happen.

[rynggo]

I understand no software is completely bug free, but I have a hard time believing this is the fault of Apple. The other DAWs I use (Digital Performer and Ableton) do not suffer the same issues as Pro Tools. Beyond that the other DAWs I have demo'd (StudioOne, Cubase, and Reaper) seemingly work fine as well, meaning I can at least run a simple compressor and EQ, which is something I currently cannot do in ProTools without the GUI going haywire.

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by rynggo

I understand no software is completely bug free, but I have a hard time believing this is the fault of Apple. The other DAWs I use (Digital Performer and Ableton) do not suffer the same issues as Pro Tools. Beyond that the other DAWs I have demo'd (StudioOne, Cubase, and Reaper) seemingly work fine as well, meaning I can at least run a simple compressor and EQ, which is something I currently cannot do in ProTools without the GUI going haywire.

I have zero problem believing that Apple has screwed the pooch on graphics, and on USB audio support and networking and a bunch of other stuff they have messed up totally in recent OS X releases. El Capitan is one of the worse OS X releases I can remember.

Avid could have rewritten large amounts of GUI code to accommodate Apple's incessant recent GUI changes, would have likely chased their tails for a while and worse case possibly need to have plugin developers recompile plugins, etc. and have everybody suffer through a pile of crap. be very careful what you want, it is not even clear if what is left of Avid has the techcnial skills left to do this, and given what else they and their outsourced developers have been breaking recently it may be best they don't mess GUI/graphics library changes/rewrites. What Apple has done has bugged the hell out of a whole pile of software vendors outside the DAW market and Apple has got a lot of heat about this in their developer community. But either way it likely does not matter as if macOS Sierra makes these issue go away I doubt Avid will fix them on El Capitan or other OS X releases. Longer term Avid likely does need to update their graphics, but now the pressure may be off.

BTW some folks have been reporting El Capitan related graphics problems in other DAWs including with Reaper... and Cockos quickly and correctly fingered Apple/OS X for that.

[Darryl Ramm]

I'm not sure why you upgraded your Mac to El Capitan, but if you are having laggy GUI performance problems why not roll back to a previous OS X version, at least there you have the beam sync work around that may help if needed.

[KV626]

Originally Posted by rynggo

I understand no software is completely bug free, but I have a hard time believing this is the fault of Apple. The other DAWs I use (Digital Performer and Ableton) do not suffer the same issues as Pro Tools.

I gave up long ago on the luxury of having a smooth UI in DP. Despite all its strengths, DP's interface has always been a pure nightmare. Even a sluggish Pro Tools seems smooth compared to DP - referring to a 10+ chunks project, a large V-Rack, countless soundbites, dozens of plugins etc, you get the idea - tedious workflow, and I'm being generous.

[remute]

The AIR plugs have been borked for years - the Flanger Mix knob hasn't worked since, what PT 10? and the Frequency Shift is fundamentally broken.
AIR say it's AVID's problem.

AVID do nothing to fix it.

Users get left to deal with the resulting mess.

[modulo2008]

I test 12.5.1. but unfortunately no fix for GUI problem...

of course no problem with avid plugins only, but I can't work it only this.

I test with installing WAVES full & UAD-2 full & avid plugin only.

[dtmprod]

Originally Posted by remute

The AIR plugs have been borked for years - the Flanger Mix knob hasn't worked since, what PT 10? and the Frequency Shift is fundamentally broken.
AIR say it's AVID's problem.

AVID do nothing to fix it.

Users get left to deal with the resulting mess.

I can confirm that AIR has lagging GUI in PTHD 10.3.10. Glad I found this thread, thot it was just my system. And the problem seems to get worse as the session gets larger. I've had large sessions refuse to boot that contained AIR plugins. Or get that pesky 'out of memory' message.....

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by modulo2008

I test 12.5.1. but unfortunately no fix for GUI problem...

of course no problem with avid plugins only, but I can't work it only this.

I test with installing WAVES full & UAD-2 full & avid plugin only.

It is not clear exactly what problems you are talking about, but for slow/stuttering graphics have you tried the "beam sync" GUI work around that has been well discussed on DUC? Available on OS X 10.10 and earlier, not available in 10.11.