Laggy/Sluggish UI PT 2021.12

[Connor]

Hi all,

I am experiencing very bad UI lag when using PT 2021.12 on Big Sur. (I had the same problem with 2021.10)

But on my Catalina OS, I have PT 2020.12 and there is no lag.

I've made a video showing the issue here : https://youtu.be/rOI8B2tfe5Q

I'd like to use the latest version but it's just too laggy to edit quickly with.

I understand AVID made big changes to customizing the UI and appearance of Pro Tools with these later versions.

Does anybody know of a fix to improve the UI performance? I don't mind if my PT UI looks ugly, just as long as it's not laggy.

[abc1mce2]

I believe members will want to know your system specs as usual. Though on my Hackintosh running Catalina 10.15.7 with PTU 2021.12, it's running as smooth as the first part of your video.

[dankin]

It's the same here with 2021.12 on Big Sur 10.6.2. I keep going back to 2021.3.1 as that version is solid and doesn't have the lag issues.

[climber]

all good here

[njrsound]

All good here on a 2018 i7 Mac Mini Big Sur 11.6.1 and PT 2021.12 (no HDX hardware), one HDMI monitor, one VGA monitor (due to DVI not really being a thing with newer macs) - but that was a computer that came from the factory on Big Sur.

However, I support another studio with a Trashcan MacPro / Mojave / PTU 2021.6 HDX2 system that has had increasing UI lag problems since maybe the first PT release in 2020 we haven't been able to get to the bottom of - while their second system of 2014 i7 Mac Mini / Mojave / PTU 2021.6 HDX3 runs much better. Both of those systems have had several full clean-install OS upgrades - probably originating on High Sierra. The one with the bad lag is running 3 screens, one of which is a 4K TV, the other two are DVI. I'm pretty sure the issue is display related but we've tried every official (and other) way of configuring the connection of these to no avail.

[sleiweke]

Yes. Same thing on my end. I've been trying to track it down for months. I can't tell if it's a pro tools thing, or a 3rd party plugin thing. but something is not right.

Mac Pro Rack 11.6.2 3.3 GHz 12-Core 96 GB ram. Graphics AMD Raedeon Pro 580x 8GB

Pro Tools Ultimate HDX 2021.12.0

[resonatee]

hello, why don't you try going to system preferences
and then Display -> Color -> try universal color profile instead of the custom one, i heard that sometimes helped....

[Connor]

Sorry forgot to include my specs: 2019 Mac Pro, 12Core, 48GB Ram, AMD 580X GPU

I am currently using two monitors (main one is 1440p, the other is 1080p)

I have tried using only one monitor and the problem was the same regardless. (It might have felt a little bit less laggy on the 1080p one but it was still bad)

Also, the lag definitely increases with larger track counts. I have some projects with only 3 stereo tracks and a master track and it feels a lot smoother.

But on Catalina with 2020.12, I don't notice any lag regardless of track count.

I will test the Color Profile idea asap.

[falcowe]

Have you tried 2021.12 on Catalina? I’m on a RackPro 7,1 (with a W5700X and 128GB ram, on Catalina 10.15.7) and am having no issues. I only run into a bit of sluggishness in my composition template for ProTools but when I’m just running audio no lag issues here. Admittedly I have been chasing down a graphical bug and Apple support had me side install Monterey to see if the updated drivers contained there helped.

[Ben Jenssen]

Has that Mac pro been updated once or twice or more, OS-wise, maybe from HS or Mojave?

I'm a strong believer in clean installs to make MacOS/PT installations that are solid and well-functioning. If you have a spare drive or space to make a separate partition, I would try to make a fresh install of 11.6.3 and PT 2021. Shouldn't take more than 2-3 hours. I bet that beast of a mac will roar with a clean install. Download a Big Sur installer from the App Store and make a USB installer (lots of instructions on the web), install Bigsur, iLok and PT and try it out.