I’ve been running on FMOD 1.10.14 for the last 2 years, and I’ve recently updated FMOD to version 2.00.07 as I’m starting production on a new game for the next couple years.
I’ve noticed that FMOD 2.00.07 is being very visually laggy all the time (even in blank projects), as if it was forced to operate at like 15/20fps.
While it’s not making using FMOD impossible, it’s still very painful to watch and use it as it makes everything choppy and targeting small changes more complicated than it should be.
Is there any info on this issue, is it widespread? Should I just switch back to 1.10?
Here are my computer specs:
• macOS 10.13.6 (High Sierra)
• iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017) (I’m actually using a 4K resolution here)
• 3,4 GHz i5
• 40Go 2400Mhz DDR4 RAM
• My hard drive is a 1to Fusion Drive, on which FMOD is installed
• Radeon Pro 570 4096Mo
Also using the Activity Monitor app from Apple, it shows FMOD at 95-99% CPU usage when playing a simple 2D event with 5 stereo files, and is between 20-25% when idle
To clarify, are you talking about FMOD Studio, the graphical tool for creating dynamic audio content for use in games? Or the FMOD Engine, integrated into a game you have created?
Also, the same FMOD build using the same FMOD version runs fine on my 2012 MacBook Pro
macOS 10.13.6 (High Sierra)
MacBook Pro (13-inches, mid-2012)
2,9GHz i7
16Go 1600MHz DDR3
Intel HD Graphics 4000
I’m guessing this is a displayed resolution issue maybe?
This MacBook Pro runs natively at 1280x800
P.S. If there is no fix I’ll roll back to the latest 1.10 version in two weeks before production starts, but would love to use 2.0 if you guys have any idea as to what’s causing this !
I’m afraid I’ve not been able to reproduce this slowdown. It’s possible that some specific feature of your FMOD Studio projects are what’s causing FMOD Studio to run sluggishly. Does it run slowly when running a blank, empty project? Or does the issue only occur once you load your project?
Are you making use of any third-party plug-ins, such as the Resonance Audio effects?
We’ve now managed to reproduce this bug. It was introduced in FMOD Studio version 2.00.03, as a side effect of changes designed to prevent FMOD Studio’s UI from appearing blurry on Retina displays. We’re investigating possible fixes.
As a workaround for now, if you’re in Finder and Get Info on FMOD Studio, you can choose “Open in Low Resolution.” This substantially improves the GUI performance on my desktop machine (non-Retina displays). Despite the name of the option, I don’t see any visual differences in FMOD’s case.
FMOD Studio 2.00.08 runs a core at 85%+ doing nothing in an empty project on 2018 MacBook Pro macOS 10.14.6 when not using any windows on the laptop’s retina display (no windows or single window running on external display).
As mentioned above, this is a known issue that affects macintosh computers with retina displays. Until a fix is available, you can work around the issue by opening FMOD Studio in low resolution.
Hello, following up on your answer (sorry for the late reply), I got time to try using 2.00.07 again on my iMac and running it in low resolution mode does not change much; interface is still very laggy and monitoring the app still shows big CPU spikes (~70-80%) when playing a single 1s mono file in a fresh project.
Is running the app in low res mode meant to be used with more recent FMOD versions? Did you catch what bug is causing those slowdowns?
Despite testing, I have not been able to reproduce the behavior you describe when running FMOD Studio in low-resolution made. Could you send us the specifications of the Macintosh you are using?
• macOS 10.13.6 (High Sierra)
• iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017) (I’m actually using a 4K resolution here)
• 3,4 GHz i5
• 40Go 2400Mhz DDR4 RAM
• My hard drive is a 1to Fusion Drive, on which FMOD is installed
• Radeon Pro 570 4096Mo