Labels kill Graphics performance

[patrickb]

For some reason, when I have labels turned on, my graphics performance is crippled to the point of extreme frustration. It doesn't take many labels either (8+). Is there a reason for this? Labels seem simpler to display than geometry. I am using labels for relations. This happens when I have a large assembly loaded, but only 1 or two parts displayed.

Graphics Card Info:
Video device 1: ELSA GLoria II-64
64 MByte
Driver version: 4.02.04.114

Desktop size: 1280 x 1024

OpenGL version: 1.1.4
OpenGL vendor: ELSA

DirectDraw version: 4.04

Any ideas?

Thank you,
Patrick

[chris]

here's one idea for dealing with labels: In the Graphics Settings, under the section for Dynamic Viewing, you can change the label display mode from 'Label as per Show' to 'Suppress Labels'. This way the labels will be turned off whenever you dynamically rotate/move your view.

ALSO, if you are using relations, there is a special 'Show Settings' just for Dynamic Relations labels. In the Edit menu, click Settings, and then R-Labels. Now in this menu you can turn off/on specific types of labels. For example, most of the time you only need to view the labels that are Value type relations (Distance, Angle, Radius, etc), so turn the rest off.

good luck,

Chris

[patrickb]

Hi Chris,
Thank you for the tips. Having the labels supressed for dynamic position is much better. I still have a four second wait between the time I start rotating and the time the view starts to move and then another four seconds after I am done, but the operation is much faster. Do you experience something similar? If not, what hardware do you use? I was wondering if it is time to upgrade graphics or something.

best regards,
Patrick

[clausb]

Patrick,

labels can indeed slow down graphics, but I'm a little surprised by how much this affects you in your particular case. Upgrading the graphics card can help, but by how much is not obvious, at least from the description so far.

Can you describe the model a little more in detail (number of parts, labels, structure)? Also, which version of OSDM are you using?

Thanks,

Claus

[patrickb]

Hi Claus,
Thank you for your reply.
I am using the SD9.01 AIM package.

I have approximately 100 parts in an assembly. The file size is 8.5MB. These are machined parts. I have several relation sets with 5-20 relations in each. Typically I will have 2-5 parts displayed with their relations while I am editing or attaching relations.

When the labels are turned off I can dynamically position very quickly, with no issues. However, even with only one or two parts displayed, with only 5 relations, the dynamic positioning becomes very slow, around 2 seconds between display updates with about a 5 second wait on either end.

This seems to be closely linked to the number of parts loaded, not to the number displayed. If I save a portion of the assembly, and start a new session with the smaller portion, the problem goes away. Then if I load the rest of the assembly the problem comes back.

I am curious about this because labels don't require complex geometry or positioning. I would think they would be trivial. Obviously there is something about them that is harder to display than the models are, which is weird.

regards, Patrick

[clausb]

Patrick,

labels are indeed a little trickier than just displaying a few lines. Anyway, it'd be interesting to see how the same assembly performs in a more recent release. If you want, you can also send me the assembly (contact me via PM) so that I can give it a try here, using both good ol' 9.01 and some of the current releases.

Claus