Does VW 14 (2009) take advantage of Quad-core processors?

[Mickey]

I still have 2008 as I haven't found a reason to upgrade to 2009.

I recently got a new work station.

Here's my hardware spec

Windows XP Pro 32b

Intel Quad-core 2.8ghz

4gb RAM (XP 32b only takes advantage of 3gb)

GeForce 9500 GT 512mb

Dual 19" led screens.

My issue is that some actions in VW take a long time to complete. That is why I upgraded to a new box. The action most noticeably is when using Spotlight, and moving a group of fixtures. It can take many seconds depending on how many fixtures I have selected for the move to take place. It makes nudging impossible. First off I think it's ridiculous that this takes so long.

When opening the Task Manager and selecting the performance tab I can see that VW is only using the first 2 cores, and not the second 2.

So my first question is does 2009 take advantage of all 4 cores.

My second question is what can I do to speed up the process of moving light fixtures?

-mickey

[Ray Libby]

Only RenderWorks uses multi cores.

First thing to check is to go to NVidia's web site, download and install the latest video drivers. If you are currently using older drivers you may see a significant speed increase.

[IanH]

When opening the Task Manager and selecting the performance tab I can see that VW is only using the first 2 cores, and not the second 2.

So my first question is does 2009 take advantage of all 4 cores.

This is a very interesting observation.

Are you definitely seeing VW using only two cores during an operation whereby multi processing is active (ie some rendering operations) or are you possibly seeing VW active on one core and other Windows/spplications using a second and subsequent core? What are the other two cores showing with regard to activity?

If you are genuinely seeing VW using two cores on this operation (which not knowing spotlight, it doesn't sound like moving fixtures, unless in a rendered view, is a renderworks function) then this contradicts what NNA say regarding multi processor/core support - that is, only some aspects of renderworks support multi core/processor.

If VW is genuinely using two cores in some of these operations, then I would like to think that VW is coded in a scalable way where the algorithm lends itself to parallel processing and not limit itself to just to cores. For instance, some render operations scale very well in a multi processing environment, where as some algorithms would be impossible to code to take advantage of multi processing.

[Mickey]

Ian you are breaking my brain.

I believe you are correct in the scaling. Moving objects around in 2D only uses 2 cores, while rendering uses everything.

The reason I ask this is that when moving Spotlight fixtures it takes minutes sometimes for a group that has been copied and pasted to show up. During that time I only see two cores working.

It's very disappointing to have this new workstation with all the RAM, and Core speed you could want, and VW is still so slow at doing the tasks I need it to.

When opening the Task Manager and selecting the performance tab I can see that VW is only using the first 2 cores, and not the second 2.

So my first question is does 2009 take advantage of all 4 cores.

This is a very interesting observation.

Are you definitely seeing VW using only two cores during an operation whereby multi processing is active (ie some rendering operations) or are you possibly seeing VW active on one core and other Windows/spplications using a second and subsequent core? What are the other two cores showing with regard to activity?

If you are genuinely seeing VW using two cores on this operation (which not knowing spotlight, it doesn't sound like moving fixtures, unless in a rendered view, is a renderworks function) then this contradicts what NNA say regarding multi processor/core support - that is, only some aspects of renderworks support multi core/processor.

If VW is genuinely using two cores in some of these operations, then I would like to think that VW is coded in a scalable way where the algorithm lends itself to parallel processing and not limit itself to just to cores. For instance, some render operations scale very well in a multi processing environment, where as some algorithms would be impossible to code to take advantage of multi processing.

[Thom]

Renderworks is the only part of VW that uses two cores. The rest of the program uses only a single core. It would take a major rewrite to bring VW up to current hardware technology.

[Jershaun]

Hardware isn't going to move backwards. If Vectorworks is going to keep up with the competition, it will have to have a "major rewrite".