Vectorworks Energy use

[markdd]

I have one of the new 15" MacBook Pros. I am delighted with it, save for one thing. The battery life is not as good as the specs (surprise, surprise) but is particularly poor when using Vectorworks. I am getting at most 2.5 to 3 hrs out of a full charge. I am not doing any particularly heavy work, just some simple wireframe stuff. I have also made sure that Automatic Graphics switching is enabled in System Preferences. Before I book an appointment at our Apple Store I thought I would share the activity monitor stats here so that maybe some of my more computer savvy comrades on this forum could maybe shed light on how these stats look and whether what I am seeing is normal.

 

I realise that I am using Vectorworks on OSX Sierra and that this has not necessarily been given the OK yet. As an aside, I am finding VW runs very smoothly otherwise and renders like a dream (when I'm plugged in!)

 

 

Many thanks.

 

[zoomer]

I'm not sure why the CineRender Service is started with VW each time although you may not

render anything for 2 weeks. Maybe needed for materials and thing even for OpenGL.

 

If I watch my activity Monitor I normally find at least one Dupplicate of CineRender marked

red and not responding there. At least these dead processes seem to not consume any energy.

[rDesign]

@markdd- I don't know if this is the case with you, but if I leave Vw 2016 open it does not allow my MBP to go to system sleep (see this thread). The screen will dim, but the CPU will not go to sleep. In fact, in the screen shot you posted you can see that 'CineRender' is listed as 'Preventing Sleep'.

 

If this were happening to you, where you left Vw open in the background while you were not actively using it, it certainly could kill your battery life.

 

I don't think Vw is very efficient when it comes to energy management, so I am not surprised by your observation.

Edited November 27, 2016 by rDesign

[PVA - Admin]

Vectorworks is not designed to be energy efficient as an application in any way. This battery performance does not surprise me and is definitely to be expected. 

[markdd]

Thanks!