Lightroom catalog browsing performance on Mac OS

[georgh3460921]

hi,

I use the laes versio of lightroom classic on my MacBook Pro 15 2016 (16 Gigs ram, 1 tb st, radon 460). Catalog is stored on the ssd, all photos are on my synology ds 415+ (10 tb we red) over gigabit lan. I have 75.000 photos in my library an huge lags while scrolling in the lib and navigating in the UI. I’ve alredy optimised my library, increased the chance, cleaned the MacBook with onyx and reduced the number of photos in the lib. I also copied the lib to my PC (core i7 3930k, gts 1080, 32gigs ram). The performance on the pc is absolutely fine. Now lags at all.

I Problem on the Mac can be reduced by lowering the OS resolution/scaling. On standard scaling on the 15“ display it is usable. On my external 4K display on medium scaling or native 4K it is not usable at all.

any ideas? Is it a Mac OS problem? what is a recommended max lib size for a Mac? I am running out of ideas. Thanks in advance

[Akash Sharma]

Hi georgh3460921,

Sorry that you're having performance related issues with Lightroom Classic CC on your computer. Could you please post the system info(Help>>System info menu) from Lightroom so that we may check the installed app components and provide more info?

See Learn how to access and read your Photoshop system info. to know how to gather the system info.

Regards,

Akash

[georgh3460921]

Thank you dj_paige, I stared creating 1:1 previews. It takes "some time" for 75.000 pictures. The default in my settings was "30 days" for 1:1 previews before erasure.

I experience the slow response not only while displaying a huge amount of pictures. It also effects scrolling in the Navigation (left side) up and down in folders or in the Top Menu. At that time there is no change in what pictures are displayed and there is no modification of the actual image. Its only navigating.

Akash Sharma,

thank you for your response. Here is my output for system info. Descriptions are in German but I hope the descriptions matches the English output.

Lightroom Classic-Version: 7.3.1 [ 1167660 ]

Lizenz: Creative Cloud

Spracheinstellung: de-DE

Betriebssystem: Mac OS 10

Version: 10.13.4 [17E202]

Anwendungsarchitektur: x64

Anzahl logischer Prozessoren: 8

Prozessorgeschwindigkeit: 2,7 GHz

Integrierter Speicher: 16.384,0 MB

Für Lightroom verfügbarer phys. Speicher: 16.384,0 MB

Von Lightroom verwendeter phys. Speicher: 5.665,6 MB (34,5%)

Von Lightroom verwendeter virtueller Speicher: 14.281,2 MB

Cache-Speichergröße: 2.662,9MB

Interne Camera Raw-Version: 933

Maximale Anzahl Threads, die Camera Raw verwendet: 5

Camera Raw SIMD-Optimierung: SSE2,AVX,AVX2

Virtueller Speicher in Camera Raw: 3839MB / 8191MB (46%)

Physischer Speicher in Camera Raw: 3996MB / 16384MB (24%)

Monitore/Anzeigegeräte: 1) 6016x3384

Informationen zum Grafikprozessor:

Metal: AMD Radeon Pro 460

Anwendungsordner: /Applications/Adobe Lightroom Classic CC

Bibliothekspfad: /Users/tuscani/Pictures/Lightroom/Lightroom Catalog-2.lrcat

Einstellungen-Ordner: /Users/tuscani/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom

Installierte Zusatzmodule:

1) AdobeStock

2) Aperture/iPhoto-Import-Zusatzmodul

3) Canon Tether-Zusatzmodul

4) Facebook

5) Flickr

6) Nikon Tether-Zusatzmodul

Config.lua-Flags: None

AudioDeviceIOBlockSize: 512

AudioDeviceName: Ausgang (integriert)

AudioDeviceNumberOfChannels: 2

AudioDeviceSampleRate: 44100

Build: 10.0x7

CoreImage: true

GL_ACCUM_ALPHA_BITS: 0

GL_ACCUM_BLUE_BITS: 0

GL_ACCUM_GREEN_BITS: 0

GL_ACCUM_RED_BITS: 0

GL_ALPHA_BITS: 8

GL_BLUE_BITS: 8

GL_DEPTH_BITS: 24

GL_GREEN_BITS: 8

GL_MAX_3D_TEXTURE_SIZE: 16384

GL_MAX_TEXTURE_SIZE: 16384

GL_MAX_TEXTURE_UNITS: 8

GL_MAX_VIEWPORT_DIMS: 16384,16384

GL_RED_BITS: 8

GL_RENDERER: AMD Radeon Pro 460 OpenGL Engine

GL_SHADING_LANGUAGE_VERSION: 1.20

GL_STENCIL_BITS: 8

GL_VENDOR: ATI Technologies Inc.

GL_VERSION: 2.1 ATI-1.66.31

OGLEnabled: true

GL_EXTENSIONS: GL_ARB_color_buffer_float GL_ARB_depth_buffer_float GL_ARB_depth_clamp GL_ARB_depth_texture GL_ARB_draw_buffers GL_ARB_draw_elements_base_vertex GL_ARB_draw_instanced GL_ARB_fragment_program GL_ARB_fragment_program_shadow GL_ARB_fragment_shader GL_ARB_framebuffer_object GL_ARB_framebuffer_sRGB GL_ARB_half_float_pixel GL_ARB_half_float_vertex GL_ARB_imaging GL_ARB_instanced_arrays GL_ARB_multisample GL_ARB_multitexture GL_ARB_occlusion_query GL_ARB_pixel_buffer_object GL_ARB_point_parameters GL_ARB_point_sprite GL_ARB_provoking_vertex GL_ARB_seamless_cube_map GL_ARB_shader_objects GL_ARB_shader_texture_lod GL_ARB_shading_language_100 GL_ARB_shadow GL_ARB_shadow_ambient GL_ARB_sync GL_ARB_texture_border_clamp GL_ARB_texture_compression GL_ARB_texture_compression_rgtc GL_ARB_texture_cube_map GL_ARB_texture_env_add GL_ARB_texture_env_combine GL_ARB_texture_env_crossbar GL_ARB_texture_env_dot3 GL_ARB_texture_float GL_ARB_texture_mirrored_repeat GL_ARB_texture_non_power_of_two GL_ARB_texture_rectangle GL_ARB_texture_rg GL_ARB_transpose_matrix GL_ARB_vertex_array_bgra GL_ARB_vertex_blend GL_ARB_vertex_buffer_object GL_ARB_vertex_program GL_ARB_vertex_shader GL_ARB_window_pos GL_EXT_abgr GL_EXT_bgra GL_EXT_bindable_uniform GL_EXT_blend_color GL_EXT_blend_equation_separate GL_EXT_blend_func_separate GL_EXT_blend_minmax GL_EXT_blend_subtract GL_EXT_clip_volume_hint GL_EXT_debug_label GL_EXT_debug_marker GL_EXT_depth_bounds_test GL_EXT_draw_buffers2 GL_EXT_draw_range_elements GL_EXT_fog_coord GL_EXT_framebuffer_blit GL_EXT_framebuffer_multisample GL_EXT_framebuffer_object GL_EXT_framebuffer_sRGB GL_EXT_geometry_shader4 GL_EXT_gpu_program_parameters GL_EXT_gpu_shader4 GL_EXT_multi_draw_arrays GL_EXT_packed_depth_stencil GL_EXT_packed_float GL_EXT_provoking_vertex GL_EXT_rescale_normal GL_EXT_secondary_color GL_EXT_separate_specular_color GL_EXT_shadow_funcs GL_EXT_stencil_two_side GL_EXT_stencil_wrap GL_EXT_texture_array GL_EXT_texture_compression_dxt1 GL_EXT_texture_compression_s3tc GL_EXT_texture_env_add GL_EXT_texture_filter_anisotropic GL_EXT_texture_integer GL_EXT_texture_lod_bias GL_EXT_texture_mirror_clamp GL_EXT_texture_rectangle GL_EXT_texture_shared_exponent GL_EXT_texture_sRGB GL_EXT_texture_sRGB_decode GL_EXT_timer_query GL_EXT_transform_feedback GL_EXT_vertex_array_bgra GL_APPLE_aux_depth_stencil GL_APPLE_client_storage GL_APPLE_element_array GL_APPLE_fence GL_APPLE_float_pixels GL_APPLE_flush_buffer_range GL_APPLE_flush_render GL_APPLE_object_purgeable GL_APPLE_packed_pixels GL_APPLE_pixel_buffer GL_APPLE_rgb_422 GL_APPLE_row_bytes GL_APPLE_specular_vector GL_APPLE_texture_range GL_APPLE_transform_hint GL_APPLE_vertex_array_object GL_APPLE_vertex_array_range GL_APPLE_vertex_point_size GL_APPLE_vertex_program_evaluators GL_APPLE_ycbcr_422 GL_ATI_blend_equation_separate GL_ATI_blend_weighted_minmax GL_ATI_separate_stencil GL_ATI_texture_compression_3dc GL_ATI_texture_env_combine3 GL_ATI_texture_float GL_ATI_texture_mirror_once GL_IBM_rasterpos_clip GL_NV_blend_square GL_NV_conditional_render GL_NV_depth_clamp GL_NV_fog_distance GL_NV_light_max_exponent GL_NV_texgen_reflection GL_NV_texture_barrier GL_SGI_color_matrix GL_SGIS_generate_mipmap GL_SGIS_texture_edge_clamp GL_SGIS_texture_lod

[georgh3460921]

I have 1:1 previews for 25% of my library now. Nothing changed so far and I do not believe that this is the issue.

I have uploaded a small video do demonstrate the problem. As you can see in the video below the problem disappears when reducing the windows size to something like 2000*1000 Pixel. Scaling it up to 3300*1700 makes everything really slow. Not only scrolling through the pictures. Top Menu interaction is also slow.

The load of the Radeon 460 GPU is 15% when scrolling, GPU RAM is 40% full. CPU Load is around 20-25%. System Memory use is 10 of 16 GB. I can not see any bottleneck there.

Lightroom Performance MacOS Macbook Pro 2016 - YouTube

[georgh3460921]

I've found somebody who has/had the same issue. The Scaling options on a 4K Display (Internal Display as well) causes some major UI performance problems.

I use the 3008 x 1692 scaling. The default Standard preview option in my catalog was set to "6016px". LR is misinterpreting the OS Resolution and Scaling. On 4K scaled down 2:1 to UHD for the Interface, I want 4K image previews (due to the 2:1 scaling). On UHD on UHD scaling I want 1:1 3820*2160 Resolution. But since I am using some in between scaling LR seems to be confused. I manually changed it to "2880" and continue to render 1:1 previews.

I do not know if this is the reason for my interface performance issues but it seems to be a big problem inside Lightroom. The Picture with the performance rating for different UI scaling options (linked below) really shows the effect.

Lightroom: 1:1 zoom on 4k monitor | Photoshop Family Customer Community

[Ian Lyons]

Even though Apple screw around with scaling in System Preferences, 2880px is the native resolution of your MacBook Pro. So, choosing this over Auto would be fine if you only used the MacBook  Pro display. However, since you also use a 4k display then you'll need make sure that when you connect the 4k display that Lr doesn't again switch to Auto (6016px). If it does then manually change Lr back to 2880px. Doing so should resolve utterly stupid scaling being applied by the OS and misinterpreted by Lr.

Unfortunately, all that you will have achieved in doing above is prevent Lr from building necessarily large standard-sized previews. It will still be necessary to build the 1:1 previews. You will also need change the 1:1 auto discard setting to Never.

[georgh3460921]

Yes, I already switched off discard of 1:1 previews. Rendering the remaining 60.000 previews (2 seconds per image will take nearly two days.

I suspect that there is a bigger problem under the hood of Lightroom when it comes to scaling. I assume that the false calculation of standard previews also applies to the internal UI Rendering. That would explain the laggy feeling of the UI when I pic a scaled resolution between 2560 (where 2:1 scaling for the 27" Apple displays maxes out) and the Native 4K 1:1 results in a resonse nightmare.

Edit: Something that might proof my assumption that 2:1 UI scaling is active until Ive reached the Native resolution: When I scale to a width of 3008 Pixel and use the default magnifier in the edit mode it does not zoom as close as it does when I am in native UHD. -> The UI in 3008 is actually rendered in 6016 Pixels. And that leads to the performance problems.

But please help me to understand the benefit of 1:1 previews for my entire library. When I scroll in a folder that already has 1:1 previews it is as laggy as it is in all the other folders. I thought the 1:1 previews are necessary when I display a full size image or edit. Why is folder Navigation in the menu on the left still laggy?

[georgh3460921]

The December 2018 Updated sounded promising. Improved 4K and 5K library speed. Sadly nothing changed for me on MacOS when using a UI Scaling between 1:1 and 2:1. With a simulated 2560*1440 or 3008*1692 it is still very laggy and the recommended preview Size is exactly 2-times the resolution of the "simulated" one. Even though I just have a UHD Display (3840*2160) Lightroom seems to render with 5120*2880 or 6016*3384... That is very disappointing. Please Adobe. Fix the Lightroom scaling issues and implement a variable scaling or at least the in MacOS offered options.

[dj_paige]

Hello georgh3460921 , we are not Adobe in this forum, and we cannot fix this problem. You need to provide Adobe with your concerns, not us. Please go to Lightroom Classic CC | Photoshop Family Customer Community and state your issue there.

[dj_paige]

This is the problem:

On standard scaling on the 15“ display it is usable. On my external 4K display on medium scaling or native 4K it is not usable at all.

If you get good performance on a HD monitor and lousy performance on a 4K monitor, then Lightroom can't do all the calculations to display the image on a 4K monitor in anything close to real-time.

So if you are having this problem "while scrolling in the lib and navigating in the UI" then I would strongly recommend that you create 1:1 previews of all of your photos, and see if that makes things better. Use the menu command Library-> Previews-> Build 1:1 previews. Since this might take many hours, start it before you go to sleep.

This slowness has nothing to do with the size of your catalog file; or the number of images in it.