Performance issues, possibly video.

My computer is by no means new (p4 2.4, 2GB, 128MB AGP video), however, I get particularly crappy performance through most simple tasks. Scrolling in any browswer is SUPER choppy (CPU usage of browser & Xorg spikes when scrolling). Window performance is decent but not as good as it probably should be. Even things like opening & switching tabs lags 1-2 seconds. Any ideas on narrowing & fixing this issue? (NVIDIA card, base xorg.conf + nvidia-xconfig)

lspci | grep VGA
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV44 [GeForce 6200 A-LE] (rev a1)
dmesg | grep NVIDIA
nvidia: module license 'NVIDIA' taints kernel.
NVRM: loading NVIDIA UNIX x86 Kernel Module 195.36.15 Thu Mar 11 21:41:46 PST 2010
cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf
# nvidia-xconfig: X configuration file generated by nvidia-xconfig
# nvidia-xconfig: version 1.0 (buildmeister@builder75) Fri Mar 12 01:42:27 PST 2010
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "X.org Configured"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection
Section "Files"
ModulePath "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/misc"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/TTF"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/Type1"
EndSection
Section "Module"
Load "dri2"
Load "record"
Load "dbe"
Load "glx"
Load "extmod"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "kbd"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "auto"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5 6 7"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
ModelName "Monitor Model"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Card0"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "nVidia Corporation"
BoardName "NV44 [GeForce 6200 A-LE]"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Card0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 4
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 8
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 15
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 16
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection
Idle is fine, only abnormality is the spike when scrolling that I mentioned in the original post, Xorg spikes when moving windows and things as well.
32-bit btw.

Similar Messages

Performance issue possibly due to wrong parameters??

Oracle Database 10g Enterprise Edition Release 10.2.0.4.0 - 64bit.
We have a program that runs every two weeks to process 3million records in our Oracle 10g database. Processing normally takes about 6 hours. With no change to the program (which is a java client program), the processing time has gotten longer and longer over the last few weeks. The processor on the database server was upgraded to iTanium and during this upgrade the databases were striped to fix a read/write issue that occurred due to poor configuration (it wasn't using multiple channels for processing so everything ran super slow) when the server hardware was upgraded. Since the last upgrade to the processor, we've noticed many errors being generated on the server when our program runs (java null reference errors). these errors never occurred before the upgrade. The upgrade was in July. In August we noticed the beginning of a degradation in performance - the process went from 6 hours to 10 hours. This month, it is taking 20 hours. Next month I fear it will be 40 hours.
The program launches multiple sessions that work at once doing an update against the same table. The last time it ran it started at 6AM and by 1PM it was only 11% done. I looked at the session stats and saw the top 5 wait events:
SQL*Net message from client-->
totalwaits=11,997
timewaited=2,070,070
avgwait=172
enq: TX - row lock contention-->
totalwaits=587
timewaited 65,614
avgwait=111
timeouts=180
latch:cache buffers chains-->
totalwaits=933
timewaited=1,815
avgwait=2
db file sequential read-->
totalwaits=1,426
timewaited=1,519
avgwait=1
log file sync-->
totalwaits=1,422
totalwaited=2594
avgwait=2
It looks like all of these values are way too high and I'm wondering what parameters we could change on the database/server side that might improve performance in these areas.
I read that increasing the INITRANS VALUE TO SOMETHING GREATER THAN ONE WOULD HELP WITH THE ROW LOCK CONTENTION AND TIMEOUTS.
I also read that changing DB_CACHE_ADVICE OFF WOULD HELP WITH THE CACHE BUFFER CHAINS ISSUE.
Are these viable solutions? Changing the program is not an option right now. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Rakesh jayappa wrote:
Hi,
sorry i am not getting your question, i am guessing your question, you can reduce the log file sync by
COMMIT WRITE BATCH;
COMMIT WRITE IMMEDIATE;
or
The disks or I/O subsystems where the redologs are placed may be too busy.
- Reduce other I/O activity on the disks containing the redo logs, or use dedicated disks.
- Move the redo logs to faster disks or a faster I/O subsystem.
- Move the redolog files from RAID 5 devices. RAID 5 is not efficient for writes.
- Alternate redo logs on different disks to minimize the effect of the archiver on the log writer.
Kind Regards,
Rakesh JayappaMy point is that even if you eliminate it completely you have only eliminated a tiny fraction of the total wait time -- it may look like low hanging fruit, but it's a very small piece of fruit indeed.

Display issue / possible video card problem but I'm not sure

Over the last couple of days twice now I've had this frantic burst of random shapes take over my screen rendering operation useless until a restart.
Take a look: http://i15.tinypic.com/6q94ufp.png
Yes, I have been able to take a screenshot as you can see.
It happens most often during space switching (via accessing spaces, and then clicking on a square I want to go to), as well as QuickLook activation, or video playing. Anyone want to help me sort this out so I can get back to normal with my Mac?
This Mac has also randomly shut down twice now, and this might be related, but I don't know.

I am linking my thread to this one:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6305391
Having exact same problem on iMac 20" which has different display chip (ATI X1600), which outcloses the manufacturer. Now when I think of it the problem usually appeared during Spaces desktop switching but I think once or twice it happened inside a windowed game screen (suddenly one object like a character puffs into random polygons, then it spreads to normal desktop windows too.)
I am currently downgraded to Tiger form Leopard to test if this was a leopard issue (never had this problem in tiger in the past.)
Also RAM on my iMac is the default that Apple shipped it with (2x 800MHz non-ecc 512MB so-dimms.)

Help with Video Performance Issues using Flash

Asking on behalf of a customer who has been unable to get any answers so far - are you able to help?
Background:
We have a port of our Game Development Kit which allows us to recompile all our games using Crossbridge (http://adobe-flash.github.io/crossbridge/) into SWF without any code modifications.
Overview:
Our framework is using OpenGL for rendering and we have successfully ported it along with the audio and video to run in Flash.
We are experiencing performance issues using Video. We cannot use image sequence as some of the video animations are too long and would increase the download to an unacceptable size. Assets vary between 256x256 - 1024x1024 videos.

Here's the rest of the story. Let me know if you can see any resolution, and I will connect him to the forums. Thank you.
Current Video Solution:
We create an instance of NetConnection, NetStream, and Video according to most samples out there, and invoke draw to rasterize the Video DisplayObject into a BitmapData instance.
The BitmapData instance has a fixed color component layout which is not compatible with Stage3D texture and is therefore has to be reformatted before uploaded to Stage3D Texture (See Code Listing below).
Our Problems:
Performance issues with RGBA conversion (either using copyChannel or manually reformatting is not fast enough) natively in as3; this required for stage3d texture.Copying each channel individual using bitmapdata.Copychannel seems faster, but not significantly faster.
Cannot detect when video frame has been updated, therefore we may copy pixels that are not needed in enterframe (processpixel).
Looping video, our current solution uses the NET_STATUS event Buffer empty; Is there a better way to loop videos than checking buffer and seeking to 0.
Stepping video, loading FLV or MP4 side by side assets from HTTP or embedded does not support stepping? Is there another way?
ActionScript Code Listing:
video_nc = new NetConnection();
video_nc.addEventListener(NetStatusEvent.NET_STATUS , onConnect);
video_nc.addEventListener(AsyncErrorEvent.ASYNC_ERROR , trace);
video_nc.connect(null);
// OnConnect Event:
this.ns = new NetStream(e.target as NetConnection);
eventclient = new Object();
eventclient.onMetaData = onMetaData;
this.ns.client = eventclient;
ns.play(flvfile);
ns.pause();
//onMetaData event:
this.width = infoObject.width;
this.height = infoObject.height;
this.textureWidth = NextPowerOfTwo(this.width);
this.textureHeight = NextPowerOfTwo(this.height);
cliprect = new Rectangle(0, 0, this.width ,this.height);
cliprect.x = 0;
cliprect.y = 0;
cliprect.width = this.textureWidth;
cliprect.height = this.textureHeight;
totalFrames = infoObject.duration * infoObject.fps;
this.hasAlpha = true;
if(infoObject.videocodecid == 5)
this.hasAlpha = true;
this.bitmapData = new BitmapData(this.textureWidth, this.textureHeight, hasAlpha, 0xff000000);
this.video = new Video(this.width, this.height);
this.video.attachNetStream(ns);
this.video.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, processPixels);
// processPixel method:
BitmapData.draw(video);
GLAPI.instance.glBindTexture(GLAPI.GL_TEXTURE_2D,this.textureId);
var fmt:uint = GLAPI.GL_ARGB;
// converting pixels using copychannel or loop through pixels
GLAPI.instance.glBindTexture(GLAPI.GL_TEXTURE_2D,this.textureId);
GLAPI.instance.glTexImage2D(GLAPI.GL_TEXTURE_2D, 0, fmt, this.textureWidth, this.textureHeight, 0,fmt, GLAPI.GL_UNSIGNED_BYTE, 0, convBitmapData.getPixels(cliprect));

Safari 5.1 HTML5 Video performance issues

Since upgrading to Safari 5.1 i am experiencing performance issues while playing HTML5 videos on Youtube. The video takes ever to load, while loading the whole browser becomes unresponsive, in the end forcing me to close the tab and wait for the broswer to recover on its own.
After upgrading to 5.1 though performance has great improved in general and i am loving it, but this problem with HTML5 Video is quite troubling.
I am using Macbook 5,2 (mid-2009) with NVIDIA 9400M

Go to Safari / Preferences - Extensions. If you have any intstalled, turn that off, quit then relaunch Safari. Try a video.

Analysis could not be performed in time. There is a possible serious performance issue

Can someone please advise what I need to do to correct this critical error?
My computer is VERY slow and when I ran the event viewer, this is listed as CRITICAL. Any information would be appreciated.
Log Name:      Microsoft-Windows-Diagnostics-Performance/Operational
Source:        Microsoft-Windows-Diagnostics-Performance
Date:          6/24/2010 10:18:46 AM
Event ID:      400
Task Category: System Performance Monitoring
Level:         Critical
Keywords:      Event Log
User:          LOCAL SERVICE
Computer:      user-PC
Description:
Information about the system performance monitoring event:
     Scenario  : System Responsiveness
     Analysis result  : Analysis could not be performed in time. There is a possible serious performance issue
     Incident Time (UTC) : 6/24/2010 5:17:07 PM
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
    <Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-Diagnostics-Performance" Guid="{cfc18ec0-96b1-4eba-961b-622caee05b0a}" />
    <EventID>400</EventID>
    <Version>1</Version>
    <Level>1</Level>
    <Task>4005</Task>
    <Opcode>37</Opcode>
    <Keywords>0x8000000000010000</Keywords>
    <TimeCreated SystemTime="2010-06-24T17:18:46.941Z" />
    <EventRecordID>5491</EventRecordID>
    <Correlation ActivityID="{00000000-E6C8-0000-F4BB-058D9113CB01}" />
    <Execution ProcessID="1884" ThreadID="5956" />
    <Channel>Microsoft-Windows-Diagnostics-Performance/Operational</Channel>
    <Computer>user-PC</Computer>
    <Security UserID="S-1-5-19" />
</System>
<EventData>
    <Data Name="ShellScenarioStartTime">2010-06-24T17:17:07.442Z</Data>
    <Data Name="ShellScenarioEndTime">2010-06-24T17:17:12.442Z</Data>
    <Data Name="ShellSubScenario">1</Data>
    <Data Name="ShellScenarioDuration">5000</Data>
    <Data Name="ShellRootCauseBits">0</Data>
    <Data Name="ShellAnalysisResult">2</Data>
    <Data Name="ShellDegradationType">1</Data>
    <Data Name="ShellTsVersion">1</Data>
    <Data Name="ShellMachineUpTimeHours">0</Data>
    <Data Name="ShellMachineSleepPattern">0</Data>
</EventData>
</Event>

I do get the same problem. It believe it started after I switched from HDD to SSD some month's ago. My machine is very fast now so I do not have performance problems (only a very slow power on boot).
The description above is exactly the same as I have.
Does somebody has the same problems?

Recent ML upgrade leads to widespread video performance issues.

Hello,
I recently took the leap to Mountain Lion and I'm starting to regret my decision. I have noticed a real drop off in video performance across the entire system.
Firstly, I came across a well documented issue with Final Cut Pro 7 video playback in the canvas. Playback is almost unusable due to introduced artifacts and tearing. However the video performance issues seem more wide spread than "unsupported software". I notice extremely rough image switching when I switch between workspaces, particularly on the second monitor. Also, when the screen saver kicks in and it swaps images, the same very klunky image swap is noticed on the second monitor. Also when the Reading List display is toggled in Safari, the remaining window slide left or right is not smooth at all, irrespective of what monitor it is on. There are other Safari rendering issues too, involving flickers, and other general video issues.
My machine is a mid-2010 Mac Pro, 6 core, 3.3GHz with 24GB of RAM and a 5870 graphics card. None of these issues were present in Lion.
I was wondering whether anyone else had noticed similar issues and if so, what if anything can be done about it.
Thanks in advance.
Regards,
Scott

This problem is not restricted to Leopard, 10.4.10 with QuickTime 7.3 is affected too. 10.4.11 doesn't show any improvements either. Yes, we need a fix for this... but one that solves this problem on Tiger as well, please.

Performance issue with brand new intel iMac extreme

I am at a loss to explain a problem I've been having and I thought I might put it out to you guys.
In September I purchased a macbook Pro (2.4 ghz, 4 GB RAM) to use in video editing with Final Cut Pro, and for the most part I've been thrilled. I use 1TB LaCie external drives connected via FW800, and perform Multiclip editing with 4-5 video streams at a time and only on occasion have dropped frames during the editing process.
In December I determined that I needed to have an additional system, and thought a 2.8Ghz Intel iMac extreme would be an excellent choice, since for the same price I could get a little more power in the processor, more hard drive space and a bigger screen to work on. When we picked up the new system in the store (The Grove Apple Store in LA), we had them upgrade the memory to 4GB.
Since day one we have had performance issues, including problems playing streaming and DVD video, severe delays mounting and unmounting drives (firewire and USB) and application images, and freezing while doing even simple tasks like printing or checking email. These problems occur even while there are no external drives are connected. I have none of these issues with the Macbook Pro, which has virtually an identical set of programs installed, and both running the same version of Leopard.
I already took the original iMac back to the store, and they exchanged it, but did not have 4GB sets of RAM in stock so they took the RAM from the original machine and put it in the new one. They said if I continued to have problems then it was most likely the RAM and I should come back when they got more in stock. I DID have the same problems with the new machine, and took it back to the Apple Store and they swapped the memory. It seemed to improve the issue, but now I'm seeing the same severe performance issues again.
All tech support can do is tell me to do a PRAM reset, which seems to improve things very temporarily (but that may be my imagination) or have me restart, which at least has the ability to make the printing of documents capable.
What I'm wondering is if it is likely that the RAM is the issue and I just got another bad batch, or if the iMac has some weird glitch that isn't present in the macbook Pro...?? Or could I have possibly gotten 2 bad systems in a row? It's extremely frustrating, and I KNOW it shouldn't be this way! It's so bad I get better performance out of my single-core G5 tower! How do I get a good working system that operates like it should? Am I better off getting another Macbook Pro? I'd rather not for several reasons...
I have xbench on both the MBP and the iMac and can provide test numbers if they'll help, as well as any other info.
Thank you so much for reading my novella of a post and also for any insight you have!
Best,
Travis

Hi!
I got the same problem with my MacBook when it still was new in may 2006. It was supposed to be one of the faster Laptops around but it was soooo slow it drove me nuts. I can only advise to have a look if there is something hugging up your RAM and run some tests using these programs on your machine:
Xbench:
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/10081
MenuMeters:
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/10451
If they show any unusual results you might have your problem...
As to my problem with the MacBook: I did a complete re-install (writing the harddisk over with zeroes) and suddenly everything was just fine. (But be sure to back all your files before that, I learned this one the hard way.) I know it is just a standard answer, but it worked out for me this time...
Hope this helps in some ways.
Cheers,
Rene

After Effects CS5.5 - Very Serious Performance Issues w/RAM Preview

My system: Windows 7 Professional, two Intel Xeon X5650's, 12GB RAM, and a NVIDIA Quadro FX 4800.
Problem: RAM Preview in CS5.5 gives me less than 2 fps (yes---two frames per second). This is even with the most simple of compositions. I created a 1080p 23.976 project with two simple solid layers and keyframed position and scale values for one of them with no other effects on either solid. RAM Preview gives me 1.8 fps.
I still have AE CS5 installed and it gives me solid, predictable results with RAM Preview. When I create a similar test project inside CS5, it creates the RAM preview almost instantly and displays in proper realtime (23.976 fps).
My settings for both CS5 and CS5.5 are similar (and I have tried many variations in my attempt to fix this problem).
PREVIEWS
Fast Previews: Adaptive Resolution Limit 1/4
Enabled OpenGL and both sub-options for OpenGL enabled.
MEMORY & MULTIPROCESSING
RAM reserved for other apps: 4GB
I have tried various settings for Multiprocessing, all of which results in the same less-than-2 fps RAM Previews. Currently I have MP'ing enabled with 1.5GB allocation per background CPU and the actual CPU's used is 4. Again, no matter what I set it to, I get the same performance issue.
On my screen magnification ratio setting, I am using 25% and my Resolution/Down Sample is set to quarter. On my preview tab, I have tried setting my resolution from the default of "Auto" to "Quarter" with no difference.
In summary: On the same machine, AE CS5.5 RAM Preview offers terrible performance; CS5 RAM Preview offers great performance.

Under AJA Preview there are check boxes, one for "Video" and the other for "Preview." I've checked and unchecked them both and I'm still getting poor RAM previews. No matter what I have toggled, I seem to get between 1 and 2 fps for my RAM Previews.
I am not currently using the AJA card for anything. I will consider uninstalling it if this might possibly solve my problem. It's just a hassle to install and uninstall cards on a per need basis.
If there are any other thoughts, I'd love to hear them. At this point, I'd do just about anything to have realtime previews back.
The machine I'm using, by the way, is an HP z800 with Windows 7 Professional, two Intel Xeon X5650's, 12GB RAM, and a NVIDIA Quadro FX 4800. It has the following installed: CS5.5 Production Premium, AVID Media Composer 5.5.2, and AVID DS 10.5.1 (among other programs).

CS3 Performance Issues - Productivity Crippled - S.O.S.

I was having performance issues and repeated crashes with AE CS3 on Win XP, so I talked my boss into upgrading me to CS5 and Win 7. All was well until we hired a new guy to help me with my video work load. He has inherited my old software and there's no money for another upgrade, so we're going to have to figure this out.
He running CS3 Master Collection on a Dell PC running Windows XP (Intel Core II Duo 2.33Ghz, 3.25GB RAM). The graphics card is the ATI Radeon HD 2400 Pro, which came stock with the machine. Specs on that card here: http://reviews.cnet.com/graphics-cards/ati-radeon-hd-2400/4507-8902_7-32763888.html?tag=sp ecs. Pretty wimpy, I know.
Anyway, my new coworker has been experiencing at least as much frustration as I was, with frequent crashes, a fickle RAM Preview and bad renders. His machine has more RAM and a faster processor than I had when I ran CS3, but his performance seems even worse Since CS3 won't handle AVCHD files, I've been converting our HD camera footage into 720p MPG 2 (Adobe Media Encoder) for projects he's assigned. I suppose that could have something to do with it, but I can't see why CS3 wouldn't run an MPG generated from CS5. Anyway, I asked him to write up a short list of the problems he's experiencing and he gave me this ...
- rendered movies are often corrupted with red frames that flash in spots
- when i try to render an MPEG2 at full res it will give me an error message that says:
After Effects: AEGP Plugin Media IO Plugin:
There is a mismatch between Output Module settings and Transcode Settings. Please verify your settings and try again.
Property Data Invalid!
MediaIO2 error: 0x400e0004
Frame dimensions out of bounds
(5027 :: 12)
- when i try to render a RAM preview, often it does not render the complete work area. it takes several attempts to preview the entire selection
- occasionally, when i bring in new media it gives a message saying 'media pending' and i will have to shut the program down and re-import the media
- it will often (1-3 times per hour) crash unexpectedly and give a message saying 'After Effects has crashed'
- when i try to render a RAM preview an error message pops up saying it needs at least 2 frames to render when i clearly have more than that selected
It's my hope that someone here will recognize a common thread between these various issues and be able to suggest a silver bullet that will fix it all. I realize that's not likely. Research to date has yielded glimpses of possible solutions involving cache and scratch discs, but there are few specifics and I'm not sure exactly what adjustments to make. I also have a spare Nvidia GForce 6800 graphics card form my own computer at home that I could donate to this office if it would help.
I'm about to pass these issues on to our Help Desk and let them deal with it, but I'd love to be able to at least point them in the right direction, since they mostly deal with standard office software and won't have much experience troubleshooting multimedia applications. I believe they also have the option to call Adobe for tech support over the phone, but I'd like them to have a clue if they do. Can anyone suggest what settings, drivers or hardware might be a good place to start to get my man's system running a little more smoothly? I'd really appreciate some insight before we start poking around blindly and I offer my thanks in advance for any forthcoming wisdom.
Thanks!
P.S. For what it's worth, my copy of CS5 is running like a champ on Windows 7 with the 64 bit OS. My machine has an ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT for a card, which can't be much better than the "Pro" version in my coworkwers machine, right?

No legal issues, both my CS5 and his CS3 are bought and paid for. However, if After Effects CS3 is incapable of rendering a decent looking file compressed to a reasonable file size, then I'm not sure how valuable it is to us anyway. It seems unbelievable to me that one of the most popular industry standard video aps isn't designed to render anything more than draft quality files for client review. Even if he renders an uncompressed file from AE, CS3 didn't ship with Adobe Media Encoder as a separate ap, so what can he do with it without resorting to third party software? I don't get it, but I'm clearly no expert on the subject.
So, things being what they are, what file format would you suggest I convert the AVCHD file to in order for my CS3 burdened coworkwer to be able to work with them? We are a Windows shop, so I don't know if Dave's Quicktime/PNG suggestion will work for us or not. You've always given good advice to me in the past, so if you have an alternate suggestion I'm eager to try it out. Just go easy on me with the jargon because I'm primarily a print designer and my video skills at this point are (obviously) intermediate at best!
In any case, I really appreciate both you and Dave taking the time to respond to my post. This forum continues to be the best resource I have for solving problems and augmenting my understanding of these programs. My thanks!

3tb time capsual and Apple tv performance issues

I have just upgraded my airport extreme 1st gen to a 3tb 4th gen time capsule. I did it becuas of growing performance issues with apple TV's 1st and 2nd gen. I thought the dual band and improved power would solve the issue. I've tried all sorts of set ups to the time capsule and I'm getting just as irratic performance. Has anyone got any advice on the best set up for optimum performance please?

To successfully stream, either audio or video, the key for uninterrupted performance is adequate bandwidth between the media source and the playback device. Your current network is primarily dependent on wireless connections. The extended network alone loses some bandwidth to maintaining the extended network itself. Also, any non-"n" clients (including the 802.11b/g AXs) will "slow down" the "n" network in order for them to be able to communicate at their top speed.
Of your 802.11n gear, only the 4th generation TC (& I believe the ATV2) are full implementations of the 802.11n standard. Both 802.11n AXns are draft "n." This too would have an overall effect on the available bandwidth.
Again since your network is primarily wireless, there are at least four areas to go after to look for improvements:
You must have enough available bandwidth between the media source and destination. You can use utilities like iperf or jperf to do this. You will want to make some data transfer (throughput) measurements both between the media source and destination, and segments between them to find out where actual bottlenecks occur.
You must have a clear wireless radio channel. Use a utility, like iStumbler to determine the other Wi-Fis operating in the vicinity that may be competing with yours. Specifically look for those with the strongest signal value and note which channels they are running on. Then change yours to be at least 3-5 channels away to prevent Wi-Fi interference.
Know the media's bandwidth requirements. Looking at the worst-case scenario of what your ATVs can support, which would be 720p 30fps HD format. This would equate to around a minimum of 6-7 MBps (48-56 Mbps) of bandwidth between the video file source and the video player. Actually, I would recommend 20+ MBps as the minimum. 802.11g (at its best) would offer 6.75 MBps (54 Mbps), so 802.11n would be required for anything beyond SD video.
Re-code the media if possible. If the data transfer peaks exceed the available bandwidth, the audio/video will experience drop-outs. You can always try re-encoding the media source with one that uses a tighter compression schema. However, as you can imagine, the greater the compression, the poorer the audio/video quality.

Aperture performance issues.

Dear members:
After some disappointments with the latest version of Bridge (CS3) I decided to start working with Aperture as I found it offered some interesting tools for viewing and selecting images.
First I worked on some test images and everything went well. However, last night I did my first import of "real world" images and experienced severe performance issues.
I imported one folder containing 163 photos to two different locations - the folder and the images were the same but imported into two separate locations in Aperture as I was trying to create the ideal file structure for me.
These are the questions and/or problems I have.
1. This IS NOT a major problem. As much as I tried to import photos into an album or folder I couldn't do it. I don't like the project concept and prefer to have my images placed into folders or albums. My iPhoto library was imported by Aperture using this structure. The iPhoto library is a folder with albums as subdivisions as they were set up in iPhoto originally. However, this doesn't seem to be working as I import photos from other locations.
Q: How can I import photos into folders or albums and completely avoid the projects concept and icons ?
2. This IS major problem. Performance was very poor. I imported the folders last night and waited for approximately 30 min until I decided to turn my computer off. Aperture gave me a message stating that it was still generating previews and asking me if I wanted to quit. I pressed the OK button and turned the computer off. This morning I launced Aperture again and it went back to the spinning wheel on both projects. It must have taken approximately 45 min until the spinning wheels were no longer turning.
This is a problem for me as I have a library with approximately 15,000 - 20,000 images. The ones I imported last night were CR2 generated by a Canon 1Ds MK II (17 MB each). I can only imagine how long it would have taken had I chosen to import the 120+ MB TIFF images I also have in my library from slide scans.
My Aperture preferences have been set for Preview Quality = 12 and Limit Preview Size = Don't Limit. I have it set this way as I don't with to have reduced size previews so that (1) they can display with the highest possible quality as I mostly use the full screen mode for viewing and selecting images, and (2) in case I upgrade to a larger monitor in the near future (I have a 23" cinema display but am planning to upgrade to a 30") the previews will still work with that monitor.
Is this performace typical of Aperture ? I understand my camera is a professional camera that generates large images but isn't Aperture supposed to be a professional application aimed at professional photographers ? And what about those who work with 39 MB images from a Hasselblad or with scanned 120+ MB slide images ?
Is there something obvious I have forgotten to look at or set up in Aperture ?
Thank you in advance,
Joseph Chamberlain

Steve:
Thank you very much for your reply to my post and for your suggestions. Some comments about my experience appear below. I am grateful for your help and don't wish in any way to discuss what you recommend below. I just wish to share my view of this issue and also to try to find the best answers for my problem.
For 1, use File > Import > Folders Into A Project. That will retain your folder
structure using brown folders and albums.
See:
http://www.bagelturf.com/aparticles/library/fivesimple/index.html and
http://www.bagelturf.com/aparticles/library/brown/index.html and
http://www.bagelturf.com/aparticles/library/libinadv/index.html
A. You can't. Projects are the container for everything in Aperture. No
projects, no images. So just live with them and subnvert them any way you
like. I don't have "projects" so I just use months, vacations, events, or
whatever keeps my image collections a reasonable size.
As an user I would like to have control over my own filing structure. This works quite well in iPhoto and I don't understand why Aperture chose to adopt this less flexible file structure. Also I noticed that the imported iPhoto library appears in Aperture inside a folder with multiple albums. Since Aperture can do this for iPhoto I find it hard to understand why it can't do for other imported images.
2. Turn off previews and delete the ones you have. When you find you need > them, use them selectively:
http://www.bagelturf.com/aparticles/previews/pwho/index.html
As stated in my previous post I always (no exception) use the full screen mode for viewing my images which is similar to a slide show. So according to the web page you reference above I would fall under the category of users that need previews.
You don't need high res previews. Aperture already generates thumbnails
for you.
General speed tips:
* Get the best video card with the most RAM you can afford
I can't. My computer is fairly new as it was purchased a little more than 2 years ago. Although it is a fairly new computer Apple no longer offers parts for it. My video card is an ATI Radeon 9600 Pro with 64 MB of VRAM installed. I have contacted Apple about this issue and they tell me there is nothing they can do. I have also contacted both ATI Radeon and nVidia and both have discontinued the only two cards they would work in my system (X800 XT Mac Edition and GeForce 6800, respectively).
* Smaller screens are faster than larger screens
My screen is 23" which I would consider to be a medium size screen by today's standards. However, isn't the purpose of working with Aperture to be able to develop a professional workflow ? And don't most professionals like to use large screens to view their work ?
* Avoid H&S adjustments until all the others are done
* Make sure you have sufficient RAM (2G minimum, 3G on a Mac Pro)
My system has 2.5 GB RAM installed. It has been suggested to me that I should add another 1 or 2 GB RAM as it would improve performance significantly. I have no problem doing that and would welcome that solution if I knew for a fact it was going to address my issues. However, I have already invested too much on hardware and software while still finding myself struggling with the issues I have described. Do you think the additional RAM would solve the problem ?
* Don't use previews unless you need them
Based on what I have read on the pages you referenced it seems to me I am one of those users who needs previews.
* Keep projects small. Use blue folders to group projects
My current filing structure is simple - I four folders each with subfolders containing in average 200 to 1000 images each. Some have as little as 1 image and some have 1000. But the majority would fall in the 300 to 400 images range.
* Rebuild the database once in a while
* Quit other apps if memory is restrictive
It seems in this case that the RAM upgrade I mention above would be helpful. Would it allow me to run other applications while also running Aperture without any noticeable performance alteration ?
To a great extent you have to rethink your workflow once you use Aperture.
Many people do a lot of unnecessary things because they are coming from
an environment that forced them to. Start from scratch and ask yourself
why you do everything you do. Much of the effort you will find is wasted
because Aperture either does it for you or make it unnecessary.
I am trying to simply my workflow as much as I can but not at the expense of quality. Bridge CS2 did a very good job for me. In many ways it was the perfect application althout it didn't have many of the great features I find in Aperture for reviewing and selecting images. First it was simple - all you had to do was to create your own file structure and then point Bridge to the folders as it would create its own previews. Second it was fast - this process happened a lot faster compared to Aperture and Bridge CS3. Third it was high quality - the previews generated were high quality and could be seen with amazing resolution while in slide show viewing mode on my 23" screen. My upgrade to Bridge CS3 was disastrous as (1) it has many bugs Adobe hasn't taken the time to fix, (2) it is slow on average machines requiring the latest hardware to run efficiently which is unrealistic for most consumers and (3) the previews generated are soft and appear pixilated and in poor quality while in slide show view.
I am going back to Aperture after a very disappointing start as I was one of the very first to purchase the software as soon as it was introduced only to be frustrated with all of its bugs and design flaws. Aperture has one of the best interfaces I have seen on any imaging application and I would really like to use but after this new attempt to use and the barriers I have encountered I am not sure I can.
Joseph Chamberlain

Adobe Premiere 4 Elements 4 performance issue

Hi
I am a new user of Premiere 4 Elements and I completed my first project to get myself through the learning curve. However I experience a serious performance issue on my computer with this product. Sorry about the long post, I tried to give as complete info as possible. Thanks in advance for any advice on solving the issue.
1. When I open my project, a progress bar stays for several minutes at the near-completed state before the application window opens. Then the window is still frozen for several more minutes (the Windows hourglass displays for about 4 to 5 minutes) before I can actually start using the program.
2. When I task-switch (e.g. to edit a photo in another application, or to check in Windows Explorer where a file is that I want to open) task-switching is slow, and when I switch back to Premiere 4 Elements, the screen freezes again for several minutes (4 to 6 minutes) before I can continue working. Same happens after I used the option to add media from Hard Drive to the project.
3. When I press the Play button, the sound sometimes plays while the video preview gets stuck on a single frame. When I wait a while, it seems like Premiere is busy updating the icons on the timeline, and after that, I can play the video again. Sometimes the screen freezes so I canot press the pause button, and the audio just continues playing for a minute or two.
4. Last night I eventually got the project finished, and started rendering the project to a PAL DVD - quality MPEG. It was still rendering this morning, with the progress bar showing less than a third of progress. At last check it displayed an estimated 16 hours of predicted rendering time, and still increasing the time....
5. In one week of use, I experienced one to five crashes per evening while using this product.
My input files for the project are existing MPEG files that I loaded from the camera (with it's software) long before I purchased Adobe Premiere. (so I did not use Premiere's feature to import the video). This camera generates a new MPEG file each time you press the start/stop button. I can see hundreds of clips on the camera when I mount it as an external USB hard drive on Windows. I suspect the number of files has to do with my issues, so I need assistance on an improved workflow, given the source format I work with. In my test project the original footage consists of about 140 MPEG clips; about 15 photos sized to PAL DVD size (720 x 5xx), one imported DVD VOB file, and then a menu, a title or two, transition effects, and so on. The final project should render 30 minutes of video, but the original footage is about three times that duration. Can someone please suggest a workflow considering the possibility that I will have to deal with these hundreds of small clips?
The software's box specifies a Pentium 4 and 512 Mb RAM, Direct-X compatibility and 4 Gb HDD space.
My computer spec's are:
Intel Core 2, 2.13 GHz,
2 Gb DDR RAM,
200Gb Serial ATA HDD, with:
Premiere on partition C: with 25 Gb free,
Project on partition D: with 40 Gb free.
Very entry-level graphics card (purchased the PC with no thought of games or video).
XP Home is installed.
In Windows Task Manager I notice about One Million Page faults being generated for Adobe Premiere in the periods I mentioned above when Premiere gets stuck. Item 4 above was at 3.5 million page faults with about 25% progress indicated of the rendering process. Is this indicative that I need more RAM?
I have read other posts on this forum that people advise users to have Premiere on one HDD, the swap file on another physical disc and the project on yet another. I can understand the logic, but I checked that my PC was well above the software specifications on the box before I purchased, and I am not so serious about making videos that I would want to upgrade to such a monster PC. Besides if the requirements are such, Adobe should have specified that on the box.
Thanks, Willem

Willem,
Looking at your system specs., I see one major bottleneck - your I/O system. You have a partitioned HDD.
This means that the heads on your HDD are being asked to be in several places at the same time. Partitioning is an element left over from a much earlier time in computing and should not be used nowadays, with very few exceptions. I will explain. You have a fixed number of platters and heads on a single HDD. Those heads are what access the data on the platters. In the case of PE, you are asking the heads to be:
1.) reading the OS
2.) reading Premiere (your program)
3.) reading & writing the Windows Page File (Windows' Virtual Memory)
4.) reading & writing your media Assets (depending on what you're doing)
5.) reading & writing your Scratch Disk data
6.) reading & writing data for any other Process that requires it
The first step that I'd take would be to add another HDD, and do away with the partition on you Drive0. With two physical (not logical as you have) HDDs, the ideal setup would be:
1.) OS and all programs on C:\
2.) Project, Media and Scratch Disks on D:\
Things would even better, though not to the %, that adding only one additional disk, if you added two. Ideal setup for 3 HDDs would be:
1.) OS and all programs on C:\
2.) Media and additional Assets on D:\
3.) Project and Scratch Disks on E:\
I've also found speed increases by having my Windows' Page File on a separate HDD, but that is overkill, really. Now, I've got 5 internals with 1.75TB of space, so it's easy for me to do this sort of thing.
You have a 200GB SATA HDD (Drive0), and I'd keep that for your C:\ (no partition) and add another SATA in 500GB - 1TB range. If you have SATA II, make sure to go with a new HDD with the exact same connector (SATA, or SATA II). Most on-board controllers can handle 4x SATA channels, so it should not be a big deal.
Most work will come from having to do a complete system backup of your Drive0 (your C:\ & D:\), as you'll need re-partition it. Another way around this would be to leave the C:\ & D:\ partitions, and just move all of your Media, Assets, Project and Scratch Disks to your new physical drive. Keep your D:\ partition, but use it only for storing maybe Audio Assets, that you use infrequently, and the like. Do not partition your new HDD (drive1).
Note on load time: that will speed up somewhat, if you get another HDD, but PE does need time to read it's XML files, that tell it the location of all Assets, then go find them, and verify that they are correct. Only a bit of a speed up there. Almost everything else that you mention, regarding speed, will improve greatly.
Others will have some more ideas, on ways to speed things up, and I'd consider them all, plus the addition of another fast, large physical HDD.
BTW: great post. It is probably the most complete that I've seen in any of the Adobe forums. It's easy to read (good use of paragraphs) and contains all the data, that I could want. I'd hold this up as a model on how to ask a question on these boards.
Good luck,
Hunt
[EDIT] To let you know, I actually have my Drive0 (500GB SATA II) partitioned (for another reason) and use it just like my second suggestion, re: re-partitioning. My "Movie Music," SFX and minor Assets are stored on my D:\, plus I have my Windows' Page File split over three drives. This after much experimentation. I'd not recommend this, unless you have a lot of extra time on your hands. Just keep it on C:\

Captivate 6 Output intermittent performance issues

I am getting feedback from users that some of my captivate e-learning is having intermittent performance issues when being run via our LMS. I am hearing of slow down and pausing between slides and questiosn in quizs. I have seen this in action and I cannot pin point what is causing this. The problem doesnt affect most users, then some will report these extreme slow downs.
I have ruled out any specific browser or OS. Does anyone have similar experiences and any ideas around what may be causing it? I want to rule out Captivate if possible and potentially point the finger at our LMS. However I dont know how the content within Captivate is cached/downloaded when being played.
Does anyone know how Captviate operates when run via an LMS. Does it download in full, or buffer content and download progressively as the person moves through the content? If I can work this out I may be able to pinpoint the problem.
Sorry if this is a bit vague, any help or additional experiences would be greatly appreciated.
Jay

There is also network latency to consider, in addition to server latency. In our building, network bandwidth availablity can surge or slow down depending on which subnetwork we're on, if there is several VOiP or web video conferencing sessions taking up bandwidth. If you're distributing to geographically separated organizations, then you may also experience latency issues related to the local infrastructure.
Just a thought...

Interested by performance issue ? Read this ! If you can explain, you're a master Jedi !

This is the question we will try to answer...
What si the bottle neck (hardware) of Adobe Premiere Pro CS6
I used PPBM5 as a benchmark testing template.
All the data and log as been collected using performance counter
First of all, describe my computer...
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 8 Pro 64-bit
CPU
Intel Xeon E5 2687W @ 3.10GHz
Sandy Bridge-EP/EX 32nm Technology
RAM
Corsair Dominator Platinum 64.0 GB DDR3
Motherboard
EVGA Corporation Classified SR-X
Graphics
PNY Nvidia Quadro 6000
EVGA Nvidia GTX 680 // Yes, I created bench stats for both card
Hard Drives
16.0GB Romex RAMDISK (RAID)
556GB LSI MegaRAID 9260-8i SATA3 6GB/s 5 disks with Fastpath Chip Installed (RAID 0)
I have other RAID installed, but not relevant for the present post...
PSU
Cosair 1000 Watts
After many days of tests, I wanna share my results with community and comment them.
CPU Introduction
I tested my cpu and pushed it at maximum speed to understand where is the limit, can I reach this limit and I've logged precisely all result in graph (See pictures 1).
Intro : I tested my E5-XEON 2687W (8 Cores Hyperthread - 16 threads) to know if programs can use the maximum of it. I used Prime 95 to get the result. // I know this seem to be ordinary, but you will understand soon...
The result : Yes, I can get 100% of my CPU with 1 program using 20 threads in parallel. The CPU gives everything it can !
Comment : I put 3 IO (cpu, disk, ram) on the graph of my computer during the test...
(picture 1)
Disk Introduction
I tested my disk and pushed it at maximum speed to understand where is the limit and I've logged precisely all result in graph (See pictures 2).
Intro : I tested my RAID 0 556GB (LSI MegaRAID 9260-8i SATA3 6GB/s 5 disks with Fastpath Chip Installed) to know if I can reach the maximum % disk usage (0% idle Time)
The result : As you can see in picture 2, yes, I can get the max of my drive at ~ 1.2 Gb/sec read/write steady !
Comment : I put 3 IO (cpu, disk, ram) on the graph of my computer during the test to see the impact of transfering many Go of data during ~10 sec...
(picture 2)
Now, I know my limits ! It's time to enter deeper in the subject !
PPBM5 (H.264) Result
I rendered the sequence (H.264) using Adobe Media Encoder.
The result :
My CPU is not used at 100%, the turn around 50%
My Disk is totally idle !
All the process usage are idle except process of (Adobe Media Encoder)
The transfert rate seem to be a wave (up and down). Probably caused by (Encrypt time.... write.... Encrypt time.... write...) // It's ok, ~5Mb/sec during transfert rate !
CPU Power management give 100% of clock to CPU during the encoding process (it's ok, the clock is stable during process).
RAM, more than enough ! 39 Go RAM free after the test ! // Excellent
~65 thread opened by Adobe Media Encoder (Good, thread is the sign that program try to using many cores !)
GPU Load on card seem to be a wave also ! (up and down) ~40% usage of GPU during the process of encoding.
GPU Ram get 1.2Go of RAM (But with GTX 680, no problem and Quadro 6000 with 6 GB RAM, no problem !)
Comment/Question : CPU is free (50%), disks are free (99%), GPU is free (60%), RAM is free (62%), my computer is not pushed at limit during the encoding process. Why ???? Is there some time delay in the encoding process ?
Other : Quadro 6000 & GTX 680 gives the same result !
(picture 3)
PPBM5 (Disk Test) Result (RAID LSI)
I rendered the sequence (Disk Test) using Adobe Media Encoder on my RAID 0 LSI disk.
The result :
My CPU is not used at 100%
My Disk wave and wave again, but far far from the limit !
All the process usage are idle except process of (Adobe Media Encoder)
The transfert rate wave and wave again (up and down). Probably caused by (Buffering time.... write.... Buffering time.... write...) // It's ok, ~375Mb/sec peak during transfert rate ! Easy !
CPU Power management give 100% of clock to CPU during the encoding process (it's ok, the clock is stable during process).
RAM, more than enough ! 40.5 Go RAM free after the test ! // Excellent
~48 thread opened by Adobe Media Encoder (Good, thread is the sign that program try to using many cores !)
GPU Load on card = 0 (This kind of encoding is GPU irrelevant)
GPU Ram get 400Mb of RAM (No usage for encoding)
Comment/Question : CPU is free (65%), disks are free (60%), GPU is free (100%), RAM is free (63%), my computer is not pushed at limit during the encoding process. Why ???? Is there some time delay in the encoding process ?
(picture 4)
PPBM5 (Disk Test) Result (Direct in RAMDrive)
I rendered the same sequence (Disk Test) using Adobe Media Encoder directly in my RamDrive
Comment/Question : Look at the transfert rate under (picture 5). It's exactly the same speed than with my RAID 0 LSI controller. Impossible ! Look in the same picture the transfert rate I can reach with the ramdrive (> 3.0 Gb/sec steady) and I don't go under 30% of disk usage. CPU is idle (70%), Disk is idle (100%), GPU is idle (100%) and RAM is free (63%). // This kind of results let me REALLY confused. It's smell bug and big problem with hardware and IO usage in CS6 !
(picture 5)
PPBM5 (MPEG-DVD) Result
I rendered the sequence (MPEG-DVD) using Adobe Media Encoder.
The result :
My CPU is not used at 100%
My Disk is totally idle !
All the process usage are idle except process of (Adobe Media Encoder)
The transfert rate wave and wave again (up and down). Probably caused by (Encoding time.... write.... Encoding time.... write...) // It's ok, ~2Mb/sec during transfert rate ! Real Joke !
CPU Power management give 100% of clock to CPU during the encoding process (it's ok, the clock is stable during process).
RAM, more than enough ! 40 Go RAM free after the test ! // Excellent
~80 thread opened by Adobe Media Encoder (Lot of thread, but it's ok in multi-thread apps!)
GPU Load on card = 100 (This use the maximum of my GPU)
GPU Ram get 1Gb of RAM
Comment/Question : CPU is free (70%), disks are free (98%), GPU is loaded (MAX), RAM is free (63%), my computer is pushed at limit during the encoding process for GPU only. Now, for this kind of encoding, the speed limit is affected by the slower IO (Video Card GPU)
Other : Quadro 6000 is slower than GTX 680 for this kind of encoding (~20 s slower than GTX).
(picture 6)
Encoding single clip FULL HD AVCHD to H.264 Result (Premiere Pro CS6)
You can look the result in the picture.
Comment/Question : CPU is free (55%), disks are free (99%), GPU is free (90%), RAM is free (65%), my computer is not pushed at limit during the encoding process. Why ???? Adobe Premiere seem to have some bug with thread management. My hardware is idle ! I understand AVCHD can be very difficult to decode, but where is the waste ? My computer want, but the software not !
(picture 7)
Render composition using 3D Raytracer in After Effects CS6
You can look the result in the picture.
Comment : GPU seems to be the bottle neck when using After Effects. CPU is free (99%), Disks are free (98%), Memory is free (60%) and it depend of the setting and type of project.
Other : Quadro 6000 & GTX 680 gives the same result in time for rendering the composition.
(picture 8)
Conclusion
There is nothing you can do (I thing) with CS6 to get better performance actually. GTX 680 is the best (Consumer grade card) and the Quadro 6000 is the best (Profressional card). Both of card give really similar result (I will probably return my GTX 680 since I not really get any better performance). I not used Tesla card with my Quadro, but actually, both, Premiere Pro & After Effects doesn't use multi GPU. I tried to used both card together (GTX & Quadro), but After Effects gives priority to the slower card (In this case, the GTX 680)
Premiere Pro, I'm speechless ! Premiere Pro is not able to get max performance of my computer. Not just 10% or 20%, but average 60%. I'm a programmor, multi-threadling apps are difficult to manage and I can understand Adobe's programmor. But actually, if anybody have comment about this post, tricks or any kind of solution, you can comment this post. It's seem to be a bug...
Thank you.

Patrick,
I can't explain everything, but let me give you some background as I understand it.
The first issue is that CS6 has a far less efficient internal buffering or caching system than CS5/5.5. That is why the MPEG encoding in CS6 is roughly 2-3 times slower than the same test with CS5. There is some 'under-the-hood' processing going on that causes this significant performance loss.
The second issue is that AME does not handle regular memory and inter-process memory very well. I have described this here: Latest News
As to your test results, there are some other noteworthy things to mention. 3D Ray tracing in AE is not very good in using all CUDA cores. In fact it is lousy, it only uses very few cores and the threading is pretty bad and does not use the video card's capabilities effectively. Whether that is a driver issue with nVidia or an Adobe issue, I don't know, but whichever way you turn it, the end result is disappointing.
The overhead AME carries in our tests is something we are looking into and the next test will only use direct export and no longer the AME queue, to avoid some of the problems you saw. That entails other problems for us, since we lose the capability to check encoding logs, but a solution is in the works.
You see very low GPU usage during the H.264 test, since there are only very few accelerated parts in the timeline, in contrast to the MPEG2-DVD test, where there is rescaling going on and that is CUDA accelerated. The disk I/O test suffers from the problems mentioned above and is the reason that my own Disk I/O results are only 33 seconds with the current test, but when I extend the duration of that timeline to 3 hours, the direct export method gives me 22 seconds, although the amount of data to be written, 37,092 MB has increased threefold. An effective write speed of 1,686 MB/s.
There are a number of performance issues with CS6 that Adobe is aware of, but whether they can be solved and in what time, I haven't the faintest idea.
Just my $ 0.02

Performance issues, possibly video.

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