I have noticed that in recent builds of Shapr3D the there is a delay and a sluggishness in the response to user input. I use Shapr on an iPad Pro and also on a recent-model Macbook, and have noticed the problem on both platforms. This problem manifests in many operations. For example, a double tap with a pencil (or double click with a trackpad) does not always select a body as it should, but rather only one surface. So then I have to deselect and try again to select. It will often take two or more tries to get a body selected. Other examples included a delayed response, or no response to trackpad gestures such as rotation, or zooming, or translating. Swiping on list items will not always show the rename/delete context menu. Again, it may take two or more tries before Shapr3D recognizes user input. It is as if input recognition is not always working. This is really frustrating, as quick response to user input, and easy manipulation of objects and movement is what made Shapr3D such a pleasure to use (especially on an iPad).
Sometimes, if I quit Shapr, and the restart it, the problem will temporarily abate, but then it will reappear the longer I use the App.
Wish I could point to a particular build when this started happening. Possibly around the time that the new UI was built in.
Can the Shapr team shed any light on this? Anyone else noticing this? Thanks.
With a little investigation, I have discovered part of the cause (or at least the trigger) of the problem. Many of the slow and sluggish or ignored responses to user input go away when closing the āItemsā sidebar. Selecting bodies works easily, there is no delay or jumpiness in other UI actions. This is true for both the iPad and Mac versions. It is easily reproducible. What the heck is going on here?
Just to confirm: you are using the regular version, not the parametric beta, right?
How many items do you have in the items menu when this happens? Is there a chance you could share that design exported as a .shapr file in a private message or via our support channels? There might be something special about the items that causes this and having the file itself would help us troubleshoot the issue.
Hi Peter. Thanks for replying. I am not using the beta. I am using version 5.521.0 (6217). How many items? Far too many to count. Perhaps 60-70 at the top level, which is a combination of mostly bodies and folders containing more bodies. Probably several hundred items in all. Iād be happy to share the file. How shall I get it to you?
Thanks, I got your file. Weāll take a look, 60-70 items shouldnāt normally cause slowdowns, we do have automated and manual tests for every release where we check that, and it indeed runs smoothly on my Mac. But weāll dive deeper next week and test on different devices and app versions. Could you maybe also post your exact iPad and Mac device specifications and OS versions, in case itās something specific to that?
Excellent observation and investigation, @Jason42!! I see the same behavior on iPad using the beta. Even small projects have easier double tap selection with the item menu closed.
Thanks, all of you! We are investigating it as we speak and can hopefully deliver a fix soon. If, in the meanwhile, you happen to find anything specific that reliably triggers (or fixes) these slowdowns apart from the state of the items menu, please let us know, it does help a lot.
Hi @Jason42 ,
I just updated my iPadPro to 5.560.0.6492 #f892af6c Beta. In quick testing, it seems to me that the responsiveness is much better with regard to selecting items with the Items sidebar is open. In projects where I couldnāt select a body by double-tapping my Pencil (at least not easily) with the sidebar open now are working much better.
I havenāt been using it for hours and hours, but my first impressions are there is a nice improvement.
I donāt spend a lot of time in the Live version but see that it has been updated recently too. Iām curious if you and @Justin074 and @TigerMike have seen improvement as well.
My M1 iPad Pro is updated to 5.560.0.6500 #4fb0edad.
I have a couple of dozen objects visible in my workspace and the double tap is still sluggish when the Items List is visible. Sketching small lines can also be quirky where the start point of the line slips a short distance. I have to undo and restart the line sketch. Both are annoying.
Thanks for the contrast. And, my most recent live version is 5.552ā¦ you are always the first to get the update! Iāve continued to see a better selection on the beta. Some projects that I had very difficult time with the Item List open are working pretty well. Iāve also been able to sketch more with fewer undoās. I know exactly what the quirky you mentioned. My internal voice has changed from cussing to āahhh, that worked, greatā. I have recently gone through my projects and deleted or archived a ton and removed them from Shapr3d, so Iām not sure if they made code changes or if cleaning the workspace was key. I hope it was the former.
This is still a top priority for us, with an active ongoing investigation. We have already found a couple of issues that could cause similar problems and which weāve fixed so you can expect improvements in this and the following releases, but we are continuing to work on this as we are still not happy with the situation, especially on Apple platforms.
A few questions that would help our troubleshooting:
Does the slowdown happen immediately in case of certain designs or itās fine at the beginning and gets worse over time?
When it happens, does closing the design (but not the app!) and opening it again fix it, at least temporarily?
Hi Peter. Thanks for following up. To answer both your questions:
I initially thought that both of these things were true. However, once I realized that the items drawer being open was the problem, it explained why slowdowns seemed to occur sporadically, or got worse over time. I would now say no to both those questions. I have adapted my workflow to keeping the items drawer closed as often as possible, or opening it to select something, and then immediately closing it again. The level sluggishness is now quite predictable.
I have to ask, can you explain what is going on here? I can not remember ever having had this problem with earlier versions of Shapr3D. What happened to precipitate this problem? Why would this problem be worse on Apple platforms?
Glad to see itās a top priority. It has improved significantly but is still an issue.
Essentially the same answer as Jason. As he said, it seems to really be connected to when the item drawer is open, especially when there are many bodies and folders are expanded. When itās open sluggishness and missed double clicks are noticeable. When itās closed selecting bodies performs as it should.
Based on our investigation so far, the slowdown is caused by an interplay of a few smaller issues ā thatās the reason you can see gradual improvement as we fix them one by one. They are not really connected to each other or one particular improvement, but they do compound.
Thereās also nothing special about Apple platforms in this case, itās only that the issue seems to be in the code driving the UI, and thatās separate on platforms. We are working on all in parallel and we believe we have already managed to find & fix all related problems on Windows, but not yet on Apple platforms.
All of my comments relate to my experience with 12.9 iPad Pro connected to Apple Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil. Almost all of my recent activity is with the HBPM beta. Sometimes Iād go back to the live version to do or compare something but not very often.
My recent experience (up to a week ago) with the dreaded canāt double click to select was pretty consistent. It would happen immediately after opening Shapr3d, and immediately after opening a project, when I had the Items list open. Occasionally double click would work, but usually not. Sometimes Iād forget to close the Items list, and be un-gently reminded with trying to select or sketch. Then Iād close the list (thanks @Jason42!!) and things were better. I even discovered the shortcut ā„ ā S to open and close the list, and that made designing a little bit easier. Other things were laggy, not just select. As @TigerMike has indicated, sketching would too often not start at the desired point. Generally I keep the action history closed, and only open when needed due to screen space.
I recently finished a project and deleted a bunch of version projects I didnāt need any more. Then you released 5.560.0.6492. That was a huge difference. I could leave the Items list open and still work. I could double tap my Pencil to select bodies. I could draw very short zig-zag lines without a hitch. It was a big change for the better. You bumped the code to 5.560.0.6505, and my experience was the same.
Now, for some old news. 2-3 years ago (before the āsomething went wrong but your design is intactā message) I was working on a project that liked to crash. I was probably trying to make a non-manifold body or something else wrong in my actions. It would crash often enough that I started making new versions in my workspace and I collected a lot of them. (Crashes never lost any of my design, but I did lose the undo stack that I used a lot.) Over some time, it crept up on meā¦ I began having problems selecting bodies. I was triple clicking with some success. Sometimes double click on an edge worked. Often Iād use the Items list to select a body. That worked, but yech. I finished up a chunk of my design and deleted lots and lots of versions I did not need. Presto. Double click selecting was back. Things were fast, and I was happy. I scratched my head wondering why unused designs were slowing me down. A few months later, I had accumulated multiple versions and small test projects and had the same problems selecting. I exported what I wanted to keep and deleted all but 2 projects. That again resulted in good performance. Back then, I almost always had the Items list open, so I donāt know if that would have made a difference.
I really canāt say for sure if 5.560 or deleting projects from the workspace, or a combination of both was the driver, but Iām much happier with Shapr3d today than I was a week ago.
