Plugin cpu-load note/scale?

Rom · July 20, 2022, 9:20am

Hi,

It really takes time to optimize a pedalboard so that it is not too CPU intensive.
It would be a great help if there was a scale for each plugin that indicated the CPU-greediness, then we could choose the best compromise more easily.

(I’ve put arbitrary values

)

rogeriocouto · July 20, 2022, 12:23pm

This ia a great Idea @Rom.

I wish I could like this feature request 10000 times.

eggsperde · July 20, 2022, 1:56pm

I’ll upvote this, too. It is a fantastic idea!

dreamer · July 20, 2022, 2:00pm

The problem with this is that 1) the numbers are kind of arbitrary (percentage of what?) 2) the act of measuring such performance can cause more performance issues, thus skewing the results

Rom · July 20, 2022, 2:43pm

no percentage, juste a benchmark
measuring would be made once (by the developer or the MOD server) and the score saved in the plugins bdd (like the name, description, link…)

ignis32 · July 20, 2022, 3:25pm

CPU usage might depend on usage and params.

Reverb with different reverb types might be more or less greedy, or synth playing 0 or 5 notes at once will differ.

Cannot really imagine reliable testing that way.

UPD:
There are some tools that might be related:

github.com

lv2/lilv/blob/master/tools/lv2bench.c

/*
  Copyright 2012-2019 David Robillard <d@drobilla.net>

  Permission to use, copy, modify, and/or distribute this software for any
  purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
  copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies.

  THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES
  WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
  MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR
  ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES
  WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN
  ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF
  OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
*/

#include "lilv/lilv.h"
#include "lv2/atom/atom.h"
#include "lv2/core/lv2.h"
#include "lv2/urid/urid.h"

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rogeriocouto · July 20, 2022, 4:09pm

I totally agree with you @Rom
A general idea of the CPU usage would already be very helpfull.
Maybe group plugins in a few categories like “low, medium, high and very high cpu load”.

Rom · July 20, 2022, 5:37pm

Great !
So I it means it could be done, having 2 scores (the highest and lowest) could be a good indication.

If you need to really optimise your board you need accurate data, otherwise you will just test each plugin to see what’s the best.
For large categories I think it can be done now, isn’t it :

heavy : IR, reverbs, pitch/octavers…
high : delays, overdives, distortions, some modulations…
medium : some modulations, synth, some CV treatments…
low : switches, CV buttons…

Its inside each categories that data seams interesting, so I can go for 2 Switchbox 1-2 + 1 C* Wider - Stereo instead of 1 Mixer Stereo for example. Or choosing this delay instead of this one…