Posted by riccaricca68 on Jul 23, 2014; 10:10pm
URL: https://forum.jogamp.org/Poor-performances-on-Linux-Ubuntu-unless-desktop-effects-are-disabled-tp4032647.html

Hi all,

when I run my Java3D applications on Ubuntu 12.04 or Ubuntu 14.04 (64 bit) I get very poor performances: the animations are not smooth, with frequent gaps or jumps between frames and/or a strange "flickering" effect. The only workarounds I found are the following:

1) Upgrade to JogAmp Java3D 1.6.0 and disable V-Sync. With V-Sync activated the animations seem "flickering" independently from the Java3D version, even when the frame rate is good (60 fps) and no frames seem to be lost. On the other hand, it seems that disabling V-Sync increases too much the frame rate and the CPU percentage, and this leads again to gaps and jumps in the animations (and setting the minimum.frame.cycle.time property doesn't seem to be a remedy)... With older versions of Java3D the performances are always poor, even deactivating V-Sync.

2) Disable destktop effects. We can do this choosing a "Unity 2D" session or a "Gnome classic - no effects" session when I log in. In these cases the performances are quite good whatever Java3D version is used. On the other hand we have to renounce to the Ubuntu 3D desktop with all the effects that are usually very appreciated.

I experimented this behaviors with different hardware configurations and I have to notice that on Windows XP, even with very old hardware and old versions of Java3D, the animations are always perfectly smooth... On Windows 7 the performances are quite good, but not so good. I can obtain better results choosing a basic desktop theme instead of an aero theme. Even in this case it seems that the performances are related to the desktop effects. Perhaps I'm saying obvious things but I'm not an expert of 3D issues...

Finally, the question is: can you suggest me a way to have smooth animations in Ubuntu 3D keeping the V-Sync setting activated? I mean, through some driver settings or Java3D settings... And, of course, do you agree with my observations? Maybe I'm doing something wrong... But even using a demo Java 3D application with a simple rotating cube I get the same results...

Thanks very much for your attention, any help will be very appreciated.

Riccardo.