Laggy/Choppy Dice animations

[Owlcapwn]

When i run FG as either a host or join another's game, my dice rolls look horrible. They are choppy and look like i only get 10-15 frames per second. My computer handles VR very well, so i doubt it's a hardware bottleneck. I've used FG in the past (like a year ago) and the dice animations were fine. Right now i'm trying to roll back my graphics drivers, but that looks like it's not working.

The physics of the dice appear to be off as well. After rolling it in the chat window and bouncing it off of the top of the chat window, the dice rolls back down, but then randomly rolls back towards the top.

With Hoard of the dragon queen, a few tokens, and 4 player characters loaded; my FG memory is sitting at 423MB, total memory with all other processes running at 19%.


What i've tried so far:

Completely deleteing FG and reinstalling... No joy
Created an empty campaign to reduce memory load... No joy
Closed as many other programs running to reduce memory load... No joy
Rolled back gfx driver to a previous one... No joy
Enabled "Run as Administrator"... No joy
Disabled "Enable Steam Overlay" option from settings... No joy
Confirmed "Cross platform" is disabled... No joy (hell i even enabled it to test, still no joy on fixing dice)
Tried FG maximized on each of my screens, one at a time... No joy
Restarted my computer... several times... No joy


Can anyone give me an assist?

PC Specs for science:
32GB Ram
Win 10 64bit
i5-4670k @4 ghz
GTX 970 2GB

[Nylanfs]

Welcome to the forums!

Have you tried turning off the anti-aliasing on your video card?

[Zacchaeus]

There are a few other posts on this matter. I don't know for sure if there is a universal solution. See here (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?33057-Laggy-Dice), here (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?23829-Laggy-Dice) and here (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?27112-Fantasy-Grounds-running-slow).

[LordEntrails]

No universal solution. Anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering are the two settings that have worked for at least one other person each. But, they also don't always work.

[Owlcapwn]

Toggling off anti-aliasing and anisotropic worked. I've set them back to their default settings, relaunched FG and dice are still smooth. Thanks guys... I missed that step from the other posts.

[LordEntrails]

Toggling off anti-aliasing and anisotropic worked. I've set them back to their default settings, relaunched FG and dice are still smooth. Thanks guys... I missed that step from the other posts.
Woot! Woot!
Glad to hear. It's one of those problems that's so nebulous it's nice to hear of a success.

[matsunoichi]

I can also confirm that modifying the per-application settings for Fantasy Grounds in the nVidia Control Panel remedies the laggy dice; not only on rolls, but in actually dragging and moving them about, too.

For reference: Haswell-based Intel processor and an nVidia GeForce GTX 950 from ASUS.

[LordEntrails]

I can also confirm that modifying the per-application settings for Fantasy Grounds in the nVidia Control Panel remedies the laggy dice; not only on rolls, but in actually dragging and moving them about, too.

For reference: Haswell-based Intel processor and an nVidia GeForce GTX 950 from ASUS.
Would you be so kind to post some screenshots of the application settings that you used? It would be great to be able to point other people to at least one working solution.

[matsunoichi]

Would you be so kind to post some screenshots of the application settings that you used? It would be great to be able to point other people to at least one working solution.

Certainly!

18735

18736

[sarm11111]

when you talk of Anisotropic what are the settings that are supposed to help? Mine gets bad and im runnign a 1080ti and a i7 7700 gamingsystem and its bogging right down. Ive changed prerendered frames, turned on Tripple buffering, turned quality to high performance, turned on Poewr mangment mode to high performace. Im getting kind of annoyed as ive sunked many hundreds of dolores into liscensing and content and i cant get it to run smoother than my old 386 running windows. My beef is that this has happened on 3 PCsive had and yes theu all had Nvidia cards but,,,they are kinda common so come on FG WTF!

[Moon Wizard]

Actually, after a few more cases, it seems that the most common situation causing laggy animation that we have seen is that Windows is assigning Fantasy Grounds to run on motherboard integrated graphics cards, instead of the dedicated 3D graphics card.

Check your NVidia or Radeon graphics settings to see if you can choose which graphics card.

Here's a link I found for NVidia graphics drivers:
https://www.techadvisor.co.uk/how-to/pc-components/how-set-default-graphics-card-3612668/

Regards,
JPG

[ddavison]

Almost all my dekstop PC systems have had NVIDIA and they don't have any sort of lag. My current desktop is running an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970. The two laptops I use for testing are around 3 to 4 years old now and they both have built-in cards. One is a Lenova and the other is an HP. We are not doubting that some people are having some form of unacceptable lag. The problem is that we haven't identified the smoking gun yet. You don't have the Mac Compatibility option turned on in your Settings do you?

[Gwydion]

Actually, after a few more cases, it seems that the most common situation causing laggy animation that we have seen is that Windows is assigning Fantasy Grounds to run on motherboard integrated graphics cards, instead of the dedicated 3D graphics card.

Check your NVidia or Radeon graphics settings to see if you can choose which graphics card.

Here's a link I found for NVidia graphics drivers:
https://www.techadvisor.co.uk/how-to/pc-components/how-set-default-graphics-card-3612668/

Regards,
JPG


Yes. At least for me, I think it was definitely the assignment issue. I have a NVidia card and about 2 weeks ago everything started lagging for me. Dice animations, moving tokens, dragging shields from images, stories, etc.. I believe it was right after a windows update. I went back and checked in my NVidia control panel and noticed that I no longer had a rule that forced Fantasy Grounds to run on my NVidia card. Once I added that again, everything has been fine since. I really hope that is your issue Sarm11111! <fingers crossed>

[HWalsh]

I'm having this problem too... I have an older computer and FG just hates my comp.

My Catalyst Control Center doesn't have an option to force it to be used though. I tried messing with Antialiasing and such... No joy.

I'm really confused. I know my comp is 6 years old, but hey it's all I got. It runs video games like Saints Row IV at high quality and over decent FPS, I don't know why it chugs and slogs in FG. It never did that in Roll20 or any other program I have used. Not sure what to do. :(

I get this, and the program constantly going non-responsive (especially if I open up module information) and I really don't want to have to quit my gaming group because they have all now switched to FG.

[Gwydion]

I'm having this problem too... I have an older computer and FG just hates my comp.

My Catalyst Control Center doesn't have an option to force it to be used though. I tried messing with Antialiasing and such... No joy.

I'm really confused. I know my comp is 6 years old, but hey it's all I got. It runs video games like Saints Row IV at high quality and over decent FPS, I don't know why it chugs and slogs in FG. It never did that in Roll20 or any other program I have used. Not sure what to do. :(

I get this, and the program constantly going non-responsive (especially if I open up module information) and I really don't want to have to quit my gaming group because they have all now switched to FG.

Hey HWalsh! Welcome to the forum. I'm not quite sure if this will work for you, but I found this online:

Force App To Use AMD Graphics Card

You can force an app to use your AMD graphics card but it isn’t as easy, or as accessible as the NVIDIA option. With AMD, you can select which apps will use the dedicated graphics card. You don’t have an option in the context menu. Instead, you add apps to the AMD Catalyst Control Center.

Open the AMD Catalyst Control Center app by right-clicking on an empty area on your desktop. Select ‘Catalyst Control Center’ from the context menu. From the list of panels on the left, select ‘Power’. Under ‘Power’, select ‘Switchable application graphics settings’.

Here you will see a list of apps that AMD already recognizes as needing better GPU support. On this panel is an ‘Add Application’ button. Click it and select the EXE of the app you want to force to use the AMD graphics card.

After you add the application, open the dropdown next to it for setting graphics options. Select ‘High performance’ and you’re done. The app will always use AMD graphics card.

We should mention that some options may differ depending on your driver version and the GPU model you have. These solutions will still work but the options may be found under a different menu.

[HWalsh]

Hey HWalsh! Welcome to the forum. I'm not quite sure if this will work for you, but I found this online:

Force App To Use AMD Graphics Card

You can force an app to use your AMD graphics card but it isn’t as easy, or as accessible as the NVIDIA option. With AMD, you can select which apps will use the dedicated graphics card. You don’t have an option in the context menu. Instead, you add apps to the AMD Catalyst Control Center.

Open the AMD Catalyst Control Center app by right-clicking on an empty area on your desktop. Select ‘Catalyst Control Center’ from the context menu. From the list of panels on the left, select ‘Power’. Under ‘Power’, select ‘Switchable application graphics settings’.

Here you will see a list of apps that AMD already recognizes as needing better GPU support. On this panel is an ‘Add Application’ button. Click it and select the EXE of the app you want to force to use the AMD graphics card.

After you add the application, open the dropdown next to it for setting graphics options. Select ‘High performance’ and you’re done. The app will always use AMD graphics card.

We should mention that some options may differ depending on your driver version and the GPU model you have. These solutions will still work but the options may be found under a different menu.

I saw that one too. Unfortunately no such "Switchable Application Settings" option exists in my Catalyst Control Center. I have found no other options for me. Thank you for trying to help though. :(

I'm just in a rut. I'm in recovery from a bad vehicle accident (don't play with Semi's they hit amazingly hard) so I'm not really able to do much other than game. When the one thing I am really able to do is something I can't do it is hair pullingly frustrating. I may have to just quit the group until Fantasy Grounds can figure out how to fix this on their end or I find a way to replace my old comp (not likely).

[Zacchaeus]

Do you have the cross compatibility option checked in settings?

The irony is that FG should run better on older machines than it does on more up to date ones.

[HWalsh]

Do you have the cross compatibility option checked in settings?

The irony is that FG should run better on older machines than it does on more up to date ones.

Nope. I've turned it on. I've turned it off. I've updated it. I have uninstalled it. I have reinstalled it. I have been constantly trying various things with it for the last 4 hours.

[LordEntrails]

First, when FG becomes non-responsive when you open a module, that is because it is loading (or downloading) the info. So that's normal and dependent upon your computer and network.

As for the choppy dice. also make sure that you have updated your video/graphics drivers to the latest available. If you aren't using the latest (which is still probably several years old) you may not have the option mentioned previously. You can also try install DirectX 9 and see if that helps (though I think FG already does that).

Keep with it, we know it can be frustrating.

[Trenloe]

I'm just in a rut. I'm in recovery from a bad vehicle accident (don't play with Semi's they hit amazingly hard) so I'm not really able to do much other than game. When the one thing I am really able to do is something I can't do it is hair pullingly frustrating. I may have to just quit the group until Fantasy Grounds can figure out how to fix this on their end or I find a way to replace my old comp (not likely).
1) If you really want to play, is laggy dice such an issue? I know it's annoying, but does it actually stop you playing?
2) Other options to try to fix "laggy" dice are: go into your graphics card advanced setup and turn off anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering.

[Stitched]

1) If you really want to play, is laggy dice such an issue?

Yes, it is. Particularly when it HAS worked fine before and now doesn't.

Look at this video I posted last year, in April. I am using the same laptop I have now (with same GPU). Keep in mind, I am running two screens (one GM, one Player), and capturing using my video card.

https://youtu.be/GjDLkF6GZqo

The dice are GLASSY smooth and I am running full 5e libraries with Storm Kings Thunder maps/images.

Running Fantasy Grounds today? Running 5e Sample Campaign (which is pretty light) and dice are super laggy again. So what has changed since?

Usual suspects - OS, GPU drivers and Fantasy Grounds.

Following people's advice here (regarding settings) here is my current setup:

Running latest Windows 10

Running Fantasy Grounds v. 3.3.4
UI scale set to 100
Updates set to Live
Cross Platform Turned Off
Enhanced Update Logging Off

nVidia Settings (pointing to the FantasyGrounds.exe - I am running the Steam version)
GeForce 980M (Running at 1920 x 1080 - Secondary Screen at 1920 x 1200)
GeForce Drivers 390.77 Released 01/29/2018
Set to Run as Administrator

Steam Overlay is switched Off
nVidia's own overlay is switched Off

Short of uninstalling and reinstalling the graphics drivers, I've tried:
Verifying the Steam cache
Uninstall / Reinstall Fantasy Grounds
Flusing out graphics cache
Running it in Single Screen mode (secondary unplugged)
Running dxdiag to see if there was corruption
Reinstalling DX9 drivers (although there is a dx3dx9_43.dll in the FG.exe dir?)

Any other usual culprits, I've missed?

Addendum:

Just for kicks, I uninstalled and scrubbed all traces of the nVidia drivers, so Window is running Basic Graphics drivers. Fantasy Grounds is silky smooth, again.

That's ... frustrating.

Double Addendum:

Installing latest nVidia drivers, after purge, with default settings and FG is silky smooth, still.

3D Settings - Adjust Image Settings with Preview - Let 3D application decide.

Tried Global Settings (to override whatever FG decides):

Everything default (most options off)
Antialiasing - Gamma Correction set to On
Shader Cache - On
Texture Filtering - Quality set to Quality
Texture Filtering - Trilinear set to On
Threaded Optimization - Auto
Triple Buffering - Off
Vertical Sync - Use the 3D Application Setting

TL;DR - Run a program that does a clean uninstall of your drivers, test FG with whatever default drivers your OS installs to test for smoothness. If that works, install latest drivers and test that, as well.

[damned]

TL;DR - Run a program tha does a clean uninstall of your drivers, test FG with whatever default drivers your OS installs to test for smoothness. If that works, install latest drivers and test that, as well.

Well done and thank you for posting your process and solution.

[Stitched]

Well done and thank you for posting your process and solution.

Was going to say "Not so fast!" since I hadn't restarted my machine since reinstalling FG and the drivers. After a restart, things are still glassy smooth.

One thing that I trying to figure out was if I needed to set Application Settings for Steam, only, since I am running FG through that instead of FG's executable directly. Since the reinstall, I don't have a FG specifical Application setting and things are fine...?

Anyways, hope this fixes some people's issues that seem to crop up from time to time. I know I've gone through it several times and always forgot what settings I had to fix it.

Basically:

Uninstall all graphic driver components cleanly (important)
Scrub registry/caches, etc. (with something like CCleaner)
Reboot machine and test FG with default graphics to see if smoother - If fine, continue to next step
Install latest drivers and test FG with updated drivers. If fine, then YAY!