Bubble Column FPS
 

It appears that on my office system it makes a difference of about 4-5 fps on the bubble column. How does this fit with your ideas of adding multiple columns Jim, and would that kill a "bubble curtain" in the back of the tank?

PS. My sleep is now remembered, thanks. :) But, it still goes to -1, and 0.

Regarding the bubble curtain - there are so many variables, it's hard to say. The current column is very dense - about 600 individual bubbles on the screen at once. If there were multiple columns, they might not need to be so dense.

The Sleep number will still go down to -1, but it won't remember it. If it's below 1, the next time the program is started, it will be reset to 1.

Nice, I'm looking forward and wishing for that one. Generally speaking, I always keep the bubbles in the front of the tank turned off because I don't want anything distracting from the corals and the fish. A curtain, or several columns in the very back of the tank - I think I would make good use of that. :TU:

I still plan to let the user choose between several locations for the column. I chose the default location because it showcases the bubbles transparency, which was incredibly difficult to get right.

Sorry, but what's a "Sleep number"?

In the stats area in the upper left of your screen you will see Sleep (XX), where the XX is the sleep number. Use the up and down arrows to adjust this. What you are doing is turning down your settings and lowering your FPS so that your system isn't running flat out all the time to render the aquarium. This keeps your system from overheating from rendering the screensaver as hard as it can for hours at a time. When we get out of the Beta stage Jim plans on making a place within the settings screens like 2.6 for "lowering the frame rate" which will do the same thing that the sleep setting does now.

I usually adjust mine where I am getting about 40-50 fps, which is about half to one third the total frame rate that the video card on my office machine can produce. This can keep you from frying your hardware components by lowering the heat produced. :)

I too wondered about that. Thanks for clearing it up. Boy what a difference it makes.
At -1 I get over 600fps
At 30 I get about 35fps

Generated heat is the dreaded enemy of your system components. The harder you run your video card, the more heat it produces. Speaking from past experience, ( of course I had mine overclocked at the time as well ), running one flat out for hours on end CAN fry the card. I've had it happen.

Basically what you want to try and do is watch the aquarium and turn your sleep settings up so that your fps is down as low as you can get them, and still maintain smooth movement. That way you still get the great look of the aquarium without endangering any of your components needlessly. :TU:

It certainly does! - I find that Sleep(18) reduces the CPU usage down from 100% to about 50%, with a FPS of about 60.

But different systems will vary.

With most modern systems, although it is a concern, the cpu isn't my primary concern. My office machine doesn't hit 100 percent even at -1, and my quad core at home doesn't breathe hard on the cpu no matter what. But, like Cliff says your mileage may vary depending on how old your system is cpu wise.

But your video card is running flat out on lower sleep numbers no matter how new it is. That's why with newer cards you can see 500 fps or something, they have the power to produce that many, but flat out is flat out no matter how many fps it's producing by doing it. And that generates heat. The card can get amazingly hot which is very bad for the card, not to mention the rest of your components by association because that heat has to go somewhere until your system can expell it.

Tested it at 22 for 48fps and cpu + vid card temp was just over the stock idling speed, yet smooth fish movement! Thanks for that very useful feature.

Nice

Glad it is now working so well for you. :)

I also have found the "sleep" function useful- I keep mine at 20 which gives a consistent 52 FPS, and doesn't tax the rest of the system. My question, what does adjusting the "Timing Clamp" settings do? Thanks!

The timing clamp limits the amount of frame movement when the MA thread takes an unusually long time to regain control.

When I first started programming, each type of computer had a set clock speed and each thread had total control of the machine until it ended. So, on the Commodore 64, I could move a flying saucer 2 pixels each time through the loop, and I knew how fast it would be travelling. Then clock speeds started to increase and computers became multi-tasking, so now I have to calculate how much time has passed since the last time I moved an object, and move it an appropriate distance to maintain a constant speed.

But what if the computer halts my program while it goes and checks for Network signals or some such nonsense? It might be gone for a full second or two, and my fish would suddenly jump to where it would have been if my program had been running all that time. It looks a lot better if the action just stops for that amount of time, then picks up where it left off. The Timing Clamp adjusts the maximum amount of time that the program will wait for control.

During Beta testing, I've left the adjustment in place to test for maximum smoothness.

Many thanks for your reply, Jim. I've noticed a slight stutter in the aquarium display when something like Outlook 2003 checks for, and receives mail, (happens with other screensavers, as well... Outlook 2003 is apparently a system hog...). You're saying that the Timing Clamp setting would have an impact on that perceived stutter? How would lowering the "TC" setting affect the stutter?
My 2 cents regarding the bubble column- I like having the option of being able to have the column on or off, independent of the sound being on or off. Also, I think the current beta column is visually far nicer than the 2.6 column. And, I'm with Jav400 on the possibility of being able to choose multiple columns, or a bubble curtain ;-).
Many thanks for being so available to answer questions, all your work on MA, and for producing such an enjoyable work of art!

You can play with the Timing Clamp by hitting "t". It will decrease the number each time, until it resets to 0.10. You'll probably notice an overall slowdown at .02.

Hmmmm, learned something in this thread! I'll have to check out the sleep settings when I get home!

WOOT WOOT... there's a -1 setting and I got 742... nothing like living life on the edge (Mith notices smoke emitting from the back of his computer)


DOH!

[quote=Mith;108539](Mith notices smoke emitting from the back of his computer)
QUOTE]

WARNING!!! Electronic equipment, including computers, run on smoke. If it leaks out the equipment will stop running.

Don't let the smoke out.

Bob

Yes, don't let the blue smoke escape. ;)