Digital Workshop

Hello.

I have dome my first working application whith OPUS PRO. It's a simple analogic clock whith three ends (hours, minutes and seconds). It works pretty but when i start the preview in opus or i run the compiled executable file the cpu load jumps to 100% and the computer is slightly slowed down. The executable requires 25, 26 Mb of ram. I think that is too much for a clock. If someone can help me i can send him the opus project to test.

THANKS

and good work to everybody


Max

Opus is intended for producing interactive materials, rolling demos and other multimedia applications , not really for system tray utilities or desktop mini-apps - although it has been successfully used for many such applications.

If an animation, video or other element requires it then Opus will use all the available CPU to maintain the smoothest possible output. This is intentional - after all what is the point of having a CPU that you don't use to it's fullest?

It will co-operatively share the CPU power between other applications if there are any running, at the expense of animation speed.

Hi Max,
Indicated CPUload doesn't mean much on a multitasking Operating System, it's the thread priority that matters -- Opus apps run in a normal priority thread and they will move over and make room for any other apps that require cpu cycles.
Using built in transitions will get you the indicated high cpu load, and occasionally I think it can cause a very slight lag in other apps running at the same time (It might be my imagination, of course!) .
By using scripting and updating the clock hand positions about every 0.1 sec, It isn't difficult to get an indicated 5-20% of indicated cpuload for a clock similar to yours.


But, as Duncan said, it doesn't matter

Paul

Thanks to alll.

Dear Paul. if you have downloaded my project you have noticed that i hanven't used animations at all. I only used a loop whithin a smal script to "SETROTATION" angle for the hands position. The most part of the project is occupied by vector graphics definitions. I will try to introduce a small pause in the loop to get a better result. What do you think about my first working app. Any suggestion?

Thank for patience and... sorry for my poor english

MAX

ALSO THANKS TO LILLY

Er - that's my surname - my first name is Duncan, and unless you're a teacher or policeman it's more common to use that! But thank you anyway.

Hi Max,

try this version of a scripted analogue clock.
The script is very simple and easy to understand.
Compare how it works with your clock.

it polls the OS about every 0.1 second to get the clock update time
-- this keeps the indicated cpu load low.

In the script, wait(0.1) controls the loop speed and consequently the indicated cpu load.
try using wait(0) and see what happens.

cheers

Paul

CPU Load is a question which pops up on the Opus forum now and then.

Every Windows application uses a lot CPU power:

Rip a Music CD in iTunes
Play a Movie DVD
Play a game Call of Duty or something
Play a complex Shockwave or Flash game

They all use the CPU to the max, that's why you have a CPU, it's not going to burn out or anything so don't worry about it.

Opus is a development environment for multimedia applications. If you wish to create utilities I suggest you use Microsoft VB or RealBasic http://www.realbasic.com/ as they are much better suited to this.

Also for multi-tasking the introduction of Hyper Treading and Dual Core CPUs from Intel and AMD will see an improvement in this area and Opus application should run even better. Also a question for Duncan is Opus optimised for HT and Dual Core CPUs?


Joe

Opus is a multi-threaded application so can benefit from HyperThreading.
There is no specific optimisation for multi-processors as there is no magic way to spilt the workload - the player cannot "know" in advance what you want to do.

THANKS TO ALL AND EXPECIALLY TO PAUL.

This is the case that demostrate how the same project can change whith the appropriate script command. I inckude the OROL.imp my first project without any correction. It's CPU LOAD is constantly set to 100%. The second project is se same of OROL.imp but is named OROL2.imp adn i have changed the script as suggested by Paul. The result is a CPU LOAD of max 25%. A great result. In my first script the controlling scripts are nested into the ORELAN SECONDILAN and MINUTILAN vector objects. To update se System time i used a LOOP, bad and cpu consuming choice. In the second project there is a unique script that do the same job but using a sort of WHILE DO instruction. Ok today i have learned something new. Happy day to everyone.

MAX

Hi,

The clock demo is cool, I like it a lot.

I'm currently creating a game within Opus and on one of the pages I want a timer to time the user while they complete a quiz. The quiz is on a page withing the publication so I can't use the <PUBLICATION_TIME> variable as it times the entire publication not just the page.

I'm interested in knowing what's the best way of doing this while keeping the CPU load low as I want the game to be fluid.


Joe