Troubleshooting Speed Issues in Archicad

Issue Description

Speed-related issues can arise from a variety of sources including elements in the project itself, settings within Archicad, Computer Hardware, Graphics Card Drivers, Preferences, Add-Ons or 3rd Party application interference. Please check the items listed below in the order they are given.

Solution

Note: Some trial and error may be necessary to narrow down the source of speed issues. Once the following items have been checked, if they do not solve the problem, you will at least have a better idea of where to focus on an investigation.

1. DOES THE PROBLEM HAPPEN IN A NEW FILE?
2. WORK ENVIRONMENT SETTINGS
3. RESET THE WORK ENVIRONMENT
4. PREFERENCES CLEANING
5. DOES THE PROBLEM ONLY HAPPEN IN TEAMWORK?
6. FILE SIZE / FILE CONTENT
7. GRAPHICS CARD DRIVER
8. CONTACT SUPPORT

1. DOES THE PROBLEM HAPPEN IN A NEW FILE?

As a baseline test, to isolate if the problem is specific to one project or if it is a general problem experienced on your computer, open Archicad and go to File > New > New... and create a new file from one of the default templates which ship with Archicad. Model a few basic elements and test to see if you can reproduce similar performance results.

• Pan, Zoom, Orbit and navigate through the models.
• Use Trace and References and 3D Cutting Planes
• Copy and paste the entire model once, twice or 3 times.
• Repeat the Pan, Zoom, Orbit, 3D Cutting Planes, etc.
• Notice if there is any lag or graphic distortions

Obviously a new file with a few elements does not fully compare to a project which has been worked in for many days, but still it is a good baseline to learn if a problem involves the content of the file. If the problem only occurs with one or a group of particular files we might use this to test if the same file will have similar performance issues on other computers.

2. IS THE PERFORMANCE ISSUE IN TEAMWORK ONLY?

Sometimes issues only happen in a file when it is in a Teamwork (BIMcloud/BIM Server) format. Please try saving the file as a PLN ( File > Save As... Format: Archicad Solo Project .PLN) and see if the speed issue occurs there as well.

1. Open the Teamwork project
2. Go to File > Save As… Format or Filetype: PLN (ARCHICAD Solo Project)
3. Open the file.
4. Pan, Zoom, Orbit and navigate through the models.
5. Use Trace and References and 3D Cutting Planes
6. Copy and paste large portions of the model once, twice or three times.
7. Repeat the Pan, Zoom, Orbit, 3D Cutting Planes, etc.
8. Notice if there is any lag or graphic distortions

3. FILE SIZE AND CONTENT

Sometimes file performance simply comes down to the amount or quality of data in the project or linked to it. 

Please click here to see this article for a summary of typical speed issues Typical 3D and 2D Speed Problems caused from within a project itself.

4. WORK ENVIRONMENT SETTINGS

The following items are settings in the Work Environment which could possibly affect speed within Archicad. Try the following to see if making suggested changes has any effect on the performance issue you are encountering.

• Go to Options > Work Environment > Advanced Redraw Options and remove the checkmark for both 2D Drawing Antialiasing and for 3D OpenGL Antialiasing.
  STOP and see if the problem is gone. If not go to the next step.
  
  
• Go to Options > Work Environment > Advanced Redraw Options and move the 2D Drawing Hardware Acceleration to the opposite of it’s current setting. If it is OFF change to Full or vice versa.
  STOP and see if the problem is gone. If not go to the next step.
  
  
• Go to the Options > Work Environment > Data Safety and Integrity menu and set “Saving to Recovery File” to Safe (save every 5 minutes).
  STOP and see if the problem is gone. If not go to the next step.
  
  
• Go to the View > Elements in 3D View > 3D Cutaway and notice if there is a checkmark next to 3D Cutaway. If so, click it to disable the function.
  STOP and see if the problem is gone. If not go to the next step.
  
  
• Go to the View menu and notice if there is a checkmark next to Editing Plane Display. If so, click it to disable the function.
  STOP and see if the problem is gone. If not go to the next step.

5. RESET WORK ENVIRONMENT

If changing those items above did not help, as a test, Store and Export your customized Work Environment for safe-keeping and Apply Standard Profile xx as outlined in this article: Store and Export Work Environment.pdf See if the problem continues after using the Standard Profile. If the problem disappears I recommend starting with the Standard Profile xx and re-build your work environment.

STOP and see if the problem is gone. If not go to the next step.

6. PREFERENCES CLEANING

Try clearing out Archicad preferences. Please refer to this document: https://gsoft.link/prefscleaningwprepsteps 

7. GRAPHICS CARD CONSIDERATIONS

Apple Macs and Graphic Cards:

Apple supplies the graphic card drivers with macOS so be sure the operating system is up to date. Make sure you are running Archicad on a version of macOS which is fully compatible with the version of Archicad: https://graphisoft.com/resources-and-support/system-requirements 

Windows Computers and Graphics Cards:

 Check with the Graphics Card manufacturer's website, either AMD or Nvidia, to see if there is a driver Update you can install. Both manufacturer's have tools on their site to automatically detect your video card and suggest a driver package to download and install. 

Nvidia Graphics Card - Known Issue (Microsoft Windows Only)

If the user has an Nvidia card, we recommend disabling any Nvidia services in the Services.msc window. Check whether you have any utilities called Nvidia Streamer Service, Nvidia Display Driver Service, NVIDIA Stereoscopic 3D Driver Service or NVIDIA WMI running on your computer. If so, disable all the listed services and see if it helps. Refer to the steps on this page: Community - ArchiCAD 18 Performance Troubleshooting Guide - Multiple ArchiCAD instances cause Freeze 

(Please note that the article refers to "Nvidia StreamerService". But also disable any additional Nvidia services such as Nvidia Display Driver Service, NVIDIA Stereoscopic 3D Driver Service or NVIDIA WMI.

Also, check to see if GeForce Experience kit is installed. Go to Control Panel > Uninstall a Program OR Control Panel > Programs & Features and uninstall GeForce Experience kit. This is a supplemental software that comes with the video card driver but is not necessary to use the video card and has been previously found in interfere with Archicad.

AMD Graphics Cards - Known Issue (Microsoft Windows Only)

There are known issues with Plays.TV and Raptr which can get installed with AMD drivers. Please check for those and uninstall if present: http://blog.cadimage.com/2016/09/important-for-windows-10-users/ 

Graphics Card Drivers Tested with Archicad

Our development team tests performance using a sample of common video cards from the major video card manufacturers. Please visit the following link to find a list of ARCHICAD versions and in each article you will fins a list of Video Card Drivers  https://community.graphisoft.com/t5/Installation-update/Graphic-Cards-for-Archicad/ta-p/303776

Most of the time you should use the latest up to date driver version for your system, however, if all else fails it may be worth trying out the drivers we have tested or other previous drivers from the graphics card manufacturer.

8. Contact Technical Support

If all of the above fails to reveal the source of the performance issue in your project, we will be happy to take a look at your file to identify what the cause is. Please provide the following details of the problem:

1. A  step-by-step description of a concrete example where ARCHICAD is slow. E.g.: “I open the view Elevation/West Elevation with no Trace Reference on. I select and drag a couple of lines. The feedback during dragging the elements is instant, but after I click to place the elements, the hourglass cursor appears for 6-7 seconds”

2. Send us your System Specs: 

macOS: 

1. Click the Apple icon in the upper left corner of the screen and then About This Mac.
2. Click More Info... and then System Report…
3. Then go to File/Save... and save to your desktop.
4. Please attach the resulting file to an email to Technical Support 

Windows:

1. Press Start button and type "dxdiag" in the search field. The DxDiag.exe application will appear in the list above. Click to open it, allow to open if User Account Control prompts you.
2. In the DirectX Diagnostic tool window, click "Save All Information..." and save the file to your desktop.
3. Please attach the resulting file to an email to Technical Support 

3. Send us a PLA File

Click here to learn how to send the project file to us to investigate

4. If possible, send a screen capture movie that demonstrates the problem. It is most helpful if you can narrate the steps you are taking in the recording so the details very clear to us.

Screen Recording on Mac:

- Open Quicktime and go to File > New Screen Recording.

- More info: https://support.apple.com/kb/PH5882?locale=en_US&viewlocale=en_US

Screen Recording on Windows:

- Use a screen-recording app. There are many options on the market, including free ones such as Jing from TechSmith.

- Download Jing: https://www.techsmith.com/jing-tool.html

- How to Record and Share: https://www.techsmith.com/tutorial-jing-record-video.html