[PC] Cutscene FPS drop

[Thenidur]

luckily no-one listened to someone specific....

thx CDPR for the last patch. all pre-rendered scenes now cap at 32 fps...
everything else (menu, short intro movie, game itself) runs @60fps...

far better than 19fps in CUTSCENES, INTRO MOVIE and MENU...

i really wonder how that happend while i still have the same GPU and the same driver and the same system-setup...
maybe, but just maybe, it was something that had to be fixed from CDPR and not from me or nvidia...

so thx for nothing massacre and everyone else: tyvm for enduring this torture together, hf playing now and we will read each other if the next bug occurs

@Kajori : dang it i just saw your picture.. and there i was thinking my TV had horrible ghosting but yours is even worse
i hate that shit.. in some games it is fine.. in some games it is horrible.. in witcher 3 for example it is absolutly ok for me.. but when i play far cry 4 it is real horrible....

.. but yet: only a few month till x-mas and then i will search for a real nice new monitor....

edit: ok i just saw that this wasnt a screenshot you made... luckily ^^

 

[PrincessMassacre]

all based on distance travelled between frames. if an object moves across the screen too fast when rotating mouse, you get 1 frame here, 1 frame there, and your brain can't interpolate the data properly. same as wagging a finger at any distance from your face (mainly a limitation of the eye, and the low fps rate). further the distance though, the faster object has to move, or the more radians it has to traverse. you can counter it somewhat if you can run 120hz/fps, but still, the eye will be your limit at some point. but even that won't help you with ghosting, neither will 60fps. ;p

same as shaking your head side to side actually, so unless someone comes up with motion-correction for your brain, we are all doomed.

 

[CrocPoulet]

It would be fine to not forget that not everything is ok for everybody

For my case : in fullscreen it's still jerky and saw some others with stuttering too

 

[Thenidur]

to be honest: it isnt 100% perfect and the scenes still dont "feel" perfectly smooth even with 32 fps....
... but yet you have to consider i startet with 19fps.. so for me the little judder i have now is more than acceptable

but yet i hope CDPR will improve it further so that you can enjoy it too

 

[Kajori]

It would be fine to not forget that not everything is ok for everybody

For my case : in fullscreen it's still jerky and saw some others with stuttering too

Could you follow these steps I mentioned before and tell if stuttering is gone and cutscenes run perfectly fine for you?
I mean these steps:
1. Go to nvidiaInspector
2. Choose The Witcher 3 profile.
3. Change maximum pre-rendered frames to 1
4. Vertical sync tear control standard
5. Vertical sync 1/2 Refresh rate.
6. Power management mode > Prefer maximum performance
7. Go ro RivaTuner statistics server, add witcher 3 to profiles, set framerate limit to 30 fps.
8. In game set v syn to on, change fps limiter to 30 frames.

Just do that and tell if they run 100% smooth for you.

If yes then they did all they could and we won't see any further improvements, since I am 100% sure they won't re-render these cutscenes to 60 fps. Almost all games use this model with 30fps cutscenes. Don't ask me why it's 32 fps though, I really don't know. That's really odd number.

P.S. Every step is important.

 

[CrocPoulet]

I'll try tomorrow to give you a feedback

However, the problem is just that the game is still not stable. In windowded mode it's smooth with the same framerate (60 fps opening + menu, 31 -32 for cinematics vsync on)


Edit : Don't be fooled, I really appreciate that CDPR finally did efforts to improve this

 

[JasonShepard]

So the FPS glitch is fixed? I haven't got the chance to play yet.
If so, hallelujah. I can finally play without feeling like I'm being ripped put of the experience.

 

[CrocPoulet]

If yes then they did all they could and we won't see any further improvements, since I am 100% sure they won't re-render these cutscenes to 60 fps. Almost all games use this model with 30fps cutscenes. Don't ask me why it's 32 fps though, I really don't know. That's really odd number.

It doesn't need to re render the cinematic at 60 fps, but just run them at 60 fps with sync to be smooth.

The opening cinematic (Yennefer with the crow) in the GOG bonus pack is only encoded at 24 fps but runs at 60 fps in Windows Media Player and it's ultra smooth. No judder or anything like that.

 

[Jay_Pee]

It doesn't need to re render the cinematic at 60 fps, but just run them at 60 fps with sync to be smooth.

The opening cinematic (Yennefer with the crow) in the GOG bonus pack is only encoded at 24 fps but runs at 60 fps in Windows Media Player and it's ultra smooth. No judder or anything like that.

You've actually measured the framerate on WMP somehow?

 

[Kajori]

In windowded mode it's smooth with the same framerate (60 fps opening + menu, 31 -32 for cinematics vsync on)

I see, it's strange that you can run cut-scenes smoothly in windowed mode.
Well I have another suggestion then. Some games have bad Vsync implementation, which can interfere with windows vsync (aero). In fact when you run game in windowed mode in-game vsync is overridden by aero's vsync which could explain good performance in windowed mode.

You've actually measured the framerate on WMP somehow?

Yeah, we already discussed that in this topic. Try to find it on some earlier pages.

 

[PrincessMassacre]

actually, it was placebo effect. it'd seemed that multi-threading was a bit better, but it's still stuttering while loading assets (just gets 32-35 fps instead of 28-30).

and loading times are not increased. i just tested by loading a bunch of different cutscenes. so whoever that was... placebo ;o

if you have a long cutscene that outruns the time needed to load assets, it's completely smooth after such a point (well, mostly, some residual lag, prob still loading/flushing some stuff).

so the only thing that was fixed was the nvidia issue.

well, tbh, it's not really a question of - a fix - more of a tradeoff, ie: do you want static loading screens/longer loading times?

may be able to limit it somewhat by locking fps to 30 there like kajori, but other than that, just something you have to deal with.

 

[Kajori]

Ok, I have a good news. I determined the source of problem. Thanks to CrocPoulet who brought me upon the thought.

It really has something to do with Windows Aero and in-game vsync.
The thing is when you go to Control Panel > System and Security > System > Advanced System Settings > Performance settings and select Adjust for best performance there this will turn off aero and other stuff.
Now when you launch a game and check in-game v-sync and set game to windowed mode you will notice that v-sync is still off and fps is properly set to 30 during cutscenes. Not 32 not 35. Just 30. Which is exactly 1/2 refresh rate. You will notice screen tearing, but the animation is 100% smooth.
So in ideal scenario fps should be set to 30 during cutscenes so they would play at 1/2 of refresh rate if capped to 60 fps. Problem is fixed for me since I force drivers to cap fps to 30.
The bad news is... It's the problem with vsync and aero. And can be fixed only by the developers. As we already know it's hard to contact with them, and it will be hard to deliver this information I found.
But anyway Vsync in combination with aero somehow add those 2.5 frames to cutscenes which cause vsync fluctuations and jerky movement.

 

[KillerKSB]

Patch 1.05 fixed the low fps stuttering for me. Pre rendered cutscenes now play at 60,fps. Soooo much better. Thank you cdpr!

Hope it fixes the prob for everyone. Keep in mind i applied the ini tweaks mentioned early in thread. The patch seems to make changes i make to ini work now.

Oops i spoke too soon. Logo intro and titlesceen now run at 60 fps. The cinematic when starting new game now runs at a solid 32 fps. It def looks smoother then when it was at 20-23 fps. But still minor stuttering

 

[PrincessMassacre]

i give up. really, i tried. you should give up too.

 

[Kajori]

Ok, as I mention in previous post this problem is related to vsync and aero bug.
I have other good news... Here is temporal workaround I managed to achieve (not a fix) for those with 32fps bug.
Download bandicam from http://www.bandicam.com/

Launch the game. Whenever pre-rendered cutscenes play, press F10 (or whatever key you will bind) and limit game to 30 fps on-fly. When cutscenes will end press hotkey again to turn off fps limiter. Also take into account that 30fps cap will be from the moment you will launch the game, so first hotkey press will actually uncap fps.

The other good thing is that even if developers won't fix this issue it is totally possible for modders to do fix. They only should understand how to use fps limiter automatically when only cutscenes play.

As for me... I'll go sleep now.

P.S. I love RivaTuner muuuch more than any other program and not without reason... While using RivaTuner's fps limiter there is no single frame skip. During the ciri training cutscene RivaTuner didn't skip a single frame, bandicam skipped 2 frames. The problem is... RivaTuner doesn't have hotkey to switch fps limiter on/off. But if you know better way to limit fps on fly then feel free to use your own method... I did my best.

 

[flea.]

I don't understand why they don't fix this, i'm getting 29fps on cutscenes that are basically a picture with words, WTF

 

[shinhikari]

Kajori! thank you thank you thank you! Your solutions do solve my problem... but I do have different findings... internal and external v-sync have different result to pre-rendered cutscene.

Internal v-sync (in-game): ON
Internal FPS Limiter: unlimited
External v-sync (nvidia control panel): OFF
Game FPS: 60
Pre-Rendered Cutscene FPS: 32

Internal v-sync (in-game): OFF
Internal FPS Limiter: unlimited
External v-sync (nvidia control panel): ON
Game FPS: 60
Pre-Rendered Cutscene / Movie FPS: 28

Both solutions still makes cutscene playback juddery. Although not as much as before patch 1.05. But it is still quite noticable.

Now when I limit the FPS to 30 by external program such as rivatuner or bandicam, the problem suddenly gone for good! the catch is, you have to use internal v-sync since it gives me 32 FPS. so that I can reduce the FPS to 30. Otherwise (if I use external v-sync) it will still be 28 FPS.

So for me, it's quite simple. I don't have to turn on external v-sync at all. Just turn the internal v-sync only. and use bandicam to turn FPS limiter on or off as needed.

So, it almost there! Another patch to fix the cutscene FPS to 30 instead of 32 and I'm done... and hopefully others too

 

[nicola46bis]

Sent another ticket support:

32 fps in cinematics only, with presence of stuttering.
(http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/36654-PC-Cutscene-FPS-drop/page36)


camera stuttering during the horses animation loop, while riding at a walking or trotting pace.
(http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/46184-The-(Un)Offical-HORSE-Stutter-Thread-Not-addressed-in-1-05-PC/page2)


There will be a fix for this problems or not? It's my right to know!!!

 

[Kajori]

Kajori! thank you thank you thank you! Your solutions do solve my problem... but I do have different findings... internal and external v-sync have different result to pre-rendered cutscene.

Internal v-sync (in-game): ON
Internal FPS Limiter: unlimited
External v-sync (nvidia control panel): OFF
Game FPS: 60
Pre-Rendered Cutscene FPS: 32

Internal v-sync (in-game): OFF
Internal FPS Limiter: unlimited
External v-sync (nvidia control panel): ON
Game FPS: 60
Pre-Rendered Cutscene / Movie FPS: 28

Both solutions still makes cutscene playback juddery. Although not as much as before patch 1.05. But it is still quite noticable.

Now when I limit the FPS to 30 by external program such as rivatuner or bandicam, the problem suddenly gone for good! the catch is, you have to use internal v-sync since it gives me 32 FPS. so that I can reduce the FPS to 30. Otherwise (if I use external v-sync) it will still be 28 FPS.

So for me, it's quite simple. I don't have to turn on external v-sync at all. Just turn the internal v-sync only. and use bandicam to turn FPS limiter on or off as needed.

So, it almost there! Another patch to fix the cutscene FPS to 30 instead of 32 and I'm done... and hopefully others too

Yeah you are right, I found it too, but forgot to mention about this 28 fps stuff... And yeah to be able to fix stuttering in cutscenes you have to use in-game vsync. Anyway it 100% is the bug with vsync as you could see yourself.
Btw if you play with 30 fps limit better use RivaTuner as I do. It is much better option. I mentioned bandicam here for those who don't wan't to play with 30fps limit.

 

[shinhikari]

Yeah you are right, I found it too, but forgot to mention about this 28 fps stuff... And yeah to be able to fix stuttering in cutscenes you have to use in-game vsync. Anyway it 100% is the bug with vsync as you could see yourself.
Btw if you play with 30 fps limit better use RivaTuner as I do. It is much better option. I mentioned bandicam here for those who don't wan't to play with 30fps limit.

Yup I found rivatuner is better. But I'm one of the people who don't play at 30 FPS lol... so I choose Bandicam... Thanks to you... never heard of it before haha