Topic: CAD Performance With LISP Vs Vanilla

[npstewart87]

Hello.

Everytime AutoCAD comes out with a new lease (ACAD 2021) I normally download it and one of the first things I do is load up all of my LISP routines & menus. Once I do this, the new version of AutoCAD runs great! However, after a few days of running the new program, it seems to bog down severely and ends up performing like the previous autocad version. However, in all cases, if I revert my autocad back to vanilla by changing the profile, it runs very smoothly like when I first installed it but once I connect my routines and menus, it immediately slows back down.

Does anyone know what may be causing all of this? I feel like I never get to take advantage of all of the performance enhancements issued by autocad because my machine is bogged down with these routines. On the other hand, I absolutely would be useless if I ran vanilla CAD.

[BIGAL]

You need to look at what your loading, if your loading all your lisps that puts a overhead, I normally load as required using a If not to see if its loaded, if your using lots of reactor code may slow it down also.

[tombu]

Like BIGAL I've got hundreds of lisp routines but rarely use more than a dozen in a drawing session and almost all are loaded as needed. About 6 of those are loaded with acaddoc.lsp and another handful using autoload http://help.autodesk.com/view/ACD/2021/ENU/?guid=GUID-421B36DE-38EA-4161-9768-01647B5492E8 or acet-autoload2 (examples in acetauto.lsp found in Express folder installed with Express Tools) so they load and run from keyboard entry. The rest are loaded as needed and run when selected from the interface.

Cannot even imagine what would happen if they were all loaded at once for every drawing I have open. That could easily be over a thousand lisp loaded into memory at the same time.

Example Macro (or tests until nonil so if the lisp command C:ed is not defined the lisp is loaded. Either way ed is run afterwards.)

Code: [Select]

^P(or C:ed (load "ent_dir.lsp"));ed

[npstewart87]

Im not really sure that they are all necessarily loading at once. I honestly didnt write these or set these up. The menus & routines were created by someone much smarter then me (A former employee).

Does anyone have any recommendations for someone or a service that I could pay hourly to optimize all of this for me? Any Resource would be greatly appreciated.

[Dlanor]

Before doing that, decide what you need to have to do the majority of your work and how you work. Since my workflow changes depending on the current project, I have several profiles set up that cover different aspects, and even then I only use about 10% of the setup toolbars in a given profile. I don't use the ribbon prefering the "classic" setup, and since toolbars were minimal when I started learning, everything was controlled by shortcuts in the pgp file which still works well for my workflow. For me, typing L and a right mouse click for the line command, is faster than trying to find the line icon on a toolbar.   

[npstewart87]

I know enough about this to make small changes but I normally will break something when I try to be too ambitious with it. I know what im good at and what im not good at and im definitely not good at weeding through profiles, menus, ribbons, routines etc.

Ideally, I could find someone that is good at this that could omit the stuff that is bogging everything down, AND, someone that I could email requested changes to on a regular basis. Many of the changes I need are just modifying what I already have.

I spend about 12 hours every day working in Autocad and these menus & routines are the heart of my business.

At the end of last year I was so desperate that I ended up building a custom computer that was stupidly expensive. Everything runs great, except autocad.   

[ronjonp]

I've noticed slower XREF reloads with AutoCAD 2021 vs previous releases. Has anyone else see this behavior?

[npstewart87]

I have noticed this as well but I thought it was because they added the ability to compare changes between xrefs automatically.

[ronjonp]

I have noticed this as well but I thought it was because they added the ability to compare changes between xrefs automatically.

Probably the case, but adding a 'feature' that slows down something else critical is a waste IMO.

[MSTG007]

In what manner do you mean slower loading xref's? I was going to say Data References seem to take awhile to load. Have you guys noticed anything like that?

[jtoverka]

You need to look at what your loading, if your loading all your lisps that puts a overhead, I normally load as required using a If not to see if its loaded, if your using lots of reactor code may slow it down also.

I also use a lot of reactor code, I have optimized it to the best of my ability. However, I notice such a drastic exponential slowdown when I open many drawings at once. To the point that it will freeze.
Because of the very noticeable performance decrease, I have disabled my reactors for the time being.

[rkmcswain]

Probably the case, but adding a 'feature' that slows down something else critical is a waste IMO.

That describes a lot of new 'features' in recent years.

[ronjonp]

Probably the case, but adding a 'feature' that slows down something else critical is a waste IMO.

That describes a lot of new 'features' in recent years.

Agreed .. 

[MP]

That describes a lot of new 'features' in recent years.

Are you saying you don't use the fluff-o-matic?

[Keith™]

That describes a lot of new 'features' in recent years.

Are you saying you don't use the fluff-o-matic?

Now you know this is a family friendly environment LOL

[MP]

lol too much urban dictionary

[Rustabout]

I don't want to insult everyone by suggesting something so basic, but one thing that worked out well in the past for me was compiling my LISP files (ie: into a FAS file). I haven't touched AutoCAD 2021 so my advice could be completely ineffective here.

Also worth nothing: I am currently hunting for an AutoCAD alternative. It seems like it gets more and more bogged down every release. I don't use CAD very often so I don't have a constant install/license and find myself doing lots of work with an 'out-of-the-box' version. The last couple years I noticed editing blocks slows the program down a lot until I restart my session. The new version of 'insert' slows everything down immensely. My laptop is a bit older but I find that each release of Revit runs relatively smoother than each release of CAD.

Anyhow... I really only use CAD for basic 2D and 3D. I've been looking hard at the alternatives to try and find the best solution. They all have their charm but also annoying flaws, but most of the programs I've tried seem to run way smoother than AutoCAD; just saying it doesn't have to be 'AutoCAD' for your 2D drafting.

[BIGAL]

Bricscad is probably the closest and is perpetul license.

Intellicad is good.

There are more.

[rkmcswain]

I am currently hunting for an AutoCAD alternative.

If you want the closest thing there is, super fast, not bloated, and you are not limited to rental only, then BricsCAD.

[GDF]

I would say BricsCAD

[Rustabout]

I tried and tested BricsCAD. First the 'BIM' extension to see if I could replace Revit entirely, then the plain 'vanilla' version. This was the second time I tried it out. To be honest I felt like they went down the wrong route; they seem to be following in Autodesk's footsteps in that they are adding a bunch of new flashy features which will barely see any usage, but not fixing/refining the basic features. An example is there parametric block system. They were bought out by a larger company named Hexagon.

BricsCAD performs incredibly fast. Also, from what I hear, the DWG file compatibility and stability of the program itself is top notch; maybe even better than AutoCAD. I am still thinking about getting a BricsCAD Classic license. But I would still need a AutoCAD LT subscription to use in conjunction with it. The cost of BricsCAD seems to have gone up as well (and the cost to upgrade).

I'm going to try ProgeCAD (I remember good things from a previous test/trial, but I think it was a bit unstable) and maybe one other alternative before making a firm decision. I wonder if, that since ProgeCAD is still based on IntelliCAD, LISP programs will perform well with it.

[BIGAL]

Why would you need a LT if you have Bricscad ?

The pro version is very good with lisp etc and enhanced Vlisp options. Some things are outstanding but there support is fantastic, I posted a lisp question to Bricscad and they responded doubt Autodesk would. Their enhancements are going in right direction.

[Rustabout]

Why would you need a LT if you have Bricscad ?

Basically my workflow is heavily dependent on having dynamic blocks. So I would need an LT license at least until I finish all my dynamic blocks. Also pricing: With Autodesk's LT Suite you get Revit and AutoCAD LT together. It's actually a competitive package when comparing to other 'budget' options. Revit LT has some annoying things missing from it (like view filters and templates... wtf!!).

BricsCAD got more expensive, to the point where one needs to think twice about putting up the money for a perpetual license; such licenses aren't as valuable as they used to be.

Anyways... I've steered this topic completely in the wrong direction (apologies to the original poster!!). If we were to continue we could start a discussion in the BricsCAD forum (I won't reply to anything here). I'm eager to draw people into a discussion on AutoCAD alternatives, and the BricsCAD sub-forum seems to be buried enough that it's not checked very often.

Cheers.