Performance Troubleshooting Guide

This troubleshooting guide aims to assist users experiencing performance issues within a Scenario, such as slow load times, lag when navigating or changing Milestones, and more. It will provide insights on diagnosing the type of performance issue, explain common causes of performance slowdowns as well as  provide suggestions to improve performance - so you can get back to building faster!

This guide includes the follow sections:

• Diagnostics - App Performance (Start here)
• Improving Slow Framerate
• Improving Milestone Change Speed
• Improving Scenario Loading Speed
• Improving Saving Speed
• Reduce the number of BIM Elements
• Reduce Refresh Rate
• Reduce Triangle Count
• Reduce or Simplify Excavation Operations

Diagnostics - App Performance

To help diagnose issues, use cmBuilder's App Performance side sheet which reports how well the browser session is handling the Scenario. Click on App Perf (1) from the lower left corner of a Scenario to launch the side sheet. This is the first place to look for insights as to the root cause of any issues.

💡Note: the meaning of the color of the icon . Green = Good, Yellow = Okay, Red = Performance issues detected. If you don't see green, click to learn more about what can be done to improve performance.

The App Performance side sheet has 3 sections: Webpage/Site plan Performance (1), Hardware &  software performance (2) and Internet performance (3). 

1. The Webpage/Site plan Performance section (1) reports the Initial load time and frame rate.
   • An Initial load time between 5 to 30 seconds is normal depending on the Scenario. However scenes with several BIM models could take 1-2 minutes depending on complexity of the models. Load time is affected primarily by the size of files loaded in the scene. More models and more textures will slow down load time.
   • A Frame rate of 20-60 FPS is considered good. It can be affected by model count and complexity. Triangle count may be displayed in cases where performance is less than optimal. A triangle count of 10 million or less is considered good. Higher triangle counts will lead to a lower framerate.
2. The Hardware & software performance section (2) reports on browser settings and hardware.
   • For computers with dedicated graphics cards (GPU), it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THAT USERS ENSURE the internet browser's settings allow the browser to access the GPU's computing resources, by default this is not the case. See the user guide section: Edit Browser GPU Settings. The name of the GPU will be listed in the GPU subsection If your computer has one. 
   • For best performance on a laptop, plug in the charger to switch off Battery Mode.
3. The Internet performance section (3) reports latency and upload/download speeds. For faster internet speeds consider the following suggestions:
   • Close other data-heavy applications using bandwidth like downloads or high quality streams.
   • Change physical locations or switch wi-fi networks if you are on a slow or on a crowded network.
   • Try switching between cellular data and wi-fi, typically wi-fi is better.
   • If using a wi-fi/wireless internet connection, consider switching to a wired connection instead.
   • If using a laptop, plugging in the charger may help.

Improving Slow Framerate

Slow framerate issues occur when the scenario contains too many objects (or too many complex objects) for the hardware to handle efficiently. There are a two main ways to reduce computational load, sections describing each are linked below:

• Reduce Refresh Rate
• Reduce Triangle Count

Improving Milestone Change Speed

Slow Milestone changes stem from unloading objects from the current Milestone while loading objects from the next Milestone. Generally speaking, the number of objects that are transitioning in/out of visibility will affect the speed of the Milestone change.

• Reduce number of objects like fence panels especially those that are projected on the terrain on or within excavation boundaries of the Scenario.

Improving Scenario Loading Speed

Slow loading speeds are a result of internet connection strength/speed and the number of triangles being loaded. Improving internet speed and reducing the number of triangles will help improve loading speeds.

• Reduce Triangle Count

Improving Saving Speed

cmBuilder autosaves actions as you progress with your Scenario, however certain actions take longer to save then others. Slow saving speeds likely stem from too many BIM Model Elements. Reducing the number of BIM Elements will improve saving speeds. 

• Reduce the number of BIM Elements

Reduce the number of BIM Elements

1. Filter out BIM Elements before importing the BIM Model. Recommended when there are BIM Elements that bring little value to the overall Scenario. The BIM Elements can be excluded upon export and/or import, as described in the user guide section: Converting from Revit
2. Removing BIM Models from the Scenario. If the Scenario contains extra models that are not needed, consider removing them Right click > Remove Model From Scenario.
   
3. Remove BIM Elements from the Scenario. Recommended when there are BIM Elements that bring little value to the overall Scenario. To remove unneeded BIM Elements from the Scenario select the BIM Elements Right Click > Edit BIM Element, click the 🗑️ trashcan icon from the lower right corner of the edit panel. The page will need to refresh.  

Reduce Refresh Rate

1. By changing Graphics settings from the Settings > Graphics tab to the preset configuration "Best Performance" which will turn off settings like Ground Shadows and Ambient Occlusion. You may also consider turning off "Reflections in Windows" and "Environmental Lighting" from the Display tab of the settings side sheet.
   
2. Open the Scenario without Visual Program animations. Visual programs which are used to animate resources such as vehicles following paths, or articulating equipment like excavators or cranes require the graphics to refresh at a high frequency, which limits performance. You can exclude these movements from loading when opening a Scenario from the Project overview page. Click the 3 dots menu in the top right corner of the Scenario card and select "Open without Visual Programs".

Reduce Triangle Count

1. Reduce the number of BIM Models/Elements, see the section
2. Remove extra unneeded resources, or choosing resources with simpler geometry (less curves and more block more straight edges).
3. Remove mesh models with highly detailed textures, or opting for smaller mesh models capturing only the areas of highest importance.
4. Reducing the size of the map tile. Not recommended for Scenarios with a custom terrain applied. Export the terrain points as a CSV, change back to default terrain before modifying the map, then re-import the terrain points. If the center of the map has changed the terrain points X and Y coordinates will need to be modified before importing.

Reduce or Simplify Excavation Operations

• Reduce the size and/or complexity of the overall excavation footprint if possible. Consider deleting Excavation Operations that bring limited value to your scenario, or combining multiple small Excavation Operations or separating larger Excavation Operations in to multiple.
• Check the Excavation Boundary sketch to ensure it is not extending unnecessarily far beyond your overall excavation(s). Read more about editing the Excavation Boundary in the Troubleshooting Excavations section of the user guide.

💡Note: Altering the map terrain can sometimes serve as an alternative to using Excavation Operations.