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Level 1

40 points

Aperture 3.1 Serious memory usage (Memory Leak?)

After update to AP3.1 editing is become a nightmare.

Scenario:
- boot my MacPro with 24 GB RAM (64 Bit Kernel)
- start Aperture 3.1
- start working on a 20Mpixel photo (some basic adjustments)
- start applying a brushed BW adjustment

After a two minutes of intense last step (brushing) MacPro become choppy.

syslog write:

23/10/10 13.01.25 Aperture[296] Synchronous request, waiting for page to become ready
23/10/10 13.03.29 kernel (default pager): [KERNEL]: Switching ON Emergency paging segment
23/10/10 13.03.37 kernel (default pager): [KERNEL]: System is out of paging space.
23/10/10 13.03.37 kernel (default pager): [KERNEL]: Failed to recover emergency paging segment
23/10/10 13.03.52 kernel (default pager): [KERNEL]: System is out of paging space.
23/10/10 13.03.52 kernel (default pager): [KERNEL]: Failed to recover emergency paging segment
23/10/10 13.03.37 kernel (default pager): [KERNEL]: Failed to recover emergency paging segment
23/10/10 13.03.52 kernel (default pager): [KERNEL]: System is out of paging space.
23/10/10 13.03.52 kernel (default pager): [KERNEL]: Failed to recover emergency paging segment
23/10/10 13.04.19 kernel (default pager): [KERNEL]: System is out of paging space.
23/10/10 13.04.19 kernel (default pager): [KERNEL]: Failed to recover emergency paging segment
23/10/10 13.04.49 kernel (default pager): [KERNEL]: System is out of paging space.
23/10/10 13.04.49 kernel (default pager): [KERNEL]: Failed to recover emergency paging segment
23/10/10 13.05.25 kernel (default pager): [KERNEL]: System is out of paging space.
23/10/10 13.05.25 kernel (default pager): [KERNEL]: Failed to recover emergency paging segment
23/10/10 13.06.16 kernel (default pager): [KERNEL]: System is out of paging space.
23/10/10 13.06.16 kernel (default pager): [KERNEL]: Failed to recover emergency paging segment
23/10/10 13.07.05 kernel (default pager): [KERNEL]: System is out of paging space.
23/10/10 13.07.05 kernel (default pager): [KERNEL]: Failed to recover emergency paging segment

and so on...

Activity Monitor show Aperture consuming 22 GB of RAM! (and 23 of VMem)
System have all memory used(!) and 6 GB of swap in use!!

Then Aperture run in "infinite loop" one task processing image.

Quitting Aperture All memory is freed and syslog say:
23/10/10 13.08.22 kernel (default pager): [KERNEL]: Recovered emergency paging segment

Last update had killed AP3 😟
Apple Please fix ASAP! Aperture is not a toy, is a critical tool for Pro users!

p.s. someone have an idea to rollback to previously version?

MacPro (early 2008) 8 Core 3GHz - CinemaDisplay 30", Mac OS X (10.6.4), 24 GB ram - ATI Radeon HD 4870

Posted on Oct 23, 2010 4:26 AM

25 replies

Nov 30, 2010 11:34 AM in response to Vince LaMonica

And I can confirm that this problem exists with even smaller files: as in the 1345x896 324KB jpg I was just working on -- practically microscopic by Aperture standards. And with NO zooming whatsoever at any time.

But it pretty much always happens (regardless of file size; regardless of whether other apps are running or not) when I'm doing "large" brush adjustments -- i.e. brush adjustments that sweep over large portions of the image. And it's not one particular brush -- it can be Dodge, Burn, Contrast, Polarize, or a host of others.

This was also a problem for me in Aperture 3.0.x, but if anything has gotten significantly worse in 3.1.

And the only "solution" I've found -- when having to do these kinds of macro Brush adjustments -- is to work VERRRY SLOWWWLLLY, keep my eye on Activity Monitor's System Memory tab constantly, and then every few minutes quit and re-launch Aperture before it has the chance to suddenly freak out and go on a memory binge, hang, and then "quit unexpectedly" on its own. Hardly a satisfying workflow.

Yet in the Inspector I can go as nuts as I want in the Adjustments pane, have Photoshop plus Pages plus Mail all running along with twenty active windows open in Safari, and no problem. It's only when I have to apply large-scale brush adjustments that Aperture seems to lose all perspective and suffer this bizarre memory meltdown.

I desperately hope the under-the-hood Aperture folks are giving this problem serious attention (I've certainly been providing as much description as I can in the MANY automatic crash reports they've been getting from me lately) -- but would be hugely grateful if anyone has any suggestions on trying to live with this maddening Brush Adjustment Memory Drain.

Thanks,

John B.
Toronto

Dec 1, 2010 11:08 AM in response to Taro-71

Having the same problem here on a MBP 2.8 with 4GB RAM. Because of these issues with memory, I close out every other app when working in Aperture. I work mostly with archival monochrome stills which I've scanned as 24 bit RGB TIFFs. Aside from minor tweaks to curves, levels, etc, my primary arena of adjustments involve retouching, often upwards of 500 brush strokes, to remove dust, scratches, etc. This is all done at 100% zoom (by necessity).

I find that Aperture 3.1 becomes agonizingly slow about 1/3 of the way through this process with lots of hanging (and far too many forced quits) and crashes. For instance, applying a 3-pt brush to a speck of dust will take upwards of 2 minutes to render whilst I sit and stare at the spinning wheel ("processing"). And as I said, the more I work on the image -- i.e. the more retouch strokes the app has to juggle in the air -- the slower it becomes. A check of the activity monitor shows massive memory loss: at one point, whilst applying a dodge brush, the system was down to 5MB ⚠ of available RAM. Page in/outs are off the charts, as might be expected.

Since what used to take a few minutes in Aperture 2 now takes hour and hours in Aperture 3.1, my workaround is to settle the tonal adjustments first (curves etc) and the create a new version from the master. From this I work on one section or quadrant of the image in terms of retouching, export as TIFF at original size, re-import (which then locks in the previous round of retouches), and then continue with next section. After three or 4 exports and re-imports, I have a completely retouched version. At that point, I lift and stamp the tonal adjustments from the original onto this new version for a final version.

The problem with this, aside from the ridiculousness of having to operate in such a way, is that the image becomes increasingly less focused with each export/re-import. I am able to salvage this a bit by using Nik's sharpener prior to final output, but a side by side comparison with the original scan and the final adjusted version still shows degradation.

Dec 1, 2010 5:38 PM in response to Taro-71

Same here:

Working with MacBook with 4GB RAM, fresh reboot, no other app running.
Using brush (brushing in highlight/shadow adjustment) on 12 megapixel image while zoomed in, then touching the High/Low tonal width sliders while still zoomed in, and RAM usage maxes out, Aperture 3.1 uses 2.66 Real Mem + 4.5 GB Virtual mem, and the wheel spins endlessly, I have to force quit it.

Every single time I tried.

If I relaunch Aperture, and start adjusting the sliders again, but without using brush before, then the problem does not happen (no matter if zoomed in or not). I got in the habit of first using brushes (usually works) then restarting aperture, and then adjusting levels (that also works). Combining the two in one session freaks out Aperture.

LoungeHH

Level 1

0 points

Dec 2, 2010 2:56 AM in response to Taro-71

Same her:
Zoom in with Z, applying sharping with brush, changing sharping values and "System is out of paging space"

LoungeHH

Level 1

0 points

Dec 2, 2010 3:10 AM in response to cloud.rider

*Your workaround does not work for me:* Applying brushes, restart Aperture, changing values of previously applied brushes or switching them on/off. If I do so, Aperture is starts eating virtual memory. Short after passing 5 GB virtual memory the "system is out of paging space"

e2photo

Level 2

176 points

Dec 2, 2010 6:02 AM in response to Taro-71

I crash at least once a day. Not necessarily related to using the brush, but most of the time it is during brush use linked. And on one occasion, a corruption of a library so it would not open. To say the least, this is a very sad situation for a Version 3 piece of software and certainly unexpected. I am pondering my options, but I am sort of closing in on the following process. For Aperture, I keep all my images as referenced. I assume that I can do the same in Lightroom. If this is true, then I will point both programs to the same RAW images, do my work that absolutely needs to be done in Aperture since I know the program so well and begin to teach myself Lightroom. I don't know, but I suspect this will result in my migration to Lightroom, although such a decision will leave me with a huge legacy problem of nearly a decade of pictures currently linked to Aperture.

Every night I pray the Aperture Team gets it right.

Men88

Level 1

0 points

Jan 6, 2011 12:19 AM in response to Taro-71

Also when I order 100 "10 x 15 cm" prints from Apple, Aperture is processing the photos beforehand. During this process around 8 GB disk space is eaten by the Swap File.

This also occurs when using some brushes. Aperture is very sensitive, especially when using zoom/loupe. It's easy to have the computer hang.

Jan 25, 2011 9:52 AM in response to Men88

Hi everybody, i have the same problem here.
After an hour or so of simple retouching on some Jpegs all the memory got eaten by Aperture making even the whole OS slowly.
The only solution is to quit Aperture and reopen it, so you can have your memory back.

e2photo

Level 2

176 points

Jul 10, 2011 1:05 PM in response to e2photo

UPDATE NOTE- I was having tremendous difficulities with Aperture 3 crashing on a regular basis to the point where it was nearly unuseable. After lots of testing/evaluation and my own hardware tests, I took my machine into the local Apple Store where they did a more extensive evaluation. They discovered a bad video board, replace it and Aperture now is working flawlessly thus far. Several portrait session touch ups and a large wedding. Keeping my fingers crossed, but I now believe my problems were related to hardware (video card) and not

1. Permission repairs

2. Use of external USB drives for library/picture management

3. Or any of the other things that are recommended when Aperture starts to have problems.

So remember, make sure your hardware is healthy!!

Taro-71 Author

Level 1

40 points

Nov 17, 2011 11:54 PM in response to Taro-71

No more issues in Lion

Aperture 3.1 Serious memory usage (Memory Leak?)