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RENDERWAVERENDERWAVE

Performance and Resolution

RENDERWAVE renders everything live on the GPU, so resolution and quality settings trade against frame rate. This page shows where those settings live and how to keep a show running smoothly.

Set your render resolution

Section titled “Set your render resolution”

Open Settings → General → DISPLAY RESOLUTION. This is the size everything renders at, before any output scaling.

The Preset picker covers the common cases:

  • HD (1920×1080), 2K (2560×1440), 4K (3840×2160), 5K (5120×2880), 8K (7680×4320)
  • 1680×1050
  • LED Wall presets at 3840×1080, 4096×1024, and 7680×1080: wide, short pixel grids for LED processors that don’t use a standard 16:9 frame
  • Ultrawide at 4608×960
  • Native Display, which matches whatever screen RENDERWAVE is currently on

Pick Native Display and an Aspect Ratio picker appears: 16:9 Landscape, 9:16 Portrait (Vertical Wall), 21:9 Ultrawide, 1:1 Square, or Custom. Choosing Custom reveals width and height fields for any size you need.

Below the picker, an Effective readout shows the resolution actually in use, and a Max line at the bottom shows the ceiling your license allows.

Save your own resolutions

Section titled “Save your own resolutions”

In the CUSTOM RESOLUTIONS section below, click Add Resolution, give it a name and a width/height, and Save. Saved resolutions appear in a list you can select with one click or remove with the trash icon. This saves re-entering the exact pixel size every time you run the same LED wall or projector setup.

Pick a quality preset

Section titled “Pick a quality preset”

Open Settings → Performance → QUALITY PRESET. Each preset bundles a target frame rate with a render-scale and detail multiplier suited to that workload:

  • Low (Best Performance)
  • Medium (Balanced)
  • High Live
  • Native
  • VJ (Optimized Live Performance)
  • Performance (MetalFX)

A Recommended row underneath suggests a preset based on your Mac’s GPU capability at your current output size. Check it when you’re not sure where to start.

Fine-tune the pipeline

Section titled “Fine-tune the pipeline”

Further down, GRAPHICS PIPELINE exposes the individual knobs the presets set for you:

  • Target FPS: a slider from 15 to 120. This is the frame rate RENDERWAVE tries to hold, independent of what your display reports.
  • VSync: on or off.
  • MetalFX Upscaling: appears only if your Mac’s GPU supports it. When on, a MetalFX Mode picker lets you choose the upscaling behavior.
  • 3D MSAA: appears only when 3D shaders are visible on your hardware. Choose 1x, 2x, 4x, or 8x anti-aliasing; higher smooths edges on 3D visuals at a higher GPU cost.

A live FPS and BUDGET readout sits below. BUDGET shows your current frame time in milliseconds, color-coded against your target: green when comfortable, yellow when close, red when you’re missing your target frame rate.

Why your frame rate might be unstable

Section titled “Why your frame rate might be unstable”

Check these before you chase a performance problem that isn’t there:

Extra output windows aren’t extra renders. Additional output surfaces (see Syphon and output mapping) are GPU-downscaled copies of the one render, not separate render passes. Opening a second or third output shouldn’t cost you frame rate on its own. If it does, look at resolution or quality preset first, not the number of outputs.

Frame pacing is decoupled from your display’s refresh rate. RENDERWAVE targets the FPS you set instead of locking to the Hz your monitor reports. If your Target FPS sits far from your display’s native refresh rate, you may notice micro-stutter. Set Target FPS to match your output display’s real refresh rate, or leave VSync on.

There’s no frame-interpolation option, by design. If you’re hunting for a “smooth motion” or frame-interpolation toggle, RENDERWAVE leaves it out on purpose.

Keeping a set stable

Section titled “Keeping a set stable”
  • Pick the lowest resolution and quality preset that still looks right on the actual output device, not your laptop’s built-in screen; a 4K render for a 1080p projector is wasted GPU headroom.
  • For LED walls, match your render resolution to your LED processor’s native pixel count using the LED Wall presets or a saved custom resolution, rather than rendering a standard 16:9 frame and letting the processor stretch it.
  • Watch the FPS/BUDGET readout, or the output window’s HUD (see Output window), during a soundcheck at the venue, not just in Creator view on your desk. Real-world thermal conditions and the actual output resolution both affect sustained frame rate.

Next steps

Section titled “Next steps”