Interactive 2D plots can be sluggish too, if you have enough objects in them. It is not the backend that is sluggish. Replacing the backend does not speed up the frontend.
OpenGL is only 'fast' if you have a frontend that exploits it (e.g. uses vertex buffers and vertex shaders). If you just use OpenGL for bitblitting an image or drawing vertices individually (glVertex*), it is not going to help at all. My impression is that whenever Matplotlib is 'too slow', I have to go down to the iron and use OpenGL directly. It tends to happen when there are too many objects to draw, and the drawing has to happen in 'real-time'. Observe that if we let OpenGL render to a frame buffer, we can copy its content into a Matplotlib canvas. Unless we are doing some really heavy real-time graphics, displaying the image is not going to be the speed limiting factor. Even though using OpenGL to swap framebuffers will be 'faster', you will not be able to tell the difference in an interactive Matplotlib plotting. Sturla On 14.12.2012 15:51, Ethan Gutmann wrote: > Hi Neal, my understanding is that matplotlib does not use OpenGL (thus > the terrible performance you see). You might want to look into glumpy > for mplot3d OpenGL acceleration. > > Ethan > > > On Dec 14, 2012, at 5:23 AM, Neal Becker<ndbeck...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> I'm using fedora (17) linux. I notice on complicated 3d plot, interactive >> performance can get sluggish. I'm using nouveau driver now, but wondering if >> installing nvidia driver will improve mpl 3d performance? Does mpl use >> opengl? >> >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> LogMeIn Rescue: Anywhere, Anytime Remote support for IT. Free Trial >> Remotely access PCs and mobile devices and provide instant support >> Improve your efficiency, and focus on delivering more value-add services >> Discover what IT Professionals Know. Rescue delivers >> http://p.sf.net/sfu/logmein_12329d2d >> _______________________________________________ >> Matplotlib-users mailing list >> Matplotlib-users@lists.sourceforge.net >> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/matplotlib-users > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > LogMeIn Rescue: Anywhere, Anytime Remote support for IT. Free Trial > Remotely access PCs and mobile devices and provide instant support > Improve your efficiency, and focus on delivering more value-add services > Discover what IT Professionals Know. Rescue delivers > http://p.sf.net/sfu/logmein_12329d2d > _______________________________________________ > Matplotlib-users mailing list > Matplotlib-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/matplotlib-users ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ LogMeIn Rescue: Anywhere, Anytime Remote support for IT. Free Trial Remotely access PCs and mobile devices and provide instant support Improve your efficiency, and focus on delivering more value-add services Discover what IT Professionals Know. Rescue delivers http://p.sf.net/sfu/logmein_12329d2d _______________________________________________ Matplotlib-users mailing list Matplotlib-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/matplotlib-users
