On my W10,i7, 24GB RAM, RT takes 8 seconds to open, while Lightroom, which I assume is a much larger program, only takes 2 seconds.Why does rt even take 8 seconds (which is not very long, but shouldn’t it be faster??)
- When measuring start time, verify that verbose=false in options files and that RT opens in an empty directory.
- the windows distribution contains rawtherapee.exe, Rawtherapee-debug.exe, rawtherapee-cli.exe and also the debugger gdb.exe.
- When starting, it seems that RT loads or tries to find (I don’t know) lensfun DB and camconst.json and perhaps some other data even if not used. Is it right?
- should the problem comes from different W10 versions?
here W10 family version 1703 OS version 15063.632
i7-6700K 4GHz
start time on empty folder: 2s
I have DXO 9 installed which is much much slower to start.
Here Win 10 pro version 1703 OS version 15063.632
i5-4570K 3,2GHz 24GB memory
start time on empty folder: 8s
start time on folder with 6 NEF + 6 pp3 files: 8s
start time on folder with 39 NEF + 39 pp3 files: 18s
How about rawtherapee-cli.exe? Is it slow as well? For example, try executing somethig like this at the command prompt:
rawtherapee-cli.exe -s -Y -o out.jpg -c INPUTFILE.RAW
(where you have to replace INPUTFILE.RAW with an actual raw file, of course).
Is it still slow or is the performance more reasonable? I’m trying to understand if the problem is in the GUI or in the engine…
rawtherapy-cli needs 15sec on first run after boot, and 2 secs on each subsequent call. I just started rawtherapee-cli w/o arguments
How long does rawtherapee-cli -h take? On my machine it is about 0.2 seconds, and that already includes parsing camconst.json and loading the lensfun database…
Now I removed the DVD from the drive and testet again:
start time on empty folder: 6s
start time on folder with 39 NEF + 39 pp3 files: 7,5s
Obviously something scans drives or folders
I can’t measure rawtherapee-cli now … to fast
Edit: Additonal test with a folder with 341 NEF + 341 pp3: still 7.5 secs
Just tested the following:
-start rawtherapee-cli.exe goes so fast, I can’t time it. So instantly.
-when I freshly reboot my system, rawtherapee takes indeed about 8 seconds to start and when I click for the ‘preferences’ button, it takes another 2 seconds for it to respond.
-closing and starting rawtherapee again, after initial start, takes about 6 seconds. (everything from cache)
BUT when my system is up & running for a few hours, a initial start of rawtherapee (yes, I do also other stuff on my computer 
) takes the long run again. 
waiting, waiting, system idling, waiting, and then after approx. 50 seconds, there is rawtherapee’s GUI again. Starting rawtherapee-cli.exe is not delayed… So it seems to me, it’s something in the full blown GUI version that is waiting for something, but what?
Maybe I can try to use some sysinternal tools in order to figure if rawtherapee is delayed/hold up/waiting for something that’s not there.
to be continued…
No other ‘victims’ out there?
You are hardly a victim since you possess the power to change and fix this 
Someone on reddit is reporting similar; trying to get them over here.
After 15 years with MAC OS at home and as much as work, If i could have avoid all the time spent watching my computer “doing things”, I would have save years of my life ! Especially windows that is “sandglass oriented”. I still use windows at work, no choice. But at home I got read of my mac for a linux Mint : Rawtherapee 5.3 requests 7sec to launch (core i7) and combined with ArgyLL CMS and Xnview, I don’t feel like my pictures are worse than the winadobe fellows…
Many thanks for this major release that brings lens baby among improvments. I can now now definitely get read of Darktable, another excellent product by the way…
I have the same behaviour- after clicking on the Rawtherapee icon, it takes about a minute for the GUI to turn up… I use Win 10 64 bit. I did not report it because I hardly process more than couple of photos at a time and I can wait.
Probably joking, right?
I can’t reboot my system just every time I want to use RT. Nevertheless, it’s still taking much too long to start, because 7-8 seconds just to launch a program is far too long imho.
And BTW, clicking on ‘preferences’ and then still waiting for a few seconds is not normal when using your system. Especially when for all other tasks my system is very fast.
I thought RT 5.3 is getting mature and a serious piece software; so just trying to get it to work seriously should be the goal. Or am I expecting too much?
In the mean time, I have fired up Process Monitor from Sysinternals to see what RT is doing, when started. Although I filtered on just “rawtherapee” to exclude other stuff, it’s an enormous load of logging data. Where I can start searching/looking?
Certainly not. You are not a victim, period. You received something for free and you are having an issue. You have the agency to diagnose the problem and provide the information that leads to a fix.
You can probably see what is making the application hang using gdb, as detailed on this page: How to write useful bug reports - RawPedia
Certainly try this, as detailed on RawPedia, gdb rawtherapee-debug.exe and r and so on, to, hopefully, see, what is going on in the background.
Consider also disabling the smartscreen evil thingy. (Hidden deeper after every Win update.)
On the Search bar, type Windows Defender Security Center.
Open Windows Defender Security Center settings and go to App & browser control.
From there, you will see the options available for Windows Defender SmartScreen.
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On my system I have these options set to ‘Warn’. But even if I switch them to “Off”; it doesn’t effect RT startup time. 
I’ve also tried disabling AV s/w, disabling F/W; but all to no avail.
And why should only RT behave so ‘specific’ (and slow), while all other software performs just smooth and quick. E.g. when I stitch a panorama file with PTGui Pro, stitching 20 x 60Mb TIFF files, creating several thousand temp files, sucking up 20GB of RAM, all in a few seconds. So I have no issues with the performance of my specific machine.
I’ve also read the story about debug reports for RT. But that all refers to crashes of RT. And in this case, RT doesn’t crash, it’s just slow to start…
I’m really eager to use RT as a substitute for my current RAW converter (ViewNX-i), but I’m not a programmer, just an experienced Windows photographic post processing user.
I’m not happy with the RAW conversions from the Adobe products with my NEF RAW files, because ViewNX-i does a better job. But I’m looking for more control, more finetuning, etc. and was hoping to find this with RT.
When googling the web about the slow startup issues with RT; it is clear to me, I’m not the only one. But didn’t find the holy grail (yet) as to solve this issue, before really diving deep into a new RAW converter. So I was hoping to get some assistance over here.
Are the developers/programmers reading along? (I have no idea if they do)
At least in the past, SmartScreen did “warn” me for some dev versions of RT installers, and after clicking “Allow”, the installation was still broken. PTGui is a commercial program, and even with 2.0k of clicks on the link for development build of RT for Windows, this is almost nothing, RawTherapee is an exotic outsider, suspicious, when checked against MS database. This might become worse in the future.
Even if nothing crashes, running dbg with the debug version (perhaps also setting verbose to true in options, I’m not sure about this) may show something.
The program start seems to be still slower than gtk2 version was, but on your computer, it should take about 5 seconds, at most.
The debugger will tell you a lot of stuff, not just stuff relates to a crash.
Yes, @agriggio and @floessie are both developers and have responded, and @gaaned92 makes builds for windows.
1 Like
@PanoMeister Can you please post your options file? That may help us to identify the culprit of slow starting rt.
Have a look here to find it.
Here you go:
[General]
TabbedEditor=true
StoreLastProfile=true
StartupDirectory=last
StartupPath=D:\\NEF_Files
DateFormat=%y-%m-%d
AdjusterMinDelay=100
AdjusterMaxDelay=200
MultiUser=true
Language=English (UK)
LanguageAutoDetect=false
Theme=RawTherapee-GTK3-20_
Version=5.3
DarkFramesPath=C:\\Program Files\\RawTherapee\\5.3
FlatFieldsPath=C:\\Program Files\\RawTherapee\\5.3
Verbose=false
BotLeft=0
TopLeft=10
TopRight=40
BotRight=75
EDdetec=3
EDdetecStr=1.3
EDLow=15
EDLipinfl=0.80000000000000004
EDLipampl=1.1000000000000001
[External Editor]
EditorKind=2
GimpDir=C:\\Users\\Admin
PhotoshopDir=C:\\Program Files\\Adobe\\Adobe Photoshop CC 2017
CustomEditor=
[File Browser]
BrowseOnlyRaw=false
BrowserShowsDate=true
BrowserShowsExif=true
BrowserShowsExpComp=true
BrowserShowsHidden=false
ThumbnailSize=160
ThumbnailSizeTab=160
ThumbnailSizeQueue=160
SameThumbSize=0
MaxPreviewHeight=250
MaxCacheEntries=20000
ParseExtensions=3fr;arw;cr2;crf;crw;dcr;dng;fff;iiq;jpg;jpeg;kdc;mef;mos;mrw;nef;nrw;orf;pef;png;raf;raw;rw2;rwl;rwz;sr2;srf;srw;tif;tiff;x3f;
ParseExtensionsEnabled=1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;0;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;
ThumbnailArrangement=2
ThumbnailInterpolation=1
FavoriteDirs=
RenameTemplates=
RenameUseTemplates=false
ThumbnailZoomRatios=0.20000000000000001;0.29999999999999999;0.45000000000000001;0.59999999999999998;0.80000000000000004;1;
OverlayedFileNames=false
FilmStripOverlayedFileNames=false
ShowFileNames=true
FilmStripShowFileNames=false
InternalThumbIfUntouched=true
menuGroupRank=true
menuGroupLabel=true
menuGroupFileOperations=true
menuGroupProfileOperations=true
menuGroupExtProg=true
MaxRecentFolders=15
RecentFolders=D:\\NEF_Files;D:\\test;
[Clipping Indication]
HighlightThreshold=253
ShadowThreshold=8
BlinkClipped=false
[Performance]
RgbDenoiseThreadLimit=0
NRauto=10
NRautomax=40
NRhigh=0.45000000000000001
NRWavlevel=2
LevNR=3
LevNRTI=0
LevNRAUT=0
LevNRLISS=2
SIMPLNRAUT=1
ClutCacheSize=12
MaxInspectorBuffers=4
PreviewDemosaicFromSidecar=0
Daubechies=false
SerializeTiffRead=true
[Output]
Format=jpg
JpegQuality=92
JpegSubSamp=2
PngCompression=6
PngBps=8
TiffBps=16
TiffUncompressed=true
SaveProcParams=true
FormatBatch=tif
JpegQualityBatch=92
JpegSubSampBatch=2
PngCompressionBatch=6
PngBpsBatch=8
TiffBpsBatch=8
TiffUncompressedBatch=true
SaveProcParamsBatch=true
PathTemplate=%p1/converted/%f
PathFolder=
AutoSuffix=true
ForceFormatOpts=true
SaveMethodNum=0
UsePathTemplate=true
LastSaveAsPath=
OverwriteOutputFile=false
TunnelMetaData=true
[Profiles]
Directory=profiles
UseBundledProfiles=true
LoadSaveProfilePath=C:\\Users\\Admin\\AppData\\Local\\RawTherapee\\profiles
RawDefault=Neutral
ImgDefault=Neutral
FilledProfile=false
SaveParamsWithFile=true
SaveParamsToCache=false
LoadParamsFromLocation=1
CustomProfileBuilderPath=
CustomProfileBuilderKeys=0
[GUI]
WindowWidth=2508
WindowHeight=1326
WindowX=26
WindowY=23
WindowMonitor=0
MeowMonitor=1
MeowFullScreen=false
MeowMaximized=true
MeowWidth=2560
MeowHeight=1378
MeowX=2560
MeowY=0
WindowMaximized=true
DetailWindowWidth=-1
DetailWindowHeight=-1
DirBrowserWidth=250
DirBrowserHeight=350
SortType=0
PreferencesWidth=1193
PreferencesHeight=891
SaveAsDialogWidth=920
SaveAsDialogHeight=680
ToolPanelWidth=398
BrowserToolPanelWidth=360
BrowserToolPanelHeight=600
BrowserToolPanelOpened=true
EditorFilmStripOpened=true
BrowserDirPanelOpened=true
HistoryPanelWidth=330
FontFamily=default
FontSize=10
CPFontFamily=default
CPFontSize=8
LastPreviewScale=5
PanAccelFactor=5
RememberZoomAndPan=true
LastCropSize=1
ShowHistory=true
ShowFilePanelState=0
ShowInfo=true
MainNBVertical=false
ShowClippedHighlights=false
ShowClippedShadows=false
FrameColor=1
ProcessingQueueEnbled=false
ToolPanelsExpanded=1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;1;
ToolPanelsExpandedAutoSave=true
MultiDisplayMode=1
CutOverlayBrush=0;0;0;0.66698710612649725;
NavGuideBrush=1;0;0;1;
HistogramPosition=1
HistogramBar=true
HistogramFullMode=false
NavigatorRGBUnit=0
NavigatorHSVUnit=0
ShowFilmStripToolBar=true
FileBrowserToolbarSingleRow=true
HideTPVScrollbar=false
UseIconNoText=true
HistogramWorking=false
CurveBBoxPosition=3
[Crop Settings]
PPI=600
[Color Management]
PrinterProfile=
PrinterIntent=1
PrinterBPC=true
ICCDirectory=C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\spool\\drivers\\color
MonitorProfile=
AutoMonitorProfile=true
Autocielab=true
RGBcurvesLumamode_Gamut=true
Intent=3
MonitorBPC=true
AdobeRGB=RT_Medium_gsRGB
ProPhoto=RT_Large_gBT709
ProPhoto10=RT_Large_g10
WideGamut=WideGamutRGB
sRGB=RT_sRGB
sRGB10=RT_sRGB_g10
Beta=BetaRGB
Best=BestRGB
Rec2020=Rec2020
Bruce=Bruce
WhiteBalanceSpotSize=8
GamutICC=true
Ciecamfloat=true
GamutLch=true
ProtectRed=60
Amountchroma=40
ProtectRedH=0.29999999999999999
CRI=0
DenoiseLabgamma=2
CBDLArtif=4
CBDLlevel0=0
CBDLlevel123=30
ClutsDirectory=C:\\Program Files\\RawTherapee\\5.3\\cluts
[Batch Processing]
AdjusterBehavior=0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;
[Sounds]
Enable=false
BatchQueueDone=
LngEditProcDone=
LngEditProcDoneSecs=3
[Fast Export]
fastexport_bypass_sharpening=true
fastexport_bypass_sharpenEdge=true
fastexport_bypass_sharpenMicro=true
fastexport_bypass_defringe=true
fastexport_bypass_dirpyrDenoise=true
fastexport_bypass_sh_hq=true
fastexport_bypass_dirpyrequalizer=true
fastexport_bypass_wavelet=true
fastexport_raw_bayer_method=fast
fastexport_bypass_raw_bayer_dcb_iterations=true
fastexport_bypass_raw_bayer_dcb_enhance=true
fastexport_bypass_raw_bayer_lmmse_iterations=true
fastexport_bypass_raw_bayer_linenoise=true
fastexport_bypass_raw_bayer_greenthresh=true
fastexport_raw_xtrans_method=fast
fastexport_bypass_raw_ccSteps=true
fastexport_bypass_raw_ca=true
fastexport_bypass_raw_df=true
fastexport_bypass_raw_ff=true
fastexport_icm_input=(camera)
fastexport_icm_working=ProPhoto
fastexport_icm_output=RT_sRGB
fastexport_icm_output_intent=1
fastexport_icm_output_bpc=true
fastexport_icm_gamma=default
fastexport_resize_enabled=true
fastexport_resize_scale=1
fastexport_resize_appliesTo=Cropped area
fastexport_resize_method=Lanczos
fastexport_resize_dataspec=3
fastexport_resize_width=900
fastexport_resize_height=900
fastexport_use_fast_pipeline=1
[Dialogs]
LastIccDir=C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\spool\\drivers\\color
LastDarkframeDir=
LastFlatfieldDir=
LastRgbCurvesDir=C:\\Users\\Admin\\AppData\\Local\\RawTherapee\\profiles
LastLabCurvesDir=C:\\Users\\Admin\\AppData\\Local\\RawTherapee\\profiles
LastRetinexDir=C:\\Users\\Admin\\AppData\\Local\\RawTherapee\\profiles
LastDenoiseCurvesDir=C:\\Users\\Admin\\AppData\\Local\\RawTherapee\\profiles
LastWaveletCurvesDir=C:\\Users\\Admin\\AppData\\Local\\RawTherapee\\profiles
LastPFCurvesDir=C:\\Users\\Admin\\AppData\\Local\\RawTherapee\\profiles
LastHsvCurvesDir=C:\\Users\\Admin\\AppData\\Local\\RawTherapee\\profiles
LastBWCurvesDir=C:\\Users\\Admin\\AppData\\Local\\RawTherapee\\profiles
LastToneCurvesDir=C:\\Users\\Admin\\AppData\\Local\\RawTherapee\\profiles
LastVibranceCurvesDir=C:\\Users\\Admin\\AppData\\Local\\RawTherapee\\profiles
LastProfilingReferenceDir=C:\\Users\\Admin\\AppData\\Local\\RawTherapee\\profiles
LastLensProfileDir=C:\\ProgramData\\Adobe\\CameraRaw\\LensProfiles\\1.0
GimpPluginShowInfoDialog=true
[Lensfun]
DBDirectory=./share/lensfun