** FRAFS Bench Viewer **
- A simple viewer for Fraps 'frametimes' benchmark results
- Not endorsed or approved by Fraps (Beepa Pty Ltd)
- Version 0.3.0.3 22-Apr-2014 by raffriff (Lindsay Bigelow)
- Copyright (c) 2012-2014 (GNU General Public License)
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html
- Updates & discussion at frapsforum.com
http://frapsforum.com/
threads/new-tool-for-viewing-fraps-benchmark-files.2121/
- credit for main icon to ZMan3
http://zman3.deviantart.com/gallery/
- other icons from the Open Icon Library
http://openiconlibrary.sourceforge.net/
This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
New for version 0.3.0.0:
* bugfixes
* preferences dialog and other UI improvements; see part 3 below
* faster file loading (with default file parsing only)
* improved file statistics
* small & large standard size selector (lower right corner)
* image sizes (copied or saved) always mod-4
PURPOSE:
Ever since I saw the article, "Inside the second: A new look
at game benchmarking," at techreport.com, I wanted to make an
app to display Fraps benchmark files - and here it is! Fraps
has the ability to tell us the amount of time each frame took
to display. With this program, it becomes easy to view this
information in overview or in fine detail.
USAGE:
** Part 1 - Creating the benchmark data files:
Go to the Fraps FPS tab:
1. set up an output folder
2. set up a hotkey
3. Benchmark settings:
a. Frametimes = ON
b. others = don't care
Test Without Capturing
1. Start the game or application to be benchmarked.
2. Choose a scene that is repeatable.
3. Play through the scene without recording.
4. Hit the benchmark hotkey.
5. The FPS overlay goes away; this is normal.
6. Hit the benchmark hotkey again to stop.
7. A file named will be created named
"<application> <date> <time> frametimes.csv"
Test While Capturing
Now go back to the same scene, but record (Fraps) it this
time. Start benchmarking after recording starts (FPS overlay
is hidden). Stop benchmarking before recording stops (FPS
overlay is restored). Finally, stop recording.
Again, choose a scene that is repeatable; take care to
start & stop benchmarking at the same place each time.
** Part 2 - Viewing the benchmark data files:
The files created by Fraps are "CSV" or "comma separated
values," which can be easily opened in any spreadsheet
program. Fraps Bench Viewer performs some basic analysis and
visual presentation for ease of use.
To view a Fraps "* frametimes.csv" file in Fraps Bench Viewer,
drag the file onto the open program window or onto the
application icon.
After a few moments of processing, you will see a chart.
You have a choice of three ways to view the data:
* Time: frame render times
* FPS: calculated instantaneous FPS, i.e. (1 / frame time)
* Rank: all frame times sorted from shortest to longest
Overlaid on the chart you will see a basic summary:
"Avg. FPS"
calculated average FPS
"Avg. Time (ms)"
calculated average time between frames
"1% Time (ms)"
difference time for the worst 1% (best 99%) frames.
"0.1% Time (ms)"
difference time for the worst 0.1% (best 99.9%) frames.
There are reference lines on the chart for
* 33.3 ms (or 30 fps)
* 16.7 ms (or 60 fps)
* average frame time or FPS
The charts are resizable. Mouse wheel zooms, mouse drag pans.
You can also resize the vertical axis by dragging the mouse
or by entering a maximum "Y" value. To do this you move the
mouse to the left margin, or press [V], and a dialog will
pop up.
Once you zoom in past a certain point, a tooltip will be
shown with extra information on individual frames.
Note the 'data point' for a particular frame is either a
dot (if the value is less than the one to the left), or
the top of a vertical bar (if the value is more than the
one to the left)
** Part 3 - Guide to the program interface:
Preferences dialog, General tab
* enable/disable auto opening of
Fraps benchmark folder
* select from five plot colors
* label the horizontal axis as
frame numbers or time-of-day
(as guessed by the program)
* handle /some/ file format variations
Preferences dialog, Text tab
* show/hide file name
* show/hide file statistics
* show stats for entire file or
(if zoomed in) only displayed events
* show/hide user notes
Toolbar:
* browse for any folder & remember it
* save current image
* copy current image
* edit/adjust vertical scale
* edit/adjust horizontal scale
* open Preferences dialog
Right-click menu:
* save current image
* copy current image
* open Preferences dialog
Size menu (lower right corner)
* small & large standard size selector
Mouse actions:
* [right click] = menu
* [move mouse in left margin area]
= edit/adjust vertical scale
* [move mouse in lower-left or lower-right margin area]
= edit/adjust horizontal scale
* [left click] = hide edit/adjust dialogs
* [drag with left button down] = panning (view ealier/leter events)
* [scroll bar] = panning, alternate method
* [mouse wheel] = zooming (view events with more or less detail)
Hotkeys:
[B] = open Fraps benchmark folder (currently broken...)
[+] = zoom in
[-] = zoom out
[left arrow] or [page up] = move the chart to show
earlier events if zoomed in
[right arrow] or [page down] = move the chart to show
later events if zoomed in
[V] = edit/adjust vertical scale
[H] = edit/adjust horizontal scale
[P] = open Preferences dialog
[Ctrl+Z] = undo previous zoom or pan (multi-level)
[F5] = Time chart
[F6] = FPS chart
[F7] = Rank chart
File size limits:
File size was formerly 30,000 frames, but now it is
basically unlimited: 8,640,000 frames, or 24 hrs @ 100 fps.
The maximum frames that can be displayed on the chart is
360,000 - you will have to pan to see the rest of the data.
Even at that size, display is a bit sluggish, but response
is much better once you zoom in.
What do the numbers mean?
I'm not sure. But in general, you want higher average FPS of
course, but also less severe "bad" frames, those in the worst
1% or 0.1%. Too many of these "bad" frames makes your average
FPS unusable. More will be learned about this over time; come
to frapsforum.com for discussion & updates.
The importance of frame times was impressed on me by an
excellent article on techreport.com. Seeing their charts
inspired me to create this little program.
Recommended reading:
"Inside the second: A new look at game benchmarking"
http://techreport.com/articles.x/21516
Multiple Languages:
Users can contribute their own translations for all the text
in Fraps Bench Viewer. Read the the instructions in
<App>\Lang\-template-po2 and please let me know if you try
it. Your translation can be in the next distribution!
I hope this proves useful to the user community!
- raffriff
History
@version 0.1.0.0 15-Sep-2012 - wrote list & stats
@version 0.1.1.0 16-Sep-2012 - add chart
@version 0.1.2.0 17-Sep-2012 - multiple languages w/ NetText
@version 0.2.1.0 19-Sep-2012 - resizable; three chart types
@version 0.2.2.0 22-Sep-2012 - refactor, minor tweaks
@version 0.2.3.0 25-Sep-2012 - refactor, trim chart extent
with mouse
@version 0.2.4.0 29-Sep-2012 - user notes, revised GUI,
frame stats in tooltip,
mouse zoom & pan
@version 0.2.5.0 07-Oct-2012 - refactor, better zooming,
bug fixes
@version 0.2.6.0 07-Oct-2012 - rename; move system info module
to a separate program
@version 0.2.6.0 09-Dec-2012 - minor UI cleanup & bug fixes;
first release as open source
@version 0.2.6.0 14-Apr-2013 - minor bug fixes
@version 0.2.6.0 28-Apr-2013 - minor bug fixes
@version 0.2.7.0 30-Apr-2013 - set vertical scale, time-of-day
& other enhancements
@version 0.2.8.0 21-May-2013 - much higher maximum frame count
& other enhancements
@version 0.2.8.3 24-May-2013 - minor bug fixes
@version 0.2.8.4 28-May-2013 - manually set first & last frames
@version 0.2.8.5 28-May-2013 - setup bugfix
@version 0.2.8.6 29-May-2013 - scrollbar for timeline
@version 0.2.8.7 30-May-2013 - cleanup
@version 0.2.8.8 03-Jun-2013 - minor UI cleanup & bug fixes
@version 0.2.8.9 11-Jun-2013 - bug fix
@version 0.3.0.0 06-Oct-2013 - preferences
@version 0.3.0.1 19-Oct-2013 - bugfix
@version 0.3.0.2 01-Feb-2014 - bugfix
@version 0.3.0.3 22-Apr-2014 - text note toolbar button;
remember note from last time
(end of file)
