Outline Cursor Blinks When Moving

[KiteRyu]

When I move the outline cursor it blinks, like it's flashing rapidly. This happens with a normal mouse, Wacom Grip Pen and Wacom Art Pen. It doesn't happen though when I've clicked or pressed down and paint is being applied. I can move it as fast as I like with no blink then. I've toggled all the settings in Preferences relating to Input Devices to no avail.

Is there a way to fix this? It's really headache inducing. I'd like to use the outline cursor so I can preview pen rotation and the general size of the brush.

Specs
Win 10 Home (Creators Update)
Intuos Pro L (Grip Pen, Art Pen)
Wacom Drivers tested: 6.3.21-10 / 6.3.22-6
i7 6700 CPU
Intel HD Graphics 530 iGPU
16GB RAM 2133MHz

[KiteRyu]

OK I figured it out. Seems to be the case whenever I post an issue I fix it almost right after. :rolleyes:

Turns out its due to the same issue Clip Studio Paint has with their zoom bug after the Windows Creators Update.

What fixed their bug and this ArtRage bug, is setting Windows Text Scaling to any value above 100% (101% for example).

Doh.

Still, this means its an ArtRage bug?

[HannahRage]

Congrats on figuring that out! I've passed it along to the programmers to investigate.

[KiteRyu]

Unfortunately it seems the problem has returned. The text scaling trick did fix an issue with Clip Studio Paint though, but that's an issue the developer is aware of already.

It seems when I log out and log back in to Windows there is no issue with the cursor, but after some time (usually when I'm away from the keyboard for about 10 mins) the cursor starts to blink or flicker when I move it, but as I say in my OP, not when paint is being applied.

The cursor issue also happens in Clip Studio Paint, but ONLY with the Wacom Art Pen, it doesn't happen with the mouse and the standard Wacom Grip Pen like it does in ArtRage.

I re-installed Windows from scratch to try and troubleshoot this, the only apps installed are antivirus (ESET), ArtRage, Clip Studio Paint.

I've tested with other drawing/painting software and they have no issues, such as MS Paint, DigiCel FlipBook, etc.

In ArtRage, it only affects the outline cursor, in Clip Studio Paint it affects all cursor types. I noticed in Clip Studio Paint if I set the 'tablet mode' from WinTab to TabletPC, although the pen would lose pressure sensitivity, the cursor no longer flickers. This made me assume it was a Wacom Driver issue, but then it doesn't make sense to me why the mouse (Asus Rog Sica) would be affected in ArtRage.

I'm not sure what else I can try. :eek:

[KiteRyu]

So I'm still trying to solve this bug, or at least find out what is causing it.

I installed as many programs as I could find, and so far only ArtRage and Clip Studio Paint are having issues. Whatever the issue is, it causes both programs to display that flickering/blinking cursor at the same time, but doesn't affect Corel Painter, etc.

As far as I know, the bug is fixed by logging out of Windows and logging back in again. After awhile, 30 minutes to an-hour (it can be quite random), the bug reappears. I can't see anything in Event Viewer. I can only imagine it's to do with either the GPU driver (Intel HD 530 for Skylake 6700) or the Wacom Driver, but...

1. The mouse is also affected in ArtRage
2. It only affects the Wacom Art Pen, not the standard Grip Pen or mouse in Clip Studio Paint
3. These are the only programs affected at all
4. I've tried multiple GPU drivers and Wacom drivers with no such luck

I'll be getting an NVIDIA GPU fairly soon, so maybe that will help, otherwise I'm stumped, I've had to go back to using Corel Painter over ArtRage because of this, since the effects of the cursor is paintful to look at.

Oh one other thing I want to mention, I've tried using screen recording software to record the bug, but when playing it back it's as if there is no bug at all, the cursor is smooth, I'm only seeing the bug myself, which is very strange (60fps).

[Daniel Aubert]

So I'm still trying to solve this bug, or at least find out what is causing it.

I installed as many programs as I could find, and so far only ArtRage and Clip Studio Paint are having issues. Whatever the issue is, it causes both programs to display that flickering/blinking cursor at the same time, but doesn't affect Corel Painter, etc.

As far as I know, the bug is fixed by logging out of Windows and logging back in again. After awhile, 30 minutes to an-hour (it can be quite random), the bug reappears. I can't see anything in Event Viewer. I can only imagine it's to do with either the GPU driver (Intel HD 530 for Skylake 6700) or the Wacom Driver, but...

1. The mouse is also affected in ArtRage
2. It only affects the Wacom Art Pen, not the standard Grip Pen or mouse in Clip Studio Paint
3. These are the only programs affected at all
4. I've tried multiple GPU drivers and Wacom drivers with no such luck

I'll be getting an NVIDIA GPU fairly soon, so maybe that will help, otherwise I'm stumped, I've had to go back to using Corel Painter over ArtRage because of this, since the effects of the cursor is paintful to look at.

Oh one other thing I want to mention, I've tried using screen recording software to record the bug, but when playing it back it's as if there is no bug at all, the cursor is smooth, I'm only seeing the bug myself, which is very strange (60fps).

Hi!

I am having the same problem. I got a new pc with Windows 10 Creators Update on it and it has this "drop in frame rate" while hovering the cursor. I did not have this when I was working with a much weaker machine on Windows 7, so this is probably related to driver or compatibility. Although it is a small problem and I can work normally with it, I would rather not have it.

The 101% text scale fixed it, but I will start a painting now and will report back if it returns. If it does, I will try to run Artrage with my Nvidia graphics card.

Thanks KiteRyu!

[Daniel Aubert]

Yeah, it didn't work. Neither setting the scale to 101% or using the graphics card. :/

[Daniel Aubert]

Congrats on figuring that out! I've passed it along to the programmers to investigate.

After one year and still no results?? I am no programmer or anything, but I think this may be easy to solve... Although, it is an annoying bug.
This is the only thing bugging me in ArtRage right now. You guys made an awsome software and just need to fix some small things to make it a top software.
I love ArtRage and I am still going to keep using it, and I really hope you guys listen to us users in order to evolve this great tool. So, is there any news on this problem? A solution?

Thanks!

[MattRage]

Sorry for the lack of response on this one, it looks like it didn't actually get passed on as a bug.

The Outline Cursor is rendered directly on to the canvas surface and as we don't use GPU acceleration a different GPU won't fix the issue. As we don't use Windows scaling values, if changing Windows text scaling is making a difference then it may be because the OS is doing something with its scaling that's exacerbating a refresh rate problem. I'll look in to it!

[Daniel Aubert]

Sorry for the lack of response on this one, it looks like it didn't actually get passed on as a bug.

The Outline Cursor is rendered directly on to the canvas surface and as we don't use GPU acceleration a different GPU won't fix the issue. As we don't use Windows scaling values, if changing Windows text scaling is making a difference then it may be because the OS is doing something with its scaling that's exacerbating a refresh rate problem. I'll look in to it!

Thanks a lot, Matt! Anything, just give a shout!

[KiteRyu]

Any update to this? ArtRage is still unusable since I first made this thread.

I captured a video of the issue (blinking cursor) at 120fps, but I can't post links here so I'm unable to show it.

If I change cursor type to crosshairs [1], when the pen is moving the cursor becomes invisible. When changing to the brush icon cursor [3] it's smooth in motion (no blinking) but the edges get cropped off in the direction it's moving.

Edit: Also to add again, when the mouse (or pen) button is pressed down to apply paint and the cursor is moved (at any speed) there is no blinking, it's smooth.

[MattRage]

We're looking in to this currently. If you contact us directly ([email protected]) we can take a look at the link and it may help us as we try to work out what's going on. Sorry I'm not able to offer a solution yet!

[KiteRyu]

Thanks Matt. I sent an email with a link to the video. Thanks for looking into it. :D

[coinsizedcock]

This is just what worked *FOR ME* in CSP, but it may be helpful for if anyone finds this thread in the future, as i have when i googled it and it was the first result.

Inside CSP, go to FILE(at the top left), go down the options and select PREFERENCES(Ctrl+K). A little page will open, click on TABLET on the side options and change the first option from WINTAB to TABLET PC. You'll then have to setup your pressure on your own, as this disables it.

If that doesn't work for you, you may try the 101% text scaling method but i doubt that'll do it. Here's hoping they implement a proper fix, it's been years. :P