DPR3 Batch Conversion Handling Issues

All that follows was found with a trial of DPR 3.0.0.9 on macOS 12.6.4 on a 5K iMac 2019.

What I did

  1. Added 60 images to DPR
  2. Deselected all images
  3. Selected 20 images
  4. Clicked on “Add to Queue” → Export dialog opens
  5. Set denoising to HQ and pressed “Add to Queue”
  6. Clicked on “Add to Queue” → Export dialog opens
  7. Set denoising to DP and pressed “Add to Queue”
  8. Clicked on “Add to Queue” → Export dialog opens
  9. Set denoising to DPXD and pressed “Add to Queue”

After that, I checked the list of queues and three (batches) were present as expected.

Then, I found a few issues

  1. The "Hide Queue+ button was only showing its icon, which looks like a “Start Processing” icon. I found this icon (an arrow pointing to the right) difficult to understand, moreover, there was no tooltip. When I recreated the queues again, the button would show its text too and I was unable to reproduce the “missing button text” issue. Still, the “no tooltip” issue remains.
  2. Then, I wanted to start processing and therefore clicked on “Process Now” - which brought up the export dialog again, even though all batches’ processing had been specified already. There seemed to be no way to start processing the batches without getting the export dialog…because the “Play” button is almost invisible with the current dark, low contrast gui.
    I then hid the queues expecting a start processing" feature…but there was none. I got the impression that this behavior completely voids the usefulness of queues/batches.
  3. When I finally found the “Play” button, processing started, but gave no visible feedback with the usual progress bar. Also, DPR said “Processing 0 of 20”, but the ETA timer updated as expected. This looks like the progress indication is sourced from one of the waiting queues instead of sum of all queues. Moreover, none of the batches were processed, even though the ETA counter was decreasing.

Proposals

  1. Add tooltips to all buttons
  2. Colour the “Play” button in blue like the other buttons!
  3. Make the “Play” button actually start processing!!!
  4. Revise progress feedback to show the sum of all queues instead of what we’ve now.
  5. Improve the general usability of the gui with higher contrast and consistent buttons/function text and colour…instead of the mixed grey/blue/underline/fading display of the respective items.

Considering the functional issues mentioned above, I re-installed DPR3 after a thorough clean-out and now, processing starts and progress indicators show the things I expect.

Previously, none of the batches was selected or in fact selectable, which can explain why no processing took place.

Nevertheless, the following proposals remain:

  • Add tooltips
  • GUI usability through better contrast and consistent colouring
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