Betreff: AI-based Face Blur / Pixelation Workflow in Premiere Pro – Out-of-the-box Feature Request

✅ Temporary Workaround confirmed – but the issue remains critical

Just to confirm for everyone:
Editing the com.borisfx.Continuum18.filter.ae.xml file and manually disabling OpenCL (Pref_Value="0") has resolved the render crashes on my system. You can use any plain text editor or IDE for this – just make sure all Adobe apps are closed before you edit and save the file.

While this workaround is effective, the fact that it’s necessary in the first place points to a deeper issue.
A plugin relying on GPU acceleration should fail gracefully – not crash the entire OS. The absence of a safe GUI toggle inside Premiere Pro for OpenCL use with BCC+ ML filters makes this even more problematic.

👉 In short: Glad we have a workaround – but we need a proper fix.

My answer to Boris FX:

Hi XXX,

I can confirm that Option A – disabling OpenCL via the XML preference file – resolved the rendering issue. The export completed successfully for the first time and within a fully acceptable duration.

As initial feedback on the result: the BCC+ Witness Protection ML filter works reliably in detecting and blurring all relevant faces. However, there's still some room for improvement in the overall visual quality of the blur effect – particularly in scenes with dynamic motion or varied lighting.

Nonetheless, this is a huge step forward, and I greatly appreciate your support in narrowing down the cause.If this workaround is not yet documented or integrated as a toggle in the GUI for ML effects, I’d recommend considering it – it may help others facing the same rendering crashes.

Ideally, the issue itself should be fixed in a future update – or at the very least, the option to disable OpenCL should be reinstated directly within Premiere Pro for BCC+ ML effects.

Thanks again,
Sascha Block

Update: New Anwer from Boris fx is:

Hi Sascha,
 
Quickly, you mention that you've cleared/offloaded the Media Cache & Database -- did you also Clear/Purge the Plugin Cache in Premiere?  Also, can you confirm that you are logged-into the MacOS as an Admin-level user account, and were at the time of installation & activation (for both Continuum and the Boris Hub, if present)?
 
Either way, let's try this -- Can you try disabling the OpenCL and relaunch Premiere to re-attempt?  To do this, apply a standard "BCC" filter to a clip/image (not a "BCC+" filter) and then go into the Preferences in the BCC filter controls - this will likely be represented by a small button with a Gear-shaped icon.  Click on this and disable the OpenCL mode, as well as changing the Logging to "Comprehensive".  Then, Quit Premiere fully (as well as After Effects and Media Encoder, if either/both are also installed) and relaunch, apply a new instance of the BCC+Witness Protection ML filter, and see if it works faster now.
 
If not, can you relay me the BCC.log file from here? --
Macintosh HD :: Users :: [ Current User / Home folder ] :: Library :: Logs :: BorisFX
 
This should hopefully contain information as to what is causing the slowdown.  With that, can you relay me a Premiere Crash log?
 
Thank you.

xxx xxxxxxxxx
Boris FX Support

18.06.2025 3:29 CET -  response per eMail from BorisFx Support, 

Hi Sascha,
 
Quickly, you mention that you've cleared/offloaded the Media Cache & Database -- did you also Clear/Purge the Plugin Cache in Premiere?  Also, can you confirm that you are logged-into the MacOS as an Admin-level user account, and were at the time of installation & activation (for both Continuum and the Boris Hub, if present)?
 
Either way, let's try this -- Can you try disabling the OpenCL and relaunch Premiere to re-attempt?  To do this, apply a standard "BCC" filter to a clip/image (not a "BCC+" filter) and then go into the Preferences in the BCC filter controls - this will likely be represented by a small button with a Gear-shaped icon.  Click on this and disable the OpenCL mode, as well as changing the Logging to "Comprehensive".  Then, Quit Premiere fully (as well as After Effects and Media Encoder, if either/both are also installed) and relaunch, apply a new instance of the BCC+Witness Protection ML filter, and see if it works faster now.
 
If not, can you relay me the BCC.log file from here? --
Macintosh HD :: Users :: [ Current User / Home folder ] :: Library :: Logs :: BorisFX
 
This should hopefully contain information as to what is causing the slowdown.  With that, can you relay me a Premiere Crash log?
 
Thank you.

Update & Important Findings: Export Fails Even with Media Encoder (Hardware and Software Mode) — macOS Watchdog Panic

Unfortunately, despite switching from direct export in Premiere Pro to Adobe Media Encoder — and trying both GPU acceleration and software-only rendering — the export process crashes macOS entirely.

The WindowServer process fails, causing a kernel panic triggered by the macOS watchdogd. This happened consistently, at different points during export (5:43 min / 11:15 min), even when system resources were optimized and background apps closed.

Critical Insight for Adobe

The software suite offers no prior warning or active export guidance when using ML-intensive effects that may overload system graphics or trigger OS-level failures.

 Suggestion:

1. Premiere Pro and Media Encoder should proactively warn when ML effects like BCC+ Witness Protection are used — and recommend Media Encoder explicitly, including optimal render settings.

2. Add pre-export analysis or stability checks that detect if system conditions or effect combinations are likely to cause GPU overload or OS instability.

Best,
Sascha Block

Workaround That Solved the Issue

After multiple crashes using the built-in export function in Premiere Pro, I was finally able to render the same project without crashing the system by exporting via Adobe Media Encoder. The export completed successfully — although performance was still heavy and rendering time excessive, no OS-level instability occurred.

This strongly suggests that Media Encoder handles memory and GPU load management more gracefully, at least under certain ML effect scenarios. Users encountering similar issues should try this export method as a temporary workaround.

Adobe should actively detect and notify users when critical ML-based effects are applied and proactively recommend exporting via Media Encoder instead of the native Premiere Pro export pipeline. A silent assumption hidden in documentation is not sufficient if OS-level crashes can occur — this must be surfaced in the UI.

Proactive System Feedback Is Missing – ML Effects Should Not Risk OS-Level Failure

Context:
While using the BCC+ Witness Protection ML effect inside Adobe Premiere Pro 2025 (25.2.1) on macOS Ventura with a fully upgraded iMac 2020 (128 GB RAM, Radeon Pro 5500 XT 8 GB), the system crashed repeatedly and severely — leading to a full userspace watchdog timeout and WindowServer crash at the OS level.

The issue is directly linked to rendering a short sequence (under 1 min) containing this ML-based face-blurring effect. Kernel panic logs confirm the OS watchdog triggered after WindowServer became unresponsive under system load, leading to two induced crashes and a complete halt of macOS.

Problem

Neither Adobe Premiere Pro nor Boris FX Continuum provides any real-time feedback, resource warnings, or export recommendations when such high-load, ML-based effects are applied. Instead:

• The app proceeds silently into a resource bottleneck.

• The GPU and system memory reach critical thresholds without notification.

• Rendering freezes the UI, sometimes triggering a macOS kernel panic – resulting in data loss or forced shutdown.

What Should Be Improved

1. Real-Time Resource Awareness

When ML-based effects like BCC+ Witness Protection ML are applied:

• Display a system load indicator (GPU, VRAM, Memory) specific to the effect.

• Flag ML-heavy operations with a „High System Load Expected“ label or warning.

2. Preemptive Warnings

Before starting export or preview playback:

• Alert users if available RAM, VRAM, or system load exceeds safe margins.

• Recommend exporting via Adobe Media Encoder if risk is detected.

3. Fail-Safe Behavior

If system performance degrades significantly during rendering:

• Do not freeze Premiere Pro’s UI.

• Instead, pause the process and notify the user with an option to cancel or fallback to lower settings.

4. Intelligent Load Advisor (Future Feature Suggestion)

Add a simple "ML Workload Advisor" to the Effect Controls panel that:

• Visually indicates current resource demand (e.g., color-coded: green/yellow/red).

• Offers suggestions like „Try Media Encoder“ or „Disable background apps“.
  
  

   

Why This Matters

Many users work with sensitive or legal content where ML-based blurring is essential for privacy. A full system crash triggered by applying such a filter is unacceptable, especially when:

No in-app guidance is given.

The cause is not obvious to non-technical users.

Data loss or OS instability occurs as a result.

Transparency and accessibility should mean:
not just documenting limitations, but actively helping users avoid them.

 I’m happy to collaborate on solving this for the benefit of all creators.

Thanks,
Sascha Block

No chance - Boris FX causes crashed every time. Without the video renders fine. I registered Boris FX in the meantime, so no reason not to fix the causes for them. 

I’ve just captured a full kernel panic (Apple crash log), which confirms that WindowServer hangs entirely during export with BCC+ Witness Protection ML applied. This triggers a system-level watchdog timeout, leading to a forced reboot.

The system doesn’t crash due to low disk space or memory, but because the WindowServer process stops responding — likely caused by GPU overload or unresolved UI resource contention during ML effect processing.

I’m happy to share the crash log if helpful. It contains no personal data and confirms that Premiere Pro or the plugin pushes the system beyond UI-level limits, even on a high-end iMac with 128 GB RAM and dedicated GPU. 

Here is the crash log:

It really sucks - 50 GB free space on harddisc now and still the complete Mac crashes when rendering this 9min Video. This ist