Skip to main content
J
Jason327523480lib
Inspiring
February 4, 2026
Question

Beginning of clip is slowed down on Premiere, but not on VLC

  • February 4, 2026
  • 2 replies
  • 31 views

Just opened Premiere to edit a video and the beginning of one of my clips is slowed down or delayed (whichever you call it), which isn't the case in the video file on VLC or the YouTube video I downloaded it from. I did not slow it down myself, that's the raw clip. It's only the beginning of the clip that's slowed down/delayed, the rest of the clip is fine.

 

Win 11 25H2, Premiere Pro 26.0. Video file is mp4 at 1080p 60fps, if it helps.

 

I can't seem to attach the video here directly, so here's a Google Drive link to it: https://drive.google.com/file/d/134E6ta7S_0SWn_IVmHZNSI715Hr18BsQ/view?usp=drivesdk

    2 replies

    Ann Bens
    Community Expert
    Ann BensCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    February 5, 2026

    You can turn on a Dropped Frame Indicator in the Program Monitor (wrench)

      J
      Jason327523480libAuthor
      Inspiring
      February 5, 2026

       Forgot to add my PC specs, file info and Premiere version, so I’ll attach screenshots here instead :)

       

      P
      Community Expert
      PaulMurphyCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      February 5, 2026

      This looks like dropped frames during playback, most likely due to Premiere decoding compressed media.
       

      This should only affect timeline playback. It will not be baked into your export.

       

      To improve playback, try lowering the Playback Resolution to 1/2 using the menu in the bottom right of the Program Monitor.
       

      If the issue persists, creating proxies can help reduce decode load and improve playback performance:
      https://helpx.adobe.com/au/premiere-pro/using/proxy-workflow.html
       

      Also worth noting: your media is 60 fps. A show like How I Met Your Mother would have been mastered at 29.97 fps, so you are asking Premiere to process nearly twice as many frames as necessary.
       

      Non-linear editors like Premiere place much higher demands on media decoding than simple players like VLC, so differences in playback behaviour are expected.

        J
        Jason327523480libAuthor
        Inspiring
        February 8, 2026

        Thanks for the suggestions. I’ve tried lowering playback resolution and enabling the Dropped Frame Indicator per Ann’s suggestion, but it stays green and reports “0 frames dropped during playback” while the issue is still present. The clip itself isn’t directly from the show, it’s from another YouTube channel that must have uploaded it at 60 fps themselves.

         

        I forgot to mention in my post that most of my main (TVSins) clips for all my projects/videos are 23.976 or 24 fps, and my sequence is also set to 23.976 or 24fps to match it. This 60 fps How I Met Your Mother clip is only used as a supporting clip.

         

        What’s interesting is that if I create a new sequence at 59.94 fps (Premiere preset), this clip plays back perfectly normally (I also tested using “New Sequence From Clip,” which made a 60 fps sequence, and playback is normal there as well). That makes me wonder whether I should be working with 60 fps sequences instead for all my projects, since it seems to be working. Will it cause any issues for those 23-24 fps clips like it is now in reverse?

        Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
        Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices