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xstimux
xstimux
Inspiring
March 24, 2026
Question

Premiere Pro performance issue with 17 stacked ProRes Proxy layers in UHD sequence, looking for best workflow

  • March 24, 2026
  • 2 replies
  • 17 views

I’m looking for some workflow advice from editors cutting heavier performance-based material in Premiere.

 

I recently finished a band performance shoot where I have 17 takes of the same song stacked in a single sequence, essentially 17 video layers one above the other. My goal is to cut it almost like slicing a layer cake from top to bottom, meaning I want to move through the stacked takes visually and choose moments from each layer as I build the final edit.

 

I haven’t cut a music video in years and this way of cutting was never an issue but I also never cut open gate material inside of a UHD timeline.

 

Here’s the issue:

Even when only the top visible layer is actually showing in the timeline output, I’m still getting dropped frames and laggy playback. It feels like Premiere is still trying to evaluate or play all 17 layers at once, even though nothing underneath the top layer is visible unless I cut down to it.

 

My setup is not weak:

  • Mac Pro M2 Ultra. 192 GB RAM. Mac OS Sequoia latest update.

  • Media stored on a very fast OWC internal SSD. 12,000mbps read and write speeds.

  • Camera originals were ARRIRAW open gate plus some Phantom 4K Flex material

  • I transcoded the ARRIRAW footage to ProRes Proxy

  • Proxies were made at the original source resolution

  • I’m editing in a UHD timeline (3840x2160)

  • Since the source was open gate from Arri Alexa 35, every clip is being scaled/reframed into the UHD canvas

So I’m wondering if the problem is less about drive speed or codec, and more about the fact that Premiere is still processing all stacked layers, all with scaling, even when only the top layer is visible.

 

What I’m hoping to find out:

  1. Is there a better way to make Premiere effectively ignore the layers underneath unless they are actually exposed?

  2. Is there a workflow for this kind of stacked performance edit that is better than manually piling up 17 takes in one sequence?

  3. Would I have been better off making the proxies at a lower raster instead of original source resolution?

  4. Is there some Premiere setting, workflow trick, or sequence strategy that helps when cutting lots of stacked takes like this?

Again, the idea is to cut by revealing the next layer down, almost like peeling or slicing through stacked performances, not necessarily using a traditional multicam approach unless that is truly the better route.

 

Would love to hear if anyone has dealt with this exact kind of edit and found a smoother method.

 

Thanks in advance.

    2 replies

    xstimux
    xstimuxAuthor
    Inspiring
    March 24, 2026

    I did some testing and found something interesting.

    If I change the sequence settings to the native open gate resolution of 4608 x 3164, all 17 layers play perfectly with no lag and no dropped frames. So that seems to confirm the real issue is not my machine, not the drive speed, and not even the number of layers by itself. It seems to be the performance hit of having all of that open gate material scaled down in real time inside a UHD timeline.

    Since I’ll ultimately need to reposition and reframe back into a UHD timeline, I do not really want to cut the entire piece in open gate and then have to repo a massive number of individual edits afterward.

    So for now, my plan is to keep working in the UHD sequence, but only keep maybe 4 or 5 video layers enabled at the top as my active watch layers, then leave the remaining performance layers below in place but with their video toggled off until I need to audition them.

    That seems like the best compromise between keeping my preferred stacked workflow and avoiding the playback drag.

    S
    Community Expert
    ScottSimmonsCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    March 24, 2026

    On the surface, this should be doable because ProRes proxy is pretty low bandwidth and 17 angles is not very many. I think your thoughts about having them all stacked up could be a good one. What happens when you just solo one video track and turn off all the rest? 

    You could try proxies at a lower resolution, as that is definitely less bandwidth. The other thing you could try, and this is what I always do on a music video, is to try multi-cam and not stack everything up, because a 17-track timeline in and of itself is, in my humble opinion, a big mess. 

    xstimux
    xstimuxAuthor
    Inspiring
    March 24, 2026

    Thanks for the thoughtful response. I really appreciate it.

     

    That said, this stacked method is actually my preferred way of cutting performances. I’ve cut a lot of music pieces this way over the years and, honestly, I’ve never had this kind of drag before, even on lesser machines than the one I’m on now.

     

    So I do feel like something a bit more specific is going on here, whether it’s the open gate source resolution, the way Premiere is handling all the stacked layers, or the fact that my proxies were made at original source size.

     

    I understand the multicam suggestion, and I know that is a cleaner approach for a lot of editors, but for the way I like to work through performances, I really prefer cutting top to bottom through the stack.

     

    One thing I’m now curious about, and maybe the community can weigh in on this too, is whether I’d see similar performance issues if I cut in the native open gate frame size instead of UHD. In this case the source raster is 4608 × 3164.

     

    Would that likely perform about the same, worse, or possibly better since there would be less scaling happening?

     

    Thanks again.

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