"Preparing Audio" is taking too long-- claims to be processing hundreds of audio clips

[literallyselina]

On and off for months now I have been faced with the exporting bug "Preparing Audio (X of XXXX)." Adobe Media Encoder claims to be processing a range of hundreds to thousands of audio files when I have, at max, 7 audio tracks. I have found many other posts here and on Reddit with the same problem with no answer from Adobe. I'm hoping they will see this and help!

I'm going to break down my sequences, troubleshooting, fixes, and failures. All of these projects are for a remote video podcast whose workflow has evolved and grown more complicated but maintains the same bug.

May 2023:

• I begin the podcast editing process.
• I'm using Adobe Premiere 2022.
• My timeline has one video source (export from OBS), another video track for nested graphics and After Effects animations, 4 podcast audio tracks, one audio track for sound effects, and 1-2 audio tracks for music
• The "preparing audio" bug begins. Takes hours to process THOUSANDS of audio files, then it takes another hour or 2 to process the video.
• When I try exporting in Premiere, it still takes a very long time. I believe the only difference is Premiere doesn't show what it's processing, just the status bar. Meanwhile, Media Encoder gives me a breakdown of what it's doing.

June 2023:

• I update to Premiere 2023.
• We upgrade the podcast production from OBS to Riverside.fm.
• I evolve into a multi-cam workflow. My multi-cam sequence contains 2 other sequences that have 6 video tracks, then I add in the 4 individual video tracks and a timecode adjustment layer. 
• Upon a final export, I'm exporting: one multi-cam track, a track with nested graphics and After Effects animations, 4 podcast audio tracks, one audio track for sound effects, and 1-2 audio tracks for music--  on average, 9 tracks in total
• The "preparing audio" bug persists.
• My CPU fans start degrading.

July 2023:

• I call in reinforcements from a friend who works in IT. I replace my CPU cooling system and update my CPU and GPU drivers.
• I find a YouTube tutorial with this same issue. They recommend creating sequences by dragging footage into the "new item" button at the bottom of the project window in order to maintain the video file's settings. The goal is to minimize processing errors by remaining true to the footage. This was never an issue in the past, but I'm willing to try anything.
• I find a forum tip that recommends disabling the setting that creates waveforms. I can't seem to get Premiere to stop processing waveforms. 
• I follow another forum tip to remove user settings every time I open Premiere. Now every time I open Premiere it removes the multicam button at the bottom of the preview window. A minor inconvenience, but fine.
• After doing all of this in one weekend, when I start editing a new episode of the podcast on Monday, it starts running smoothly! My IT friend and I guess that the culprit was likely an overheating CPU and outdated drivers.
• The bug is no longer!

August 2023:

• My workflow remains the same.
• I make sure both Premiere and Media Encoder are up-to-date.
• I update my drivers every time one is available.
• 08/20/23, the bug has returned! It's doing the same thing as before, but running a liiiiittle faster because of my upgraded hardware. But it's processing HUNDREDS of audio files (note: far less than the bug's previous iteration, but a bug nonetheless)! 
• Based on this forum post, I try flattening my multicam files, deleting files I am not using in my timeline, and experimenting with different export settings. 
• The bug persists.

I am at a loss for what else I could possibly do. This seems to be entirely an Adobe problem and now my workflow is taking longer which is interfering with my deadlines!

ADOBE HELP ME

Specs:

Adobe Media Encoder 23.2.1

in conjunction with Adobe Premiere Pro 23.2

Windows 10

[EckiAME]

I am very sorry fo your issues. Would you be able to share a project with files that reproduces the issue 100%? I can private message you the instructions in this forum. 

Does the issue also show up in 24.0 Betas?

[literallyselina]

Hi, sure. Go ahead and shoot me a DM.

re: 24.0 beta, how do I access it? I've only been doing the CC updates.

[a_topke91]

Was Adobe able to resolve this for you? I've tried all of the solutions posted on different forums and I still keep getting hours-worth of export times. 

[literallyselina]

I haven’t found a sure-fire solution yet. If I make sure to create a
timelines from the footage, it hastens the process.

[JeDiBanKai]

ONE audio track and I have infinitely "preparing audio" at Pr and just long but works at Encoder. Adobe?))))))))))000000

Omg....

[Alexis32413745yhrn]

Hi there,

I encounter the same issue.
I've got a 96kHz sound, unfortunately, but my Sequence settings are correctly setted up to 96kHz -> it solved the issue of endless "Preparing audio files" at the beginning of editing, even if I was finally exporting in 48hHz (wich is the limit of Premiere).

But the problem came up again, and I can't solve it now by any mean found on this forum.

For my short film, Media Encoder is rendering more than 600 audio files each time I launch an export, even if it concerns a few part of the editing.

My final sequence is made of subsequences, but the problem's still the same when I'm trying to export from one subsequence (with the number of audio files included in).

It's very frustrating and time-consuming, but the problem seems to be unfixed from 2014 at least, according to this forum.

[Scott5EA4]

I was having this issue as well. Driving me insane! I found this other post which said the bitrate of the sequence and audio clips didn't match. I have 96 kHz audio, but the sequence was set to 48 kHz. I set the sequence to 96 kHz to match the audio clips. When exporting to ME it'll still max out at 48 kHz, but it no longer "prepares audio clips" for hours. 

[eckiAMETeam]

We have a bug for this. Audio team is looking into the issues.

[FX274935028ocp]

Hey

Audio sample rate in the timeline.

Example:
Timeline at 48khz and audio files at 32khz or others.

To resolve.

Configure your timeline for most audio sample rates.

Premiere converts "audio preparing" audio files to the timeline's sample rate.

[Nicolaus279054717rim]

Thank you! It worked for me!

[Jacob McGarry]

What FX274935028ocp said worked for me - change the sample rate of the sequence before exporting.

Sequence > Sequence Settings > Sample Rate (in the Audio section)

[Elaskanator]

I updated all my software to 2024 and same issue for me. Other comments below have the solution: ENSURE PROJECT SETTING SAMPLE RATE MATCHES YOUR SOURCE.

I was using 96 kHz audio and project settings default to 48 kHz. Took 15 minutes to prepare audio before encoding a 3 minute video, now it starts instantly! Granted the AmbiX (or quadraphonic?) bug still exists where it says there are 32 audio channels instead of 4, but still exports ok.

[TLaurence]

All of my audio is 48khz and my timeline is set to 48khz. Still taking much too long to export audio. Anyone have any other ideas? 

[Jacob McGarry]

1. Do you have any nested sequences in your project? I ran into this problem with a multicam sequence. If my editing timeline is set to 48k, but my multicam sequence is set to 96k, I still have the problem.

2. Are you also exporting in 48k?

3. Maybe just re-export each audio in the timeline from Audition (which doesn't stall in the same way), and see if the problem goes away when your replace one of them in Premiere.

[TLaurence]

Jacob, thanks for the suggestions.  Most of the sequence is multi-cams, so there are nests. But the sequence and the audio inside the nests is all 48k. Also exporting to 48k.  The last project I edited was a full-length doc (as is this project) and I had the same problem. Never solved it. The way I work is to multi-cam the cameras then replace the audio with the external audio inside the multi-cam. I don't recall this being a problem until my last project.