Adobe Premiere 2024 - very slow encoding

Report · Oct 30, 2023

Duration of my project is just 3min 16s. It is 4K 60fps

My CPU in Intel I9 9900K OC@4.7GHz

I changed only 3 very basic parameters:

- Color

- Lighting

-Temperature and Tint

Encoding of my project is very slow even without changing resolution and framerate. It takes 2h for single pass encoding. At the same time my CPU usage is relatively low.

https://youtu.be/g0ve_2xkaKU

It is normal? Why is it so slow?

2h for 3min clip!!!!

Report · Oct 30, 2023

Something is definitely wrong there. With your rig is should take less than the running time to encode a movie.

What is the format and resolution of your original footage and what device created it?

Report · Oct 30, 2023

Here are details for my input files. They are from GoPro 8

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : HEVC
Format/Info                              : High Efficiency Video Coding
Format profile                           : Main@L6@Main
Codec ID                                 : hvc1
Codec ID/Info                            : High Efficiency Video Coding
Duration                                 : 17 s 34 ms
Bit rate                                 : 101 Mb/s
Width                                    : 3 840 pixels
Height                                   : 2 160 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 59.940 (60000/1001) FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.203
Stream size                              : 204 MiB (100%)
Title                                    : GoPro H.265
Language                                 : English
Encoded date                             : 2016-01-11 00:52:53 UTC
Tagged date                              : 2016-01-11 00:52:53 UTC
Color range                              : Full
Color primaries                          : BT.709
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709
Codec configuration box                  : hvcC

Audio
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : AAC LC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID                                 : mp4a-40-2
Duration                                 : 17 s 24 ms
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 192 kb/s
Nominal bit rate                         : 48.0 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel layout                           : L R
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                               : 46.875 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 392 KiB (0%)
Title                                    : GoPro AAC  
Language                                 : English
Encoded date                             : 2016-01-11 00:52:53 UTC
Tagged date                              : 2016-01-11 00:52:53 UTC

Report · Oct 30, 2023

Premiere Elements can only work natively with 3840x2160 that is 30 fps. GoPro footage at 60 fps is known to cause the program to bog down. The fact that it's also HEVC video is adding to the issue.

If this is the video you're planning to edit, I'd recommend you check out a different editor. Premiere Pro for instance. I think you'll find editing this footage with Premiere Elements is going to end up a very frustrating experience.

Report · Oct 31, 2023

Premiere Elements can only work natively with 3840x2160 that is 30 fps.

Based on what are you saying this? You can import and export 4K 60fps files in APE. You can set 3840x2160 60fps in your project settings so I completely don’t understand your statement.

GoPro footage at 60 fps is known to cause the program to bog down. The fact that it's also HEVC video is adding to the issue.

HEVC is listed as supported file format:

Supported file formats in Adobe Premiere Elements

GoPro is the most popular action cam in the world and it records videos using currently most popular codecs: H.264 and H.265. Both of them have been available for many years so the most recent version of Adobe Premiere Elements (2024) should handle them without any isses. I have proven that APE can import and edit even 4K 120fps https://youtu.be/YSzpKyuD4B0

Adobe Premiere Elements 2021 & 2024 + HEVC – my ex... - Adobe Community - 14188553

The problem is that HEVC is poorly implemented in APE even though they had many years to do that properly.

If this is the video you're planning to edit, I'd recommend you check out a different editor. Premiere Pro for instance. I think you'll find editing this footage with Premiere Elements is going to end up a very frustrating experience.

Premiere Elements offers many options/effects/parameters etc which are more than enough for me, I mean, for amateur video editing. APE offers more than average home video editor needs.

THE PROBLEM is that some fundamental options/features are not working as they should and I agree, this is very frustrating for the paid software. However I’m not going to spend even more for Premiere Pro just to use its 5% of capabilities only because APE developers don’t want to fix some obvious problems with basic functions.

Report · Oct 31, 2023

I'm not apologizing for nor defending the program, Tomek. I'm merely pointing out that you're clearly bumping up against the program's limitations. I think you'd be much happier with a program that better fits your workflow. This little consumer program clearly isn't it.

Report · Oct 31, 2023

Please believe me that I really like APE. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t. As you know there are a few alternative video editing programs available including free ones. Adobe’s strategy is focused on adding some ‘flashy features and functions’ which look good in adverts but have limited usability and at the same time some basic functions are not working as they should.

Of course, at some point my level of frustration can reach some threshold and I’ll decide to abandon APE. Now I’m waiting for an update to the version 2024.

Report · Oct 31, 2023

Could not agree more: flashing awful features and no improvement on functionality.

Don't count on an update for 2024.

Report · Oct 31, 2023

You have all the ingredients for slow export:

max depth, max render, software encoding, 100 mbps, hevc

A supported codec does not mean the codec is easy to edit with an editing program: hevc is a big pita to edit.

Even for Premiere Pro it is best to use proxies or convert to an easy editing codec such as prores.

Report · Oct 31, 2023

You have all the ingredients for slow export: max depth, max render, software encoding, 100 mbps, hevc

I know that since I want to achieve very good output quality, but still, encoding is very slow and CPU usage is quite low. This is not something I would expect

A supported codec does not mean the codec is easy to edit

This topic is not about editing. Please do not mix editing and encoding as this leads to confusions.

hevc is a big pita to edit

No. You are wrong. Hevc files from GoPro are easy to edit in APE2024 as long as the size of the GOP is relatively small. APE has some issues with HEVC files which I described in other post (transitions etc.) but editing itself is the same as editing H.264 files

Even for Premiere Pro it is best to use proxies or convert to an easy editing codec such as prores.

Again! I'm not complaing about editing here. I'm complaining about encoding time.

Report · Oct 31, 2023

If you use an edit friendly codec its also easy to encode.

Report · Oct 31, 2023

I did a test especially for you to show that HEVC is not a main problem here:

Please have a look: https://youtu.be/YDAGM26D-UY

I imported 4k 30 fps H.264 video (not 60fps HEVC!!!!) and placed it on the timeline. I didn’t add any transitions etc. Duration of the video is 4min 40s
Encoding time for Devices/Computer/Medium Quality is around 4min 30s. Very good time.
Encoding time for my preset, which is 100Mbit, single pass, 4K, 30fps render at max depth is around 6min 30s. Still good time.
After that I made a few very basic changes to Color, Lighting and Temperature and Tint. Encoding time for my preset (the same as above) is now: 1h 4min 30s and this is very slow in my opinion

I fully understand that additional processing of Color, Lighting etc. requires more time but the whole process becomes VERY slow.

30 min project would be exported for around 6 hours!!!

Of course, it would take even longer for 60fps project.... not to mention about 2 pass encoding…..

And this is all for H.264 format without any transitions or 'artistic' effects

That is why I think that HEVC is NOT an issues here. Not even encoding but rendering is taking a lot of time for some reason.

I've seen something similar when changing Shadow/Highlight

Adobe Premiere Elements 2024 and earlier - Shadow/... - Adobe Community - 14176469

Report · Nov 04, 2023

I too make lots of 4K 60fps videos, and I switched to Powerdirector 365. The rendering time is unbelieveable compared to APE, and you can export in HEVC.
I have to say I'm so disappointed in PE 2024. I was hoping Adobe would really add much more AI and more features.
I've used Premier Elements since the first version, and became very fluent, but ever since last year, when they removed features, I bit the bullet and started using PowerDirector 365. The annual subscription costs LESS than Premiere Elements, and it blows Adobe Elements away. I think best overall would be the Adobe Premier Pro, but I realize that is not for everyone, and too expensive, but the PowerDirector 365 subscription is almost as good as Adobe Premier Pro for a cheaper price than Adobe's Elements!! PowerDirector 365 has thousands of music tracks, full access to their stock libraries, and now that I have gotten use to it, I believe the learning curve was much easier since it is much more intuitive than elements. Plus, with the subscription, you get updates and added titles, overlays, and much more almost monthly. The De-noise AI, Dialog AI, Text to Speech for subtitles are much more advanced than Premiere Elements. I just wish Adobe had added more to elements. It was always my got-to video editor, but sadly not anymore. This is not a plug for Cyberlink lol, but even with the color adjustments, lighting, and other effects that I use as well, my 4K 60fps 68bit 30 minute videos render in about 15 mins. You might want to give it a try? That's what I did and glad I switched.

Report · Nov 04, 2023

billgoolsby- I'm curious if your experience with PowerDirector is with MP4 input of 4K at 60 fps. Clearly I've hit a max wall with APE, and wondering if PowerDirector is built for this. I've looked at their website, and under stats, it "says" it can handle it, but frankly- APE never states it can't handle it.

Report · Nov 04, 2023

It is not a problem at all in PD. I use a GoPro Hero11 and record at the highest settings. 4K/60fps (3840X2160 59.94 fps at 186 kbps) mp4's are not a problem. I import over 100 of these video files into my single Powerdirector project at one time, and it doesn't have any problem. I create 20-30 min 4K videos that are about 20GB's when I'm done, then I can export in any codec (including HEVC) and it is so much faster (about 15-20 mins.) Granted, I have a beefy computer (Dell XPS 8950), and I use the NVIDIA card exceleration that is built into Powerdirector.
I'm not trying to give Adobe PE a bad rap, I used it for many many years, and I could edit so quickly because I knew it like the back of my hand, but last year they removed some of the third party plugins, and I just got tired of installation problems, and other issues. I started experimenting with PowerDirector after all the good reviews, and I found myself using both. I would edit the video sound files in Powerdirector because it has incredible wind denoise and speech dialog enhancment AI's, then save the audio and import it into Adobe PE. Once APE 2024 came out, there just wasn't enough change to make me want to buy it again. I mean dark mode? That's a feature that should have been added years ago. So, I bit the bullet and dove into PD and it is so intuitive, I picked it up really quick. I also got tired of the same limited music tracks in Adobe PE. With Powerdirector, I have thousands of royalty free music tracks, templates, plugins, effects, etc. And, I get monthly updates of new sound effects, music tracks, templates, for cheaper ($55/annually) than I was paying Adobe. Just made sense for me anyway. One cool feature in Powerdirector is there is an AI that will turn all your speech into text and create your subtitles for you for close caption. Anyway, like I say, Adobe is a good product too, maybe I just grew out of its limited features, and decided to go with something that offered more features for less cost.

I mean... look what you get for $55 a year for the 365 version! Then, they always offer me the same deal to renew, but even at $75/year, it is cheaper than Adobe Premier Elements!

https://www.cyberlink.com/products/powerdirector-video-editing-software/comparison_en_US.html

https://www.pcmag.com/categories/video-editing

Powerdirector is more comparable to Adobe Premier Pro, not to Premiere Elements. Adobe Premiere Pro would be the best, but I'm not going to pay that much for what I do, but that would be my most prefered editor.

All my videos here I made with Adobe PE over the years with the exception of the last 3 videos, that are in 4K, I made with Powerdirector.
https://www.youtube.com/@TravelNationalParks

Everyone is going to tell you something different. I just wanted the most for my money, and Powerdirector has evolved into a pretty good editor.

Report · Nov 04, 2023

Strange, I replied to this post and it is gone? I wonder if it was the links in it?

Anyway, Powerdirector has no problems with any files. I import about 100 full 4K videos into a single project and I great a 15-20GB 30 min video in full 4K with no problems.

Report · Nov 06, 2023

Thank you for your comments. I’ve been using APE for many years and in general it offers what I need but some functions are not working well. Even some very basic functions such as change of contrast or change of saturation are not working well, or at least they give very strange results

Besides, for some strange reason they stopped improving APE in terms of GPU acceleration (effects, transitions, encoding). Even some very basic functions are not working well.

What drives me crazy is the constant re-zooming the preview window. They are advertising APE saying “Enjoy a whole new editing experience with a fresh look” but at the same time I can’t change the default size of the preview window (it is too small) and some elements are missing.

I’ve downloaded trial version of PD but couldn’t export anything since the program requires registration. For some reason I didn’t get email with activation link to my account. I hope I’ll get it today.

What I always like about APE is very good output quality and stability. I need to test if PD is the same in that regard.

Report · Aug 25, 2024

The frequent long renderings have made me give up on Premiere Elements before. Now back to see if things have may changed, as I now have a much more powerful computer and Windows 11 Pro, but so far, added an effect and it starts to struggle and had to render. Ridiculous or what? Still on the trial version! Used Filmora without hardly ever rendering, just they charge for most of the effects and transitions and have other problems with much advertised features that they are still developing but you pay the full price for! Also Premiere Elements does not seem to have any customer or technical service. Not good....

Report · Aug 25, 2024

I e been using Power Director 365. While it’s not perfect, it’s quite fast, offers lots of fast effects (if not too many). Compared to Adobe Premier, it’s cheaper, and much faster. My only complaint is that they constantly put out updates that are either not very useful, or sometimes break what had been working fine. But again, overall, leagues better.
Mark Erskine

Report · Aug 25, 2024

Many thanks, Mark, I really appreciate the advice and it is actually on my list. Trying to do this all on my own, not being technical at all and most of the software being so bad has been a nightmare. I am going to show this version of Premier Elements to the friend who owns the two versions I worked with in the past to see if he agrees with me that this version is completely watered down. A question would be, whether this is because it is a trial version but I don't think so. I think that it was the 2023 that I tried on my windows computer (before I was using Apple), and it was so slow and rendering so much that I lost the will to live and therefore went with Filmora, which suits my needs to a T, but is rubbish on many aspects and now you kind of buy a house without windows and doors and if you want those too you have to pay more than yhou paid for the house, so to speak, as they still tell you that they offer you over 15 million of the both of them but when you get there there are now maybe a handful. I got my money back from them. Final Cut Pro was a nightmare for sync voice because of the magnetic timeline that does not allow you to leave gaps and buil up the video as you wish. So now back searching. Downloaded the free DaVinci Resolve. In the past I tried it and it wasn't bad, similar timeline as the other ones, now it is a complete learning curve. I know all about the updates, which usually do more harm than good. Crazy!!!!

Report · Aug 25, 2024

I didn't have Power Director 365 on my list but another two different ones, because this one is on subscription so in the long run it ends up being a lot more expensive than Filmora or Premiere Elements. Or do you know where one ca can a lifetime subscription?

Report · Aug 25, 2024

You can buy PowerDirector outright for something g like $100. You then own it. It’s a free trial for I think two weeks. Try it. On a windows 11 laptop, it’s better than anything else I’ve tried. Y the way, Davinci is great, but too slow on rendering.
Mark Erskine

Report · Aug 25, 2024

But are you sure that it is 365? Because that one seems to be only on subscription, £49.99 a month. Then you have PowerDirector Ultimate 2024 that is sold in the UK for £109.99 and PowerDirector Ultra 2024 which here costs £79.99. So many versions that it gets the more confusing. I am now waiting for the people from Davinci Resolve to tell me how to revert the layout to Final Cut Pro or Premiere Elements, because I uninstalled it but it just comes back as DaVinci layout, and that is so confusing.... Slow rendering is something I don't understand. Filmora is not an amazing software, because if it was I would still be with them but rendering was just something you did in a few seconds before exporting! So, if some can do it, why not others. And the Smart Cut Pro is really useful, when it works, that is. The problem is small details like fingers and high heels.

Report · Aug 25, 2024

Sounds like they have different marketing packages there. Yes, 365 is a subscription product. They also offer a you own it product. It’s more limited, and I am a heavy effects user.
Mark Erskine

Report · Aug 25, 2024

I used Adobe Premier Elements from the day it came out all the way up to the 2023 version, then I switched to PowerDirector 365. I bought Adobe Primier Elements every year in order to get the new features, so for me, it was no different than getting the subscription to PowerDirector. Only PowerDirector is half the price! I'm not a salesman, but PowerDirector 365 is only $55 per year, and you will not find a more feature rich, intuative video editing software. PowerDirector 365 is on the same playing field as Adobe Premier Pro (not elements). It has a ton more features than Premier Elements and hardly comparable. The rendering alone makes it worth it and I can Render a 4K video that is 30 mins long at 60FPS and a 70bitrate in about 5 mins. Of course that is depending on your hardware, but comparably, it would take Adobe Premier Elements maybe 2 hours on the same machine.
I've used Filmora, DaVinci, and others and I settled on PowerDirector because the learning curve is low, there are plenty of training videos and for the price, you cannot beat $55 per year for the features it offeres!
You can do your own research for best video editing software and decide for yourself. But PowerDirector is the way yo go.