Premier Elements 2021 Freezing

[Mark21964500ocr7]

Editor playback freezes after one or two playback attempts in the editor (after rendering work area)

Program becomes unresponsive spinning the CPU at 37%

Only way out is to kill the program in the task manager and try again

Achieving at most 2 edits before the next freeze

I had specifically bought a new HP laptop with video editing productivity in mind - check the specs :

Processor 11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-1165G7 @ 2.80GHz 1.69 GHz
Installed RAM 32.0 GB (31.8 GB usable)
1TB Solid State hard drive !
System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor

Pretty disappointing to be having to contemplate going back to my 7 year old version of Premiere Elements: running with complete stability on my 6 year old lap top. Hey ho

Any help - especially from Adobe itself if you listen here - gratefully accepted

[John T Smith]

Do not count on Windows to be fully up to date when it comes to device drivers
Go to the vendor site to be sure you have an updated driver for your graphic adapter

nVidia Driver Downloads https://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us
-for all Adobe programs use the STUDIO driver, not the GAMING driver
-To achieve the highest level of reliability, Studio Drivers undergo extensive
-testing against multi-app creator workflows and multiple revisions of the top
-creative applications from Adobe to Autodesk and beyond

If you have a laptop you MAY also need to check for a laptop specific nVidia driver
-SOME laptops require an approved driver from the laptop company, not nVidia

AMD/ATI Driver https://www.amd.com/en/support

Intel https://downloadcenter.intel.com/product/211969/Intel-HD-Graphics-Family

[Mark21964500ocr7]

Dear John

Thanks for very quick reply and help

A look at "system" and they seem to be using the terminology "Display adapters" is that what I'm looking for

It's 

Intel(R) Iris(R) Xe Graphics        (all Greek to me, I'm afraid!)

You can click on it to "update" it, and if you choose "let Windows do it" it says I've got the most up to date one

Am I in the right Ball Park ? Screen shot attached

Cheers

Mark

[John T Smith]

Go to the Intel link I provided and see if the page indicates there is a newer driver for what you have

Do NOTE what I said about laptops... you may need to go to HP for help

[Mark21964500ocr7]

John

Really appreciate your continued help

So Intel have got a program they call "Intel Driver & Support Assistant"

I installed that and ran it. It said updates were available and updated them: including the "Graphics" as it puts it - see screen shot of reassuruing green tick

Sadly though, Premiere Elements still freezes and hangs after one attempt at a play or scrub

So that seems to leave me with getting help from HP? That's one to relish

Mark

[Steve Grisetti]

Have you considered that it might be related to the video you're editing? Where did it come from and what format and resolution is it?

Try opening in a new project and add to it a dozen photos and put them on the timeline. Are you still seeing fits and starts?

[Bill Sprague]

Based on posts here the last couple years, there are settings in Audio Hardware that may cause this on some systems.   Can you post a screen shot of your Audio Hardware preferences page?   

Other posts over time have suggested that disabling the GPU on the General Preferences page improves performance on some systems.   Can you also post a screen shot of your General Preferences page?

[Mark21964500ocr7]

Dear Bill

Thanks for your input

I'm attaching the screen shots you suggest

As I mentioned to Steve Grisetti, two separate Adobe support agents took control of my machine remotely for about 2 hours and were not able to resolve the issue. I mention it because whatever the settings are on the 2 screen shots is how the support agents left them

Also, I am managing to limp along with some edits now by NOT rendering the work area. So I get a complete program crash about every 15 minutes now instead of after every single edit. Hey ho

[Bill Sprague]

The General preference settings look OK.  On the Audio Hardware preferences, try setting the Default Audio Input to "No Input".  There are topics here where some, not all, have found a significant improvement in overall preview performance when that is set to "No Input". 

Steve is never wrong!  I might add that project settings may be a significant issue here.  I'll assume that they are set to 1920x1080 for HD quality.  For you to see a preview, every single frame has to be converted from your 1280x780 footage --in real time!  Add converting the still images to 1920x1080.  Then throw in some stock footage.   Your computer and Premiere Elements may end up working beyond their combined capacity!

You suggest that the rendering causes crashes.  Try setting the work area bars to the portion you are working.  Then when you do a preview render, it will do just that portion instead of doing the entire timeline at once.   

[Mark21964500ocr7]

Dear Bill

Thanks for your continued input

>> On the Audio Hardware preferences, try setting the Default Audio Input to "No Input"

I noticed that one of the 2 Adobe support agents did that. With no positive result.

>> I'll assume that they are set to 1920x1080 for HD quality

Yes. See screenshot. But for some reason our production MP4s - straight off the camera are 1280x720. For a decade, I haven't been aware of that. And I wasn't aware it was weird. But in Premiere Elements 13 (running on Barney Rubble's laptop) it's never been an issue

I don't seem to be able to change the project settings retrospectively. So should I try a new project with the video size  explicitly set to 1280x780 ?

As a final truth experiment, I've just checked on Barney Rubble's laptop - where I've been forced to continue editing this very same project on Premiere Elements 13 - so same 1280x720 MP4s. And the project setting is .... you guessed it 1920x1080 !

And I'm not having any of the same issues. Hmmm

[Bill Sprague]

"So should I try a new project with the video size  explicitly set to 1280x780 ?"

Follow Steve's video.  When you slide the first clip to the timeline, it should set PrE to the best project setting for that clip.

[Mark21964500ocr7]

Dear Steve

Thanks for your input and, by the way, thanks for all the Youtube videos

I hadn't given the files much thought because my workload's essentially no different from those halcyon days of a 7 years-ago Premiere Elements on a 6 year old laptop

The content's mainly MP4 from a Canon video camera at 1280X720. Admittedly, I mix that with both photos and videos I find on Pexels etc

I did your test project with a dozen photos: as far as I can see in a 5 minute test, the program's working perfectly on that. So that would suggest you're on to something

I would also add, for what it's worth ...

1) On the production project where I'm stuck with the program crashing nearly all the time, I can avoid most of the crashes (and get some work done) if I DO NOT render the work area

2) Two separate Adobe support agents took control of my machine remotely for about 2 hours and were not able to resolve the issue on the production project

[Steve Grisetti]

If you look under the Edit menu, what shows on the General page under Project Settings? Ideally these settings should be the same as your video (In your case 1280x720). -

What are you shooting at 1280x720, by the way? It's not quite HD and it's not quite Standard Def. Why not shoot in full HD? Your computer can certainly handle it. Though I'm assuming that Canon camcorder you're shooting with is at least a good Vixia series AVCHD cam.

Finally, the photos. Premiere Elements does a much better job handling higher resolution photos than it used to. But today's photos can be kind of large -- and you're using them in a medium resolution project. I used to recommend sizing photos to no larger than 3000x1875 pixels in size -- and I still do that. That way the program doesn't waste power down-sizing photos. And yes I know you've got a pretty powerful computer there, but Premiere Elements is not good at milking all the power from big rigs. 

At the very least, try rendering your timeline regularly by pressing the Enter or Return key on your keyboard. As long as you've got a green line running along the top of the timeline, it should play very smoothly.

[Mark21964500ocr7]

Steve

>> If you look under the Edit menu, what shows on the General page under Project Settings?

1920 X 1080

>> What are you shooting at 1280x720, by the way?

Vidoes of  us refilling toner cartridges. We've just been turning on the same camera and shooting for about a decade now. Everything has just worked, so I never needed to know. But the file explorer properties agree with 1280 X 720. See screen shot. So there is a mis-match as you were hinting at, but I  do not seem to be able to change it

This particular footage was shot with the Canon Legria HF R36

It's PDF says its "FULL HD", but I think I remember reading that you have to shoot in HVCHD to get the best camera-raw quality. But for using with the video editor, I thought MP4 would be a better bet. Hahahahha !

>> Finally, the photos. 

In fact, the crashes did accelerate from about 6 an hour to 1 a minute shortly after I added a photo to the timeline. But that JPG (of William Shakespeare) turned out to be only 600 X 360

So the take away from all this is that I should start a new project with the video size explicitly set to 1280x720 ?

I the meantime, I've gone back to editing the same project with Premiere Elements 13 on Fred Flintstone's computer. That's working. Yaba Daba Do!

Thanks for your interest, Steve. I appreciate it

[Steve Grisetti · Accepted solution]

There is a trick for changing your project settings to match your video specs in mid-project. I show it to you in the tutorial below.

Meantime, have you tried rendering the timeline (by pressing the Enter key so that the line along the top of the timeline turns green)? As I said, that may give the program the breathing room to regain stability.

[Mark21964500ocr7]

Dear John, Bill and Steve

Thank you all for helpful suggestions. All suggestions have value and I've learned a lot.

I followed Steve's video for changing project settings mid flow and - bingo!

As long as I don't render the work area, I'm enjoying days of bug-free editing

If I render: crashes, hangs and/or no image in the editor follow within seconds

Two enigmas remain ...

   1) Why does Steve Grisetti's mid-project hack work better than starting with a project explicitly set to the right size (you know, apart from just the "Steve Grisetti Mystique")

    2) Why does rendering cause the crashes, but working off the raw mix is OK

Perhaps the bigger take-away - and correct me if I'm wrong, guys - in the sub 4K world, I want to be setting up the camera (or getting a camera that shoots at) 

1920x1080    ?

[Bill Sprague]

I'm not Steve, but.....

1.  Steve's "hack" is doing the same thing as a "normal" start.  Premiere Elements is programed to look at the first clip you put on the timeline, analize it and pick the best project settings for that clip.   The opening screen showing options to pick a "right size" is misleading because, in most cases, it is not needed.  

2.  I'm not sure what you mean by "raw mix", but if you mean the source files during the editing process there may be an answer.  In any video editor, the hard work for the computer is keeping a lively "real time" preview working.  Nobody but the programers know how that works but, somehow in your system, something fails.   

1920x1080 is the current standard.  It goes a little beyond that, but to keep it simple, the current standard includes using the H.264 codec and shooting "progressive" not interlaced.   It should also be capable of being set to 2 channel "stereo" for audio.  

[Mark21964500ocr7]

Hey Bill

Thanks again for your continued input

On your point 1 "Premiere Elements is programed to look at the first clip you put on the timeline, analize it and pick the best project settings for that clip"

Except that it didn't! In my original project that started off this skirmish, the first clip - indeed the first 10 clips - were all definitely 1280x720

And yet, as we saw in previous posts, the non-performing project was definitely 1920x1080 (chosen, or at least not over-ridden by Premiere)

Well, maybe Adobe feel that you're still best off editing 1280x720 in a 1920x1080. Or maybe there's a glitch that lets the unexpected 1280x720 through

Either way, this mismatch seems to the be the main issue and Steve's mid-flow settings change method fixed it enough so I can work

It would be ideal if rendering the timeline would not lead to hangs and crashes, but I can work OK with the un-rendered timeline

My main takeaway is ... if not in 4K, do everything you can to work with 1920x1080 clips

Thanks again, Bill, I appreciate your help

[Bill Sprague]

""FULL HD", but I think I remember reading that you have to shoot in AVCHD to get the best camera-raw quality."

Be careful with AVCHD.  Kinda left over from the Blu-Ray days it normally includes "5.1", five channel audio.  Premiere Elements no longer works well with 5.1 audio.  If you can, find a setting in your camera for 2 channel audio at 1920x1080.

[Mark21964500ocr7]

Dear Bill and Steve

So I started a new Premiere project with resolution explicitly set to the size of my camera raw MP4: 1280X720

I also ticked the option to not let Premiere change that

I then enjoyed 2 hours of video editing Nirvana. Smooth playback, fast cuts, keyboard shortcuts a go-go. Yeahhhh.

But just before lunch yesterday, after adding a JPG to the timeline - actually the second copy of the same JPG on the timeline - WHAM. Play freeze. No scrubbing. No video display. Whirring CPU. Unresponsive program that you have to crash in the task manager to get out of.

Try as I might. Turn machine on and off. Program on and off, etc. I'm lucky to be able to make one edit before the same thing happens again. Please  see supporting screen shots.

Reflecting: this is the same thing that happened on the original (and we hypothesize, wrongly configured 1920X1080 project). That is I did enjoy more than an hour of pain free editing and get about 4 minutes of the video done. On this - we suppose - correctly configured project, I've added another 4 minutes of edits and now again: totally stuck with the same playback problem.

Steve, I take your point about rendering the timeline. Please see green confirmation line on frozen playback screenshot. However, it's my very strong gut feeling that the "Big Freeze" is LESS likely if I don't in fact render. 

[michellezhong28584933nthj]

I had the same issues with my Premiere Element 2022.  It was so frustrated especially it freezed every few seconds while editing.  I had searched and viewed most of your recommandation you provided to others with the same issues.  None worked for mine.  I believe Premiere Element really needs to pay more attention to this issue when the next one is updated.  I actully no longer using Premiere Element and had switched to Cyberlink, per one of your reviewer's recommandation.  Cyberlink does not have this issues at all.  Indeed I am soooooo happy about it.  It save lots of my time and it is more convience to edit the video.