Using Effects on HD Clips in project Causes Flickering

[Todd_D_B]

I purchased Photoshop and Premiere Elements 2024 thinking they would provide a more polished and powerful editing capabilities than the free and open source tools I have used for several years for editing photos and making videos.

Whereas I have successfully used open source Shotcut for several years on my Windows 10 11th Gen i7 with Iris Xe Graphics to produce videos comprised of edited photos and video clips, I am unable to reliably apply even basic effects to HD video clips in Premiere Elements 2024 project without risk of the video clips flickering, misbehaving, and being black for majority of playback.  (Occurs in preview, timeview view, and published video.)

I have had a support ticket open with Adobe for 9 days.  I have spent many hours on support calls with no resolution or explanation.  I have provided everything Support has requested.

On 3 different days when Support was supposed to contact me for next steps, Support did not contact me.

I am in disbelief at the dual negative experiences of:

1) Latest version of commercial tool unable to reliably accomplish basic tasks on HD video clips (not even 4k) which are its primary function.

2) The ineffective and unreliable (repeatedly not contacting me when I provide time slot) Support offerred by Adobe.

How might I get resolution other than a refund, which won't come close to compensating me for the wasted time?

[Steve Grisetti]

Much could be related to the specs of your source video. Is this video from a camcorder or from some other source? This is not typical behavior, but certain video formats, resolutions and frame rates can cause issues.

We can certainly explore this if you'd like. Open your source video in the free download MediaInfo. In MediaInfo, set View to Text and then copy the text of this report and paste it this forum. With this information we can better direct you to a solution.

[Todd_D_B]

Thank you Steve.  Video clips are from phone (Google Pixel 6) and GoPro.  I'm not capturing 4k in either one.

I used MediaInfo for a clip that has been problematic (initially behaved fine, then misbehaved consistently--while working fine when opened with other tools like Windows Photos).

General
Complete name : C:\Users\Public\Videos\2024\06_Michawana\PXL_20240627_013815054.TS.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media
Codec ID : isom (isom/iso2/mp41)
File size : 13.8 MiB
Duration : 5 s 693 ms
Overall bit rate : 20.3 Mb/s
Frame rate : 30.037 FPS
Encoded date : 2024-06-27 01:38:22 UTC
Tagged date : 2024-06-27 01:38:22 UTC
com.android.manufacturer : Google
com.android.model : Pixel 6
Conformance errors : 2
moov : Yes
trak : Yes
mdia : Yes
minf : Yes
stbl : Yes
stsd : Yes
mett : Yes
meta : Yes
General compliance : Element size 1768910375 is more than maximal permitted size 18 (offset 0xDC59E9)
micr : Yes
General compliance : Element size 1768910375 is more than maximal permitted size 52 (offset 0xDC59E9)

Video
ID : 3
Format : HEVC
Format/Info : High Efficiency Video Coding
Format profile : Main@L5.1@Main
Codec ID : hvc1
Codec ID/Info : High Efficiency Video Coding
Duration : 5 s 693 ms
Bit rate : 20.0 Mb/s
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Rotation : 180°
Frame rate mode : Variable
Frame rate : 30.037 FPS
Minimum frame rate : 29.841 FPS
Maximum frame rate : 33.198 FPS
Real frame rate : 30.000 FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.322
Stream size : 13.6 MiB (99%)
Title : VideoHandle
Language : English
Encoded date : 2024-06-27 01:38:22 UTC
Tagged date : 2024-06-27 01:38:22 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 : 5 s 673 ms
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 192 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 : 132 KiB (1%)
Title : SoundHandle
Language : English
Encoded date : 2024-06-27 01:38:22 UTC
Tagged date : 2024-06-27 01:38:22 UTC

Other #1
ID : 1
Type : meta
Format : mett
Codec ID : mett
Duration : 5 s 693 ms
Bit rate mode : Variable
Title : MetaHandle
Language : English
Encoded date : 2024-06-27 01:38:22 UTC
Tagged date : 2024-06-27 01:38:22 UTC

Other #2
ID : 4
Type : meta
Format : mett
Codec ID : mett
Bit rate mode : Constant
Title : MetaHandle
Language : English
Encoded date : 2024-06-27 01:38:22 UTC
Tagged date : 2024-06-27 01:38:22 UTC

[John T Smith]

>Iris Xe Graphics

>video clips flickering, misbehaving, and being black for majority of playback

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

Intel https://downloadcenter.intel.com/product/211969/Intel-HD-Graphics-Family
https://www.askwoody.com/newsletter/free-edition-working-with-the-intel-driver-support-assistant/

[Todd_D_B]

John,

Thank you for the recommendation about updating driver for graphics (Iris Xe Graphics).

I went to vendor site and downloaded 6 updated drivers (1 was "Intel-UHD-Iris-Xe-Graphics-Driver ...").

Installed the updated drivers and rebooted.

Unfortunately same (mis)behavior in Premiere with video clips.  😞

Was worth a try.

~ Todd

[John T Smith · Accepted solution]

I see 2 problems

First is the HEVC codec

-HEVC https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-elements-discussions/import-hevc/td-p/13235249
-H.265 https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-elements-discussions/ape2021-problem-with-h-265-files/td-p/1...

Second is Frame rate mode : Variable

Go into your camera settings and change recording to fixed frame rate and H.264 codec

Or use https://handbrake.fr/ open source transcoder/converter to convert to Constant Frame Rate and H.264
Handbrake tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlvxgVREX-Y&t=34s
 

[Todd_D_B]

John,

Thank you for pointing out the 2 "problems."

These may be helpful in achieving some breakthrough for the current situation of being blocked for over a week in trying to finish and publish a video of photos and clips from a June family reunion.

However, I don't understand why the 2 items you have highlighted are problems (HVEC vs. H.265 codec; variable frame rate).

When I search Premiere Elements for "Supported file formats" I find HEVC/H.265 mp4 is supported for Windows 10 version 1809 (x64bit) or higher--which I satisfy.

https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-elements/kb/supported-file-formats.html

No caveats or disclaimers about HVEC or variable frame rates.

If Premiere Elements cannot support these variations, why doesn't it detect such issues and warn me?  Better yet, why doesn't it created a converted version of clip if it cannot handle the original version?

When I use the well-done open source Shotcut video editor, it does detect clips that should be converted/transcoded (e.g., variable frame rate) and pops a window to automatically convert and add to project assets.  A far more elegant and helpful solution than leaving users frustrated and wasting countless hours trying to understand why clips that are characterized as supported do not work properly.

How is it that a modern (I bought the 2024 version) commercial video editor which claims to support HEVC/H.265 mp4 does not support that format?

Why should I have to modify the default settings on every modern device my extended family and I use to capture video clips (e.g., Google Pixel phone, GoPro Hero, smartphone of each family member, cousin's action cam, ...) in order to use them with Premiere?

Additional note:  When I read the HVEC community post you listed and the links in that post, I was not surprised although disappointed to see that last post on the last page (page 3) conclude about proposed HVEC issues:

"Still an issue in Premiere Elements 2022. Followed every bit of advice in this thread and from googling. it's just a broken product. Time to use something else."

Still hoping for a solution in line with modern video clip capabilities and official Adobe publications.

Thanks,

Todd

[Steve Grisetti]

I'm  afraid you're not going to get the answer you're looking for, Todd. This program just isn't going to interface with this type of video. As John said, you can convert it using Handbrake -- or you might be better off with a more versatile video editor.

[Todd_D_B]

So if Adobe's Premiere Elements article for "Supported file formats" is not accurate/true, what is a reliable reference for what types of clips are supported vs. not supported?

Per responses on this post, apparently:

• HEVC mp4 is not supported and should be converted to H.265 mp4.
• Variable frame rate is not supported and should be converted to constant bit rate
• ...?

Thanks,

Todd

[Steve Grisetti]

Your video is also artificially rotated 180.

BTW if you're looking for us to defend Adobe's marketing people, that's not going to happen. We're just fellow users with a lot of experience with the program. So if your beef is with Adobe, you should contact them directly. We can't help you there.

[Todd_D_B]

Steve,

Help me understand your statement, "Your video is also artificially rotated 180."

Your statement makes sense in that I used my Pixel phone in a landscape orientation to capture that particular video clip.

Are you indicating that this is another example of a video clip characteristic that is unsupported by Premiere?

I have not applied any Premiere effects to this clip, yet after playing properly when first imported now it does not play properly.  (Strange and mystifying to me how clips often work when first added to project, misbehave >90% of time once a clip starts misbehaving, but occassionaly play properly.  And misbehavior occurs for some but not all clips taken from same device with same settings.).

Regarding your statement in earlier post "certain video formats, resolutions and frame rates can cause issues," how can I find or obtain this tribal knowledge given that Adobe does not appear to acknowledge or guide on these limitations?

P.S.  Not expecting you or other members to defect Adobe marketing.  I apoligize for my frustrations about the inaccurate product capabilities and poor Adobe Support experiences coloring my posts so as to "shoot the messenger."  That you and others for sharing insights from your wealth of experience!

~ Todd

[Steve Grisetti · Accepted solution]

I'd recommend you convert a sample of your movie to a standard MP4 using Handbrake and the specs in the video John linked you to above. Then start a new project and see if this converted video works any better.

If so, we'll be able to suggest how you can proceed. If not, we'll know there's something else going on that we'll need to address.

Thanks for the vote of confidence! You've got a great team of fellow users on this forum who are eager to help.

[Todd_D_B]

So I installed Handbrake, then went back to my original project in which I had experienced numerous video issues.

For each problematic video clip, I transcoded it as specified (e.g., constant frame rate) and then replaced the "bad" video with the converted video.

Bottom line:  Appears this resolved my video issues and I was able to finish the project!

Still in disbelief that an Adobe Customer Support ticket for this has been open since July 9 and Support has failed to provide a solution or even contact me on any of the most recent 4 days I provided time slots to work with them.  (They claim to have called one of those days but indicated they had audio issues.)

Thank you @Steve Grisetti  and @John T Smith for providing a path forward amidst the frustration and confusion related to the misbehaving video clips!  Really appreciate that I can finally share an overdue video with extended family following our gathering.

~ Todd

[Steve Grisetti]

Glad to know we were able to help you to a solution, Todd. Though I'm sorry the workflow isn't as smooth as you'd prefer.

[John T Smith]

Adding to what Bill said about hardware

I only edit video from my Canon SX510 (rarely from a cell phone) so I do not use VFR video

Just to test, I downloaded several HEVC files from a free sample site and had zero problems

I build my own desktop computers (several years apart) and have an i9 and nVidia card and 64gig ram, so I wouldn't expect my computer to struggle with any video

[Bill Sprague]

So if Adobe's Premiere Elements article for "Supported file formats" is not accurate/true, what is a reliable reference for what types of clips are supported vs. not supported?

You are getting good advice.  What might be left out is that the H.265/HEVC codec is special because it makes smaller files of good quality.   To do that requires a lot of "compression" that an editing computer must 'decode' in real time for the preview window.  That is very hard, intensive processing!   In your post where you updated your driver, you said it was Intel intel graphics.   On the scale of graphics processors, that is the low end.  

I have a 'gamer' laptop with an NVIDIA graphics card and SSD along with an Intel i7.  The combination makes it work OK for H.265 and variable frame rate clips just like Adobe says!  

[Todd_D_B]

@John T Smithand @Bill Sprague ,

I have puchased a laptop with more horsepower (13th gen i7, 32GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce graphics).  Once I get that set up, I'm anxious to see if it handles the video clips OK that were problematic in Premiere Elements 2024 on my current less powerful 11th gen i7 laptop.

Thank you again for your assistance in finding a way along with the insights that are helping me fit together the puzzle pieces of my experiences as a new user of Premiere.

Thanks,

Todd

P.S.  Providing any expert tips or pointing me to posts/articles about how to transfer Elements from current to new computer are appreciated.  I don't want to lose the work I invested with people recognition, tagged locations, etc.  I know there is an Adobe article about this (from a search couple weeks ago).

[John T Smith]

You can transfer files, but not programs... you need to DE-activate on the old computer and do a fresh install and activation on the new computer

If your new file structure is the same you should be able to copy your project file and continue working