P: Crashing constantly with H.265 Footage (happens in V25.1, 25.2, and 25.3)

[Will..]

For the last 3 releases (PR V 25, 25.1, 25.2, and now 25.3), Premiere Pro is constantly crashing every few clicks while working with Sony H.265 footage. This is the same footage from the same camera I've been using for 5 years in Premiere Pro on several hundreds of projects. Crashing while playing/moving the footage in the timeline has only started to happen extremely frequently in the last 6 months of Premiere Pro's releases, so this is definitely a bug.

I'm also using the same computer (Mac Studio M1 Ultra with OS 14.7.6).

Sometimes I get 10 minutes then it crashes, while other times I get just a minute after relaunching, but it's always when I'm doing something with the footage. It doesn't matter if I only have a few clips or a full timeline; it seems to hate the footage. I'll trim a clip then hit spacebar to play for example, and it'll crash.

We shoot in 420-10 bit 4k h.265 because it's very high quality, and efficient. Our computers can play it back flawlessly without needing proxies, and it saves on hard drive space. It has been great for 5 years, but in the latest Premiere Pro versions, it is honestly terrible how much it crashes. I've submitted probably 30 crash reports, and waited 2 new versions, but it still is happening.

I'm finishing projects in Resolve a lot more these days because of things like this, so I've been thinking of canceling my creative clown account because there's basically zero support to help me as someone who pays for the CC suite, and who has submitted numerous reports and waited over half a year to have this fixed while struggling to finish client projects.

V2024 was somewhat stable, but we're back to how it was before Adobe put effort into stability, it seems..

[Dani_V.]

Hi @Will..,

Thank you for reporting a problem and sorry you've been experiencing issues. What Sony camera is the source footage from?

Have you done any software updates or had the chance to try this footage in a more recent macOS version?

Are any third-party plugins installed and have you tried clearing your cache? You can do this by holding a modifier key (like shift) on app startup and choose to clear cache and disable third party plugins (if applicable) just to rule out.

You mentioned sending several crash reports—have you added your account email into any of these reports before sending? The team can look them up if so.

Sorry for the frustration,
Dani

[Will..]

I've now tried several new Premiere Pro versions since my original post and Premiere is still crashing constantly. The footage is from my Sony A7S III with H.265 footage that I've been using non-stop since 2020 in countless projects. However, PR is also crashing with h.264 footage (screen recordings from OBS), as well as 1080p iPhone footage.

I will say I'm almost certain that is has something to do with playback. Everytime it crashed, it was almost immediately after I stopped playback, made an edit, then started playback.

I'm tired of waiting for an update for it to not be fixed. 4 different PR versions at this point and the same thing; non-stop crashes.

In terms of upgrading my Mac OS. That I'm unwilling to do. Literally every single program I use, including Resolve, works flawlessly. Premiere is the only problem, and somehow it's by far the most expensive. Too many other apps and settings to risk negatively affecting just because Premiere can't work properly.

No third party plugins. This is just another careless Premiere Pro bug that someone on the team over looked when making changes that they haven't fixed yet. This is the worst it has EVER crashed in 15 years of use. It's honestly unusable. I cannot work on professional client projects with Premiere. I'm forced to work in Resolve.

Yes, I've cleared the cache.

No. I haven't added my e-mail, as I don't want to waste more time on this, I have sent probably 50+ crash reports though over the last 6 months at this point. They have more than enough info to fix it, and it should have been fixed many months ago. 2 more crashes today after 10 mins editing, which motivated me to come back here and reply.

[Will..]

Non-stop constant crashes every time I edit. This has been going on for over 6 months across 10+ projects. I've updated Premiere to the next version 3 or 4 times at this point and the bug remains. This was not a problem in the previous 4 years with the same footage. It's something new in PR25.0 all the way to PR25.5.

I've submitted over 50 crash reports.

It seems to be a playback crash bug; I will stop playback, make an edit, then hit spacebar to play and it will crash. It doesnt happen every time, but it does happen numerous times during an editing session.

It doesn't matter if I only have a few clips or a full timeline; it seems to hate playing back footage after a change. I'll trim a clip then hit spacebar to play for example, and it'll crash. I've even opened PR after a crash, and 20 seconds later it crashes again after playing back footage.

I'm using the same computer  since 2020, and mostly the same type of footage. (Mac Studio M1 Ultra with OS 14.7.6 and Sony A7sIII footage, or OBS screen capture h.264 footage, although it also crashes with iPhone footage, so I'm sure it will do the same with any footage).

I already own Resolve Studio; it's just a matter of time until I leave CC and stop paying; this is ridiculously unprofessional, to leave bugs like this for so long, over so many versions, when paying customers are submitting DOZENS of crash reports.

No third party plugins, and yes I've tried resetting my cache. This is a bug with the program. It's not my system. In 15 years of editing, this is by far the worst it's ever been. I can't edit paid client projects. I'm forced to export the project and complete it in Resolve.

Shouldn't my numerous reports be flagged in your system as a serious stability problem and be treated as a priority?

[R Neil Haugen]

This is primarily a user to user forum, with staffers monitoring and posting a lot more than they used to. I would hope you get a staffer jumping in.

In my experience, bug reports are used internally, but are not so often replied to. Which can be frustrating with a situation like yours.

And it's clear you are having a horrible experience, but it is not one that most users are having. Which suggests that something that hasn't been figured out yet is mashing your machine.

I'm all PC, use quite a bit of OBS output and some phone media in my work, and am not having any troubles whatsoever. So finding the details of what is causing that hot mess you're stuck with at the moment will probably require some troubleshooting.

For a first question, have you created a project in say 24.x, and if so, does that work correctly?

[IanB_360]

Hi @Will.. 

You provided some really good details about your current issue, and we want to help you get back on track for success in your editing.

I see you have a post we are already trying to work out for you, and it is best to keep that same conversation focused in one post, so I will merge this with your previous post.

We can take a look at the crash reports you have submitted and will offer as much support as possible. If you want, you and I can jump on a call to see if we can figure this out for you.

Here to help
Ian

[Will..]

I started a new thread because months later, the same issue exists, even after another PR version update, but fair enough to merge them, I guess. Version 24 does not crash like this; it's actually pretty stable. I unfortunately, updated a lot of my projects to PR 25 once it hit 25.2 (I normally don't upgrade until a couple updates go out for major releases.).

I hope all my crash reports have been looked at and a fix is coming.

I don't have time for a call, or to troubleshoot; over the years, I've spent far too much time troubleshooting for Adobe; it's not worth it. If it's not working the way I need it to, I export to Resolve as I have deadlines to meet; it's just frustrating that several versions later and many crash reports later, and I'm still unable to complete projects, yet I'm still expected to pay the monthly subscription fee.

[Will..]

Decided to update my OS, which took over an hour to do, and PR is still crashing; just submitted another crash report....

[R Neil Haugen]

That is just awful, bizarre behavior ... yowza! It's rather unusual, and in some ways, that can make it more difficult to sort ... sadly. I'm running some of the same media on PC, and don't have an issue. Nor are many others posting here.

So I do hope a staffer can go back through your stuff and get some help!