P: Frame substitution attempt aborting error - .MXF Files Fixed in version 25

[Anthony LV]

UPDATE 10-14-24:  

MXF file frame substitution errors has been fixed in version 25 of Premiere Pro 

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I've seen a number of posts about this, and am now running into the problem myself. Although there are a few differences I'd like to share that I'm hoping may shed more light on what appears to be a longstanding issue.

Specs: M3 Max Macbook Pro (64GB RAM), Sonoma 14.3.1, Premiere Pro 24.1.0

The .MXF files were shot XAVC-I from the Sony FX6 shot on a V90 card. I copied the entire memory card structure to my internal drive, and imported the clips using the media browser. The clips are 59.94 fps and 23.976 fps on a 23.976 timeline.

As I perform regular editing tasks (slowing 59.94 clips to 40%, adding clips to timeline, scrolling through), I get these error messages.

BUT, here's the kicker: I'm not actually seeing dropped frames yet. For one of the clips I received the error on, I decided to go to the source window and scroll through frame by frame. I didn't see any black frames, but scrolling through did create 9 new error messages at different frames.

Aside from the error popups being annoying, this is a project that many people are depending on. If these dropped frames actually do end up showing, I'll be in a bad spot. It seems as though with every new project, I have to factor in at least a day to deal with errors or bugs in Premiere. I shouldn't have to be constantly fighting with the tools that allow me to do my job. Moreover, the C70 and FX6 both shoot in .MXF and are fixtures of video production. Frankly, I'm taken aback that there hasn't been more meaningful support from Adobe on this.

I'm currently creating ProRes Proxies to see if that may solve the issue, but I'm concerned that this will only solve the problem in editing, and the error (dropped frames) may show up once exported.

Does anyone have thoughts on why this may be happening? Is it time to switch to Resolve like everyone seems to be saying, or could this be a workflow issue on my end?

Many thanks!

[lot 7 media]

that is 100% the solution.  2023 is completely stable - working in it reminds you of how premiere is supposed to work.  

[matthiasv25504667]

Having the same problem - mxf Files from C70, non-stop error retreiving frame, with black frames. And, it crashes premiere completly by just shutting down a lot.

[Anaëlle R]

Hello @jamieclarke 
So I just tried, with a new clean project, with CC 24.5
So the frame drop alert seems to be gone.. 
BUT
Like with the others version of CC2024 editing is INCREDIBLY slow.. I've got black image or "media pending" or extremly slow playback, which makes it impossoble to edit. 

And like i've said, I've got a good computer (i9 12900k / 64GO ram DDR5 / RTX 3080 10go) all rushes on a internal SSD. I've never had any trouble editing my rushes of Canon C70 MFX in 4K, even with a grade, on Premiere CC 2023 or in Davinci Resolve. 

C'mon Adobe, what are you doing ? We are in the middle of 2024, and there's not a update of CC 2024 we can use to edit correctly ? Regarding the price of the subscription it's outrageous. Especialy when the new functuanilty of CC2024 are very good (like transcription etc). But i Still can't use them and need to go back to CC2023..

Please to do something. Thanks. 

[gian.delgadoaspiazu]

Hi Jamie, thanks for your help.

What I'm experiencing is the same as in version 24.4.1. The playback freezes, errors retrieving frames, frame substitution recursion attempt..., etc.

System specs are:

Processor 11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-11700 @ 2.50GHz 2.50 GHz
Installed RAM 32.0 GB (31.7 GB usable)
System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor

AMD Radeon W5500

Intel(R) UHD Graphics 750

NVMe_Samsung_1024GB

NVME_KXG70PNV2T04_NVME_KIOXIA_2048GB

No plugins installed, no markers, caches have been reset and drivers are updated.

Any help will be highly appreciated.

[ewannicholson]

Jamie,

I did clear the cache for the 24.5 installation. In 24.5 I experienced crashes, frame recursion errors and painfully slow playback. In contrast, playback is excellent running 24.2.1 . There are no crashes but still occasional frame substitution recursion errors. Renders are fine though.

[AntonK_1984]

The same issues. Problems with MXF files (Sony FS7) playback. Transitions do not work, mosaic-like artifacts in the footage (especially near transitions and cuts - those get passed into encoded/exported footage), system is not stable after install (random freezes and crashes), playback is not fluid.

System:

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3990X

256 GB of  RAM

1 x Quadro RTX 8000

2x RTX A6000 (Production branch Driver 552.55)

Windows 11 Pro 22H2

Build 22621.3737

The issues started after version 24.1

Reverting back to 24.1 resolves the problems.

FIX THIS PROBLEM, please! 

People are loosing money!

[jamieclarke]

Can you try updating to 24.5.  Then go to the location of your media cache files, usually at Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Common.    Then can you manually delete the folders, Media Cache, Media Cache Files, Peak Files.  Launch Premiere and let me know if that helps.

[richardn64120918]

Same with me. Premiere Pro 24.4.1 is unable to play Canon C70 footage (4k at 50 fps). Things have never been this bad and this makes revisiting older projects an absolute nightmare. Looks like I will have to do what @Juerg5CF2 has done and jump ship to Davinci Resolve. 

[defaulttxj9huyw3wbc]

BUT files .MXF from Sony camera PXW-FS5 cannot be processed by this new version. I must go back to V24.2.1 to be able to read them. When are you going to fix this bug?

[defaulttxj9huyw3wbc]

But we don't get any reply from Adobe on the forum, and the bugs remains fro V24.4.1 to V24.5... Tell us when you plan to fix reading MXF files from Sony PXW-FS5, please.

[baptic30396059]

Same issues. Trying to work with .mxf files from Sony. (10bit, 4:2:2,1080p,50fps).

Win 11

Started having issues in Premiere Pro 24.3 with dropped frames and "cannot retrieve frame # at time" 

Updated to 24.5, now I have constant random crashes of Premiere Pro with these files. 

Rolling back to 24.2 or earlier till Adobe fixes this. 

[Glenn Purcell]

Having the same issue after updating Mac and the new version of Premier Pro. My .MXF files all have the same errors as above. Very frustrating

[Gibson_Media]

Have MXF files been fixed yet!? 

[jamieclarke]

Hi @baptic30396059 , @Glenn Purcell - Please check the pinned post to see and let us know if that helps your issue.  We are currently investigating these performance problems and are working on a fix.

[jamieclarke]

Hi @Justin Opinion , @ewannicholson - Are you using markers in your workflow?

[AntonK_1984]

Tried all of that. Disabled plug ins and new cache do not have any effect. Starting new project, manually deleting preferences neither.

Premier builds a new cache and footage artifacts appear in different/other frames (usually near transactions - native translations like cross-dissolve; not necessary on the transition itself). Playback tremendously stutter and reducing resolution does not help. Program crashes randomly. Frame substitute errors (although much less than in 24.3 for example). Rendering / export is slower.

It really looks like an encoder issue with Sony xvac/mxf files to me. Other files work somewhat smoothly but slower than in 24.1.

I’m using a standalone K-Lite Encoder Pack.

Rolling back to version 24.1 for Premier/AF/Encoder resolves the issue.

Have you changed the encoder engines or something?

[chrislognion]

We are!  The issues will not stop.  I've uploaded the latest beta as of today and I'm still getting the errors.  Also, with the latest bets, I had to resize all adjusted clips and reapply keyframes.  The graphics were stripped of keyframes.

[Edit23]

I updated to 24.4.1 and as I opened the large project I've been working on, I got 45 of these warnings (before I stopped counting).  When I started playing the timeline, they just absolutely populated the event log, almost in real time.  
I'm still looking for update 24.5.  Is that a beta release?

What a joke.

[jamieclarke]

Hi @AntonK_1984 - I'm wondering if your third party codecs are somehow interferring with Premiere. You don't need K-Lite encoder pack to work in Premiere.  Can you try uninstalling your third party codecs and see if that helps your issue.

[stephene80719801]

Hi all, I can't even render my timeline! My MXF clips keep coming up with "Frame Substitution attempt aborting multiple attempts on file" To combat this I had to render and replace, this doesn't even work in 24.5 so I have had to roll back to version 24.3

What the hell is going on Adobe!?...far too many editors are thinking of Davinci Resolve...please get this fixed once and for all. 

[AntonK_1984]

Apparently, that was the K-lite Codec Pack causing the issues for me, at least.

1. Uninstalled K-lite codec pack (used Revo Uninstaller to clean the registry)
2. Uninstalled Premier Pro / AF / Encoder
3. Manually deleted All cache files
4. Rebooted
5. Cleaned Temp Files
6. Installed Premier Pro / AF / Encoder
7. Started Premier Pro while holding SHIFT 
8. Checked all boxes and started from scratch

9. Tried new project, imported MXF - worked fine. Closed Premier.

10. Created a new project (ran app as usual ,without holding SHIFT)

11. Imported old project.

Works great! Fast and smooth...no substitution frame errors.

Thank you!

I think the issue was caused by a third-party codec. It could be from K-lite or 3d party media player or video processing app (on the background).

[rranney]

Hi @jamieclarke, I tried this and I'm also still experiencing random crashes with my Canon C70 10bit 422 .mxf video files. I have reset all the caches upon opening Premiere. How can we help troubleshoot? I've always experienced errors retrieving frames with my .xmf files, but I never experienced full Premiere crashes every single session until 24.5

[stephene80719801]

Hi Anton, 

How exactly do I/we uninstall the AF Encoder, please

evans9012@gmail.com

I downloaded Revo but I cannot find the AF Encoder to delete it.

Best

Steve

[Anthony24761651jbei]

Still having issues with MXF files. I was just importing them and the program kept crashing, these really need better looking at because its an ongoing problem for a few years now. MXF files are pretty standard so maybe fix the issues with them before adding more AI stuff.

[AntonK_1984]

"AF" - After Effects, "Encoder" - Adobe Media Encoder.

Uninstall using Creative Cloud Desktop (delete Preferences as well).

Please note: it didn't quite resolve the issue. I'm still getting frame substitution errors, but not in tens of them like before.

2-3 for a 15-minute clip. To mitigate, restart PP (Premier Pro) holding SHIFT and delete cache so PP builds a new one.

Errors usually appear when scrubbing through a timeline. 

I still firmly believe the issue is with the encoding process. Premier Pro 24.1 / After Effects 24.1 / Media Encoder 24.1 versions do not have this issue with handling XVAC/MXF footage.

The issue still stands.