Unable to install mc_enc_hevc.dll for HEVC Decoding/Encoding

[RyanShepard]

I am having a huge issue with Adobe Premiere Pro in which I can't export/render and sometimes even preview files that need HEVC decoding/encoding. I get an error stating that:

Unable to install:

"C:\User\Public\Documents\AdobeInstalledCodecsTier2\4.0\mc_enc_hevc.dll"

It suggests a permission issue, but even if I give the proper permissions to that folder it does not work. Also, the current Windows directory is actually "Public\Public Documents\" NOT "Public\Documents", so I don't know if this is part of the problem.

Most of the time I can edit, but once in a while it will throw the error when editing and my Program preview will fail to display. Restarting Premiere solves this issue until it happens again.

Runing Premiere Pro as an admin or not has no impact.

I have also deleted the "\AdobeInstalledCodecsTier2\4.0" folder and Premiere does recrete the folder, but not the .dll file.

The .dll in question is in the "\AdobeInstalledCodecsTier2\3.0", but if I copy and paste it into the 4.0 directory the .dll will disappear once I launch Premiere Pro.

I have tried uninstalling/reinstalling Premiere and Media Encoder. I've also reinstalled the Windows HEVC codec to see if that helped, it didn't.

I have seen other solutions invloving creating a new admin user, but the steps I found to do that also give me permission errors. I may be doing something wrong or my comptuer is set up differently. Either way, this isn't really an amicable solution even if it could work.

I have successfully opened and exported the same project on a different computer, but I need this to be resolved on THIS computer as it my primary workstation and I will have more projects.

Windows 11

Edition Windows 11 Pro
Version 22H2
OS build 22621.1265
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.22638.1000.0
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-10940X CPU @ 3.30GHz 3.31 GHz
Installed RAM 32.0 GB (31.7 GB usable)
System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor

Premiere Pro Version 23.2.0 (Build 69)

Full Creative Cloud subscriber

[RyanShepard · Accepted solution]

I just wanted to come back and post my solution. A solution I had to come up with myself because not even an Adobe employee came here offering assistance.

As I said in my original post, I was able to use a different computer to export and work on this project. I ended up copying the \AdobeInstalledCodecsTier2\4.0\ directory, with the .dll files, from that PC and overwriting the directory and files on the problem PC. For some reason this worked and the problem PC can now preview, render, and export HEVC video files.

I'm certainly not the only one who's had this problem, as there are many posts in this forum about the issue going back many months. The fact Adobe hasn't resolved this and didn't even have the time to reply to this thread is indicative of the company's current priorities and reliability. I no longer recommend Adobe products to anyone anymore because of experiences like this... Experiences that are happing more often than I can finacially endure.

[Rebel Squadron]

This issue just popped up for me. Unfortunately, I don't have a second pc to try your solution. I'm pretty stuck at the moment. I've also had similar issues with Adobe "professional support". Except, when they respond, they're the exact opposite of professional. Do you have any recommendations for alternative editing and vfx programs? I'm definitely open to making the switch. 

[CholoDiver]

Same problem here. I managed to get the .dll files created in the same PC but with a different user. When I copy them to the proper directory, Premiere Pro deletes them.

This happens to me with GoPro files.

[Guest]

I had a similar issue un Mac: Codecs were in the "shared" directory so all users could access it. (Should be the same as public in windows). I deleted the folder and it works again, but I am shure it will not work anymore for all other users. I think its a user rights issue - only one user has full read/write access..

[Gustavo29675820snjj]

Can you teach in detail how to do this? I'm not getting

[Gabriel27479284ea3j]

I`m experiencing the same issue. I have a second PC which premiere works perfectly, but I don`t have access to it now. I`m going to try it when I do. Really upsetting working like this.