Adobe Apps swallowing MacBook Pro M2 Max memory

[thirdcontact]

I bought a MacBook Pro M2 Max with 32GB memory because I believed I wouldn't have to worry about memory issues. I believed that Premiere Pro wouldn't lag, no matter what I threw at it. £3300 well spent.

But... Premiere does OK with a 4K video and some Lumetri color. Plays fine. When I add an animated title (with motion blur) - can't play it.

Now I just had a "your system has run out of memory message" because I left Premiere and Photoshop open. Premiere had no project open. Photoshop had 2 images open. Yet they swallowed up over 32GB of RAM between them...

Before I had this laptop, I had a MacBook Air with 8GB ram. Premiere and Photoshop never used that amount of memory (especially if they're just sitting open).

Should I be doing something differently?

[Michael Grenadier]

First, please tell us what your MacOS and Premiere versions are.  Never easy to troubleshoot these sorts of things from a distance but it's crucial that we approach this in a systematic fashion.    What are your source properties and sequence settings, particularly the codec and audio compression?  What kind of drive is your media stored on?  Is there sufficient empty space on ALL drives, a minimum of 20% on your startup drive and 10% on all other drives?   Lots of other stuff to try, but let's start with this...  

I strongly suggest you try a proxy workflow.  4K can tax even a high-end system particularly if it's an mpeg format like mp4 or mxf etc.   I'd suggest using Prores Medium Resolution Proxy.  If you need help setting up the proxy workflow, or want me to go into greater detail why I advise this, post back...  Just create the proxy for one or 2 shots and see if Premiere works better for a sequence similar to what you describe as problematic.    I have the base model macstudio which I purchased about a month ago, and have no issues with playback with this workflow.

[thirdcontact]

I have MacBook Pro with Apple M2 Max chip and 32GB memory, and the latest version of Premiere Pro.
After watching videos on YouTube or people running 10 tracks of 8k video and having no issues, I presumed that power would overcome Premiere's slowness and would cope with 4K h.265 VFR video and animated titles. I don't have time to create or use proxies, especially as they can mess with the audio sync.

If I'm going to use proxies I may as well go back to editing on a £1000 MacBook Air with 8GB ram, which is what I had for 2 years before this update.

But aside from slow performance from Premiere, why am I getting a "run out of memory" message from this powerful laptop with Premiere & Photoshop open but no projects opened? I've been using macs and these Adobe programs for many years (like 20+), and even with much lower spec machines I've never had this happen.

[Michael Grenadier]

variable frame rate material is problematic in Premiere causing intermittent and unpredictable issues.  Either convert the material to constant frame rate or find another editing solution.   You might try Davinici Resolve which has a free version.  

AFAIK, all smart phone footage is vfr.  If you're using screen capture material, I think there are some solutions which are not vfr.

use mediainfo to determine whether your source is variable or constant frame rate
https://mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo/Download
if it's variable use handbrake to convert to constant frame rate setting the quality slider in the video panel to maximum
https://handbrake.fr
and here's a tutorial on how to use handbrakehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=34&v=xlvxgVREX-Y

Shutter Encoder will also work, and although I've never used it, it comes highly recommended

https://www.shutterencoder.com/en/

[thirdcontact]

I've switched from Premiere to CapCut to edit all my videos now. Lightining fast compared to Premiere. Literally NEVER lags, no matter how many layers of titles, effects, grading, animations etc are added ontop of 4K (sometimes 10-bit) vfr video. Plus the titles and effects are a dream to work with compared to horrible, clumsy PP. Exporting 4K video takes minutes. For short videos it's almost instant.  So I doubt I'll ever go back to Premiere.

[Michael Grenadier]

gotta say I work without issues on a macstudio (M1) with 4k and 6k material... and depend on adobe's integration of AE, Photoshop and Illustrator...   and I don't find generating CFR fullrez prores and proxies particularly onerous.    But if you can do what you need to do in CapCut, more power to you...  

[Photographer978]

Having this exact same issue with a brand new M2 Max laptop. Both Lightroom and Premiere Pro CC burn through the memory and often crash when they overload. Never had this issue with an older Intel-based Macbook Pro using the exact same apps. Unclear what the issue is but definitely not a matter of frame rates etc in editing - it's seems to be some kind of software issue on an M2 Mac.

Any luck resolving it?

[Defjux83]

I have the Macbook Pro M3 with 32GB memory and the same problem. Mainly when I use photoshop and Lightroom CC, but also with photoshop and Davinci Resolve.