Can't share Premiere projects between laptop and desktop

[ozmorphasis]

I'm having all kinds of issues with my projects that I have started on my Macbook (2012) when I move them to my desktop (Mac Pro) 2012. 

Both machines have Premiere 2018 12.0.1 (build 69) and AME 2018 build 12.0.1 (build 64). 

Macbook is running Osx high sierra 10.13.3 and Mac Pro is running 10.12.6.

I had a couple of extra luts in my Lumetri technical folders in the laptop, so I thought that was the culprit since Lumetri doesn't load luts based on name but rather based on the ordered slot (never understood why!?) and renders were coming out looking all wrong.  I fixed the lut folders so that they match exactly, but the issues persisted. 

There are other issues too.  Photos are being rendered as glitchy noise.  It's a mess.  I don't get it. 

[kulpreet singh]

Hi ozmorphasis,

Sorry that you are facing trouble sharing your project. Do you see any error when you try to open your project on the secondary machine?

Please share the system specs of your laptop & desktop.

Thanks,

Kulpreet Singh

[francis-crossman · Accepted solution]

Did you open the application package and install LUTs directly within Premiere Pro?  If so, this is not advised and could be causing some of your problems.  I recommend completely reinstalling Premiere Pro on both systems to restore the LUTs to the default state that our engineers intend.  BTW, they are matched by number, not by name, because users are not supposed to change those folders in any way.

If you update to 12.1.0, we have added a new way to manage LUTs.  Read below

If you are using several custom LUTs and want them to show up in the Lumetri dropdown menus we have a solution which is newly available in the most recent update (2018 - version 12.1).  You can install your LUTs into a specific folder in your user library and Lumetri will scan them in. Here are steps to set that up.

Mac

1. From the finder, use the Go menu to navigate to this directory: ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common/
2. Create a folder named LUTs
3. Create two more folders inside the LUTs folder: Technical and Creative
4. Copy technical conversion LUTs (often called camera LUTs) such as LOG to Rec709 into the Technical folder
5. Copy creative LUTs such as day-for-night, B&W, or anything that is just a stylistic look into the Creative folder
6. Restart PPro
7. Technical LUTs show up in the Input LUT dropdown inside the Basic section in Lumetri
8. Creative LUTs show up in the Look dropdown inside the Creative section in Lumetri

Windows equivalent directories:

~\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Common\LUTs\Technical

~\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Common\LUTs\Creative

This is a convenient and easy way to add as many LUTs as you like to the Lumetri dropdown menus and this will persist through updates - unless of course you delete or change this directory.

[ozmorphasis]

HI Francis,

Thanks for the response! 

However, your suggestions are for adding luts in the new version.  I had added luts in 12.0.1 in the manner that you advised against.  However, that is the method that every lut manufacturer I know suggests for technical luts.  Also, unless I'm missing something, you have only told me what not to do but haven't provided the correct method for using technical luts in 12.0.1, only a way to do it in the newest version.

I have projects that are on identical versions of Premiere, with technical lut folders that have the exact same luts in the exact same order, so theoretically a numberings system vs name identifying system should still work.  In any case, it obviously doesn't which is why I'm here now.

Are you saying that regardless of making the lut folder identical, we cannot rely on predictable lut assignment across computers? 

I'm curious when collaborators share projects that use 3rd party technical luts while editing, what is the best way to have predictable results in terms of the luts assigning properly when opening the project across machines...in version 12.0.1?

Thanks again for taking the time to help!

Omid

[francis-crossman]

Unfortunately, this method of hacking LUTs into the application package has spread far and wide and is suggested by many official looking sources as the approved workflow.  But this method is not recommended by Adobe and will lead to big problems, some of which you have already encountered.

In version 12.0.1 and earlier there is no approved way to add your own custom LUTs to the drop-down menus in Lumetri.  The approved method is to use the "Browse" option and navigate to the LUT you wish to use on disk.  I understand that this is inconvenient for people who have a lot of custom LUTs since you need to do this for each individual LUT you wish to use and there is no way to preview creative LUTs.  That is why we introduced the better LUT workflow in version 12.1.0.

When you add a LUT using the "Browse" option that LUT will actually get embedded into the PPro project file.  This is true for 12.0 and 12.1. If you share this project with someone, the LUT will travel inside the project file.  This method will not install that LUT onto the destination system, but clips that have that LUT applied will render correctly.  If you hacked the application package this is not the case since PPro is looking inside its own repository of LUTs for the correct file (yes, by numerical order in the list - not by name) it is likely to render using the wrong LUT on another system unless you hacked that system in an identical fashion.  Keep in mind that Adobe Media Encoder and After Effects would need the exact same hack for all to work properly together.  This is not advised.

I hope this helps.

[Vidya Sagar]

Hi ozmorphasis,

Premiere Pro 12.1.2 update fixed the issue. Please check this article: Bug fixes in Premiere Pro version 12.1.2

You can download the update using Creative Cloud app. Here are the steps: Update apps to the latest release of Adobe Creative Cloud

Thanks,

Vidya