Can't use Hardware encoding after upgrading to Premiere Pro 2021 (Update 15.4)

[ShoarmaKarma]

Hello, I have been using Premiere Pro for quite a while and didn't update for a very long time.

I used to use Premiere Pro 13, then I watched a tutorial on how to do something and realized that there were new features added which I didn't have access to since my Premiere Pro was outdated.

Since I updated from Premiere Pro 13 to Premiere Pro 15 I am not able to use hardware encoding anymore.

I have tried turning some features on in the dev options and while it now isn't grayed out when I choose my rendering options, even when I select it, when I start rendering it goes to software encoding.

I did not have this issue in update 13 and am wondering how the newer version is unable to use my hardware while the older version was.

My current computer specs are:

OS: Windows 10 10.0.19043 Build 19043

CPU: Intel Core i9-10900K

GPU: ASUS/Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080

RAM Memory: 32GB

[Ann Bens · Accepted solution]

Hardware encoding depends whether it is turned on in the Preferences and which format has been chosen.

[ShoarmaKarma]

Thanks for your answer! I checked my Preferences and found it under the tab "Media".

I personally use H264 on VBR 2 pass at 20 target bitrate and a max of 50 1080p. These were my settings in Premiere Pro 13 and I tried to carry it over. However in Premiere Pro 15 when I enable the VBR 2 pass it disables the hardware encoding.

Could the VBR be the source of the conflict?

[ShoarmaKarma]

Edit: The settings for hardware encoding were ticked on.

[Guest]

I'm suddenly having issues exporting, PP just locks up after a few %, my PC is basic but didn't have problems before. Tried a few things, interested to try this change from HW render to SW render, where do I change in the new UI ?

Thx

[RjL190365 · Accepted solution]

Actually, it's the "2-pass" that throws it off. You never had hardware encoding at all when you ran Premiere Pro 13.x, because you likely did not have integrated Intel UHD graphics enabled. Hardware encoding via a discrete GPU did not arrive until the introduction of Premiere Pro 14.2 in May 2020.

And currently, only 1-pass VBR is supported for hardware encoding with all hardware encoders. 2-pass VBR is not supported at all; they will be "permanently" locked to software-only encoding no matter what.

[ShoarmaKarma]

I see. I thought I had it on Premiere Pro 13 because ever since updating to 15 my rendering time has doubled for the same amount of video length.

Thanks for the answer! I'll change my settings and that should be the issue solved 🙂