Dolby Audio Decoder missing after Premiere CC 2018 (V12) update

[zeno303]

I just updated to the most recent version of Premiere: CC 2018 from Creative Cloud.

When I opened a project I had been working on earlier today that has some .ac3 tracks on some of the sequences, those tracks are redded out and I now get an error message "Missing Dolby Audio Encoder." I get the same message when I try to import .ac3 files into the updated Audition program.

I have been using Premiere CC for several years, have installed all the updates & never had this problem before.

I have an individual (not Enterprise) Subscription on Windows 7.  I ran CC Cleaner Registry check after the install.  It cleared up some paths, but didn't fix this issue.

Please help.  I am up against a deadline!

Wsquared

[iconostar]

I have the codec (Win 7, different file path, however) but still the same problem issue, so this might not be a matter of having the codec, but of the software having been rewritten due to the aforementioned licensing issue.  I did a strikethrough of "problem," since I can still do my work after converting previously-shot video with Dolby Stereo.  I can also do this with three of my cameras that only record Dolby audio.

[mikepowless]

This is ridiculous.  And there is ZERO support on the link provided other than community forums... isnt this a community forum?

[Daburninator22]

Want to start off by saying that reverting to 2017 did not help me at all. Luckily I had a backup of my files because I actually ended up accidently deleting audio from a few of my clips completely and had to replace them from my external hard drive.

This is the solution that I am implementing right now on a non-commercial project:

Step 1: Batch convert the folder containing your videos into a new folder. I used the MP4 container with an H.264 codec for my 30fps files. Here's a link to handbrake and the steps for batch converting files

Step 2: After doing this I was able to import them into ADOBE 2018 with no issue at all. Audio played back and everything. The only issue I encountered was that the software crashed every time I closed Adobe premiere. If you experience this issue I'd advise doing step 3.

Step 3: (optional but recommended) Bring the handbrake converted files into Media Encoder and convert them to .H264 ----> Match Source (High Bitrate). After doing this I experienced no crashes when closing my Adobe 2018 project.

Step 4: Once you verify the files now work in Adobe CC 2018 in a test project open any project affected by the dolby issue and attempt to relink your media using the newly converted files. That should hopefully work without messing up your work. So far I haven't noticed any sync issues with my project and I'm now able to continue working but only time will tell I guess.

I feel really sorry for anyone in the middle of a commercial/feature edit right now. This is a nightmare, I prefer windows 7 over other operating systems on my custom built PC but often go between a PC and Mac for work. This is by far, the worst issue I've encountered with Adobe and it is not okay that people paying for this software have to rely on free applications to circumvent an audio codec issue.

[Ann Bens]

On a side note: Framerate needs to be set to constant. Footage from camera's are usually constant but just in case.

[Adrenaline Junkie]

This is akin to not supporting Windows 7. All those promises about how great subscription service is compared to perpetual purchase, out the door Adobe.

It’s not surprising to see a lot of others like myself upset about this. Windows 10 is very much disliked by a lot of power users because it is yet another bloated down operating system riddled with unnecessary software routines, services, and applications that waste your hardware processing power; not unlike many of the recent versions of Adobe products.

This is yet another reason to seriously look at alternatives before making further investments in Adobe products. Windows 7 should have full support until Microsoft stops supporting it period.

[RjL190365]

Actually, that decision was not Adobe's to make at all. Instead, it was a collaborative effort by Microsoft, Intel and AMD to no longer officially permit any PC or PC build using their very latest CPU platforms to ever access the Windows Update site –either manually or automatically - if you're running anything besides Windows 10. If you attempt to access the Windows Update web site if you have such a newer PC that's running Windows 7, the only thing that Microsoft will allow you to do is upgrade to Windows 10. Thus, the processor platform compatibility of Windows 7 is now officially frozen to hardware that's more than three years old.

[Adrenaline Junkie]

Windows 7 is still supported by Microsoft and I often install patches through Windows Update. Some chipset vendors may decide not to provide new drivers but there are many very good chipsets with drivers available. I challenge you to prove that Adobe no longer including the SurCode for Dolby Digital decoding and encoding has something to do with Microsoft or the chipset and processor vendors.

The last Microsoft released update was:

2017-12 Security Monthly Quality Rollup for Windows 7 for x64-based Systems (KB4054518)

http://support.microsoft.com/help/4054518

[aaronjack]

I am using windows 10, and am having this issue.

[BradMpls]

CAUTION and Heads up for those (including me) on PrePro CC 2017.1.2 and didn't make the fatal move to CC 2018.  I just received an update notice in my Creative Cloud app (Dell Intel PC) that "updates" are available.  I took a look and saw a new update for my above mentioned 2017 version.  When I clicked on the little "What's New?" link here's what popped up:

This update does not contain any fixes for stability or performance and is not recommended if you already have a build of Premiere Pro CC (2017) installed.  This version removes Dolby audio format support.

Imagine if I or you had not clicked on the the "What's New" link and just updated the software.  We get screwed without ever updating to CC 2018.  Adobe is simply taking away Dolby audio support on 2017 as well.  Btw, the same update was on After Effects.

[Sengstack]

Going to the Adobe Care Team takes you back to a community forum.

[glaustin]

lols. I think the word ‘don’t’ is missing before the word ‘care’...

[Sengstack]

exactly

[johnnyrmunoz]

I just updated to the most recent version of Premiere: CC 2018 from Creative Cloud. When I opened a project I had been working on the early version I have an error message "Missing Dolby Audio Encoder." I have a various project to finish and my camera has the extension.MTS I have been using Premiere CC for several years have installed all the updates and never had this problem. My Windows is 7.   Please help.  I am up a deadline! or turn to a version 2017 is too many files to transform the extension.

I need to solve this problem soon.

[stevedross]

we have the latest version of Windows 10 Pro and have installed the media pack, but it still doesn't import the entire Dolbe .mts audio track.

[Ann Bens]

Delete clips, Clean out media cache and relocate the clips.

reboot and try again.

[stevedross]

This does not work. We have the latest version of Windows 10 Pro and have downloaded the Media Pack I still

have the problem with Dolby .MTS audio.

[Bancsource Account]

Like all the others, I too encountered the same issues while upgrading Premiere Pro under Windows 7.  One solution I found to work that may already have been mentioned, is a program called HandBrake.  HandBrake will convert the file into a format that can be read by Premiere Pro once it is converted.  The program has a variety of formats that can convert based on your needs.  Hope this helps those out there that have yet to find a solution. 

[stevedross]

Handbrake is good. Freemake is also really good. The issue is the insanity

of having to convert anything. This is one reason we dumped Avid. You shouldn't

have to convert.

[johnnyrmunoz]

I try Handbrake work good, but when I finish my work I notice they have glitches in some part and I need to find in my MTS videos and need to fix with them but is too much to convert many files take me lost of time only converting. I need to return to version 2017, I work in version 2018 because I need to finish my work for these  weekend, I use 4 cameras and all the cameras have the extension MTS and I need to solve these issues asap

[distriller]

I lost countless hours to this issue. However, to make a very long story short, here are my solutions to continue editing .vob (DVD) videos with audio in Premiere in Windows 7:

1. The last version supporting Dolby in Win7 is Premiere v11.0.2. You can use that (if you didn't already make progress with the project and save it in a later version of Premiere). However, all Premiere versions seem to have a terrible bug where .vob files may appear incorrectly very wide. So I recommend anyway the next solution.

2. For all the .vob files (probably works on .m2ts etc. too), do the following ffmpeg remuxing. It creates a file with a lossless PCM audio that should work in Premiere much, much better. Then you should be able to then Replace Footage (all .vob to the new .mxf files) and then you can discard the .vob files (for 24-bit audio you can use pcm_s24le instead of pcm_s16le):

ffmpeg -i input.vob -vcodec copy -acodec pcm_s16le output.mxf

Bonus tip: as Premiere does a terrible job combining multiple continuous MTS or VOB files in succession, for concatenating files do for example:

copy /b VTS_01_1.VOB + VTS_01_2.VOB + VTS_01_3.VOB output.vob

[Outlaw Partners]

Got burned on this the other day trying to use audio from an old DVD on mac high sierra on CC 2018.  I understand the licensing / cost issue, but removing the existing support from the old 2017 installer and not making it incredibly obvious when features like this are removed is what'll end up costing Adobe customers.

[AUVPMJH]

This seems criminal. — should be coming from all of us.

Moderator Warning: Do not discuss legal issues on the forum. Thanks.

[ProDesignTools]

Sorry for the difficulty! Try one of these suggestions if you've lost Dolby functionality:

1. Your simplest and best bet is to recover your CC 2017 apps as they were before you installed CC 2018. See if you can use Windows Restore to roll back the state of applications on your computer to before that time. On a Mac, you'd use Apple's Time Machine.

2. If you can't do that, then do you have a system backup or image from when you had CC 2017 installed, or perhaps it's installed on another machine? You could possibly use that backup together with the CC 2017 direct download links to get back to where you were before. At  a minimum, you'll need both the Premiere Pro and Adobe Media Encoder apps.

3. If neither of those strategies recover a working CC 2017 for you, then you could try moving forward with CC 2018. You could use a third-party utility like Handbrake (a free open-source video transcoder) to convert your MTS/ACS files. Rename the files and reimport them into Premiere Pro. Then clear your media cache.

4. If none of the above work, then maybe consider upgrading to Windows 10 while it's still free, and press ahead with CC 2018 (if you're concerned about Windows telemetry, that's easily handled). Meanwhile, for Mac users, macOS upgrades are always free... Windows 8.1 or above and macOS 10.11 or above contain native support for Dolby decoding functions. Again, rename the applicable files and reimport them on your new setup. Then clear your media cache.

5. If you can't upgrade your operating system, can't move forward with CC 2018, can't go back to CC 2017, and are genuinely stuck with a project caught in the middle – and none of the above solutions work for you – then you could try contacting Adobe Customer Care to let them know and see if they can help.

6. Moving forward, when upgrading Creative Cloud apps, use 'Advanced Options' in the Desktop app to retain older CC versions rather than the default behavior, which is to remove them.

Hope that helps!

[ProDesignTools]

Update: The "Common questions" section of Adobe's help page on the Dolby issue has now incorporated many of the suggestions above (see under the question, I use a local archive system for my computer – can I use that to roll back to an old version?😞

Adobe Creative Cloud apps use native OS support for Dolby

Adobe also just added this text:

"It is never our goal to remove capabilities from our products. Unfortunately in this case, we had no option but to change the way we accessed Dolby functionality and for some users this caused a disruption in workflow.  Ultimately – we’re sorry that you’ve experienced any difficulty, below are some suggestions to both address the current situation and best practices for moving forward."

[truthseekers]

This doesnt fix the problem that Adobe are being wankers for removing this stuff... and people now want to pirate more because of it. Duh