Error retrieving frame with DnxHD file

[ericfoss]

My colorist sent me the DNXHD file he exported from Davinci Resolve and only portions of it work correctly. I am getting the error message "error retrieving frame *** at time *** from the file ***". It is happening on almost every clip in this 11 minute sequence sporatically in different places of each clip. When I play it back on the timeline it either freezes on the last playable frame until it gets to another playable frame or it goes to black. When exported, it freezes on the last playable frame until it gets to another playable frame. Please help! 

Potential solutions I have tried with no luck:

Upon reading other forums on similar issues I have tried using the intel version of premiere and changing the renderer to "software only". Didn't work.

I have tried checking and unchecking (every combo of) "enable hardware accelerated decoding" and "enable prores hardware accelerated encoding" in the media preferences. Didn't work.

I have triend using my old macbook pro 2015 on Big Sur with premiere 22.2. Didn't work.

Computer: Macbook pro 14 inch 2021, Apple M1 pro, 32 gb memory

Premiere Pro 22.2

Footage: Avid DnXHD from Davinci Resolve

[Jeff Bellune]

Are the Resolve clips playable outside of Pr?

Are the Resolve clips playable in the source monitor before you add them to a sequence?

Where are the Resolve clips stored? How much space is available in that location?

[ericfoss]

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for the clarifying questions.

the resolve file, which is one 11 minute clip containing the entire project, plays perfectly in VLC.

I should also say the video file exported from resolve is a .mov file.

The resolve file does not play in the source monitor. It has the same problem at the same frames as experienced in the timeline.

The entire project is on a 2 TB solid state external hard drive with 500 GB of free space.

Thanks for your help

[Jeff Bellune]

Two requests. The first is necessary and the second I am hesitant to make.

1. Please post a screenshot of the tree or text view from MediaInfo for your DNxHD mov file. There may be a clue there as to why Pr is choking on it.

2. If you load the DNxHD clip directly into the Adobe Media Encoder, can you export a clean copy? Say in ProRes 422? If not, then my next request is to use Compressor (if you have it), QuickTime Player, iMovie, or <gasp> FCP to export a clean copy in ProRes for use in Pr.

What do you think?

[ericfoss]

Thanks again Jeff,

MediaInfo screen shot attached along with an error I got when trying to import the file into quicktime and the fact that the file is greyed out in imovie.

I don't have FCP or Compressor. I want to try to avoid spending money on solutions that have no garantee of success if possible but could be convinced otherwise if others have solved their problems this way.

Thanks,

Eric

[Jeff Bellune]

Two things, Eric.
Just for fun, try putting the DNxHD clip on your internal SSD and then deleting all your cache files by opening Pr from a shortcut and going to Preferences>Media Cache. Then open your project and see if the clip behaves any better. 
Do try loading it directly into Media Encoder and see if you can export a clean copy from there. (If I missed that you already tried that, apologies.)

[ericfoss]

Oh sorry yeah, I tried the media encoder. I almost immediately got an error when I pressed play.

I deleted the media cache and I'm getting the exact same error on the same frames.

I also sent the file to my friend who has a new mac pro. He is observing the same issue. 

...nuts. Any other ideas?

[Jeff Bellune]

I would almost bet that it has to do with the graphics engine in the M1 chip.

If you like, PM me and give me a link to download the file. NDA stuff, too, if necessary.  I have a 2019 MacBook Pro running Monterey and I have Compressor and FCP. I can check if the clip gives Pr trouble on an Intel chip with AMD graphics. Failing that, I can see if transcoding it to another codec fixes your problem.

[ericfoss]

You're a saint, Jeff. I'm going to try to get with my colorist over the next few days and if we can't solve it I'll PM you.

Thanks a million!

[ericfoss · Accepted solution]

Well, the solution was not really a solution but I guess it is what we have to do until Apple starts supporting DnXHD again. I had my colorist send me the Davinci Resolve project, downloaded Resolve myself and exported and Apple Pro Res file. My colorist couldn't do it because he's on PC and apparently Apple blocks PCs from exporting APR. The only thing that was a bummer is that he used the noise reduction in the $300 version so it ended up costing me some money to upgrade. But whatever, it is working.

Thanks a ton to Jeff Bellune for all the help. Something tells me I'm not the first and won't be the last sad sorry filmmaker he has helped.

[Jeff Bellune]

You're welcome, and I'm sorry the help was needed in the first place.