Errors with R3D files in M1 MacBook Pro

[nicktheclark]

Hi,

I edited the trailer for a documentary project on my old Intel iMac on Mojave this past August with no issue. The majority of the footage in the project is R3D files. I recently started editing the full-length film (same footage) with a new MacBook Pro with M1 Max, Mac OS 12.2, and Premiere 22.1.2, and I'm now getting a number of issues.

-Most importantly, I'm getting corrupted frames (see below) on export, and sometimes when just opening a sequence or pausing in the timeline.

-When loading Multicam clips in the source monitor, I see the two correct camera angles displayed while paused, but as soon as I hit play, it displays the B Cam (second video track) twice.

This is of course really troubling as I start a long-form edit, and hoping there's a fix on the way asap. A couple of notes/attempts I've made to fix it:

-This so far is only affecting the R3D files in the project, all archive plays/exports normally.

-I edited another project on this same setup that was shot on Blackmagic cameras (.braw files) without issue.

-I've created ProRes proxies of all R3D files, and I'm now using those for playback and during export (unfortunately). This seems to have improved, but not entirely solved, the issue.

-I had some success rendering using Software Only, though once had to create a new sequence, copy/paste from the original, THEN export using Software Only to fix it.

This is being edited in a large Premiere Production, and I'm dreading the prospect of having to dust off my 2015 iMac and XML all of my sequences back into an old version of Premiere to finish this project. Any help greatly appreciated!

[nicktheclark]

Thanks @R Neil Haugen , this looks like an awesome resource.

Absolutely, I've always flattened and/or replaced multiclips/nests prior to turnovers, especially for AAF/XML/EDL, whether long form or short. Safe to say that it shouldn't be necessary for a run-of-the-mill H.264 export of a rough cut, though. If it was, I'd never multiclip anything.

I'll also say, now that I've discovered this, this isn't the first time that upgrading Premiere has terminally broken multiclips for me, so I know that they can definitely be a serious technical thorn. And unfortuntely, I'm on this project for at least the rest of the year, so I don't want to risk updating again in hopes that it's been solved.

[R Neil Haugen]

These things can be incredibly painful ... and for so many processes in Premiere, we really haven't had the full information as to why some step should be done X rather than Y. So we finally got some detailed information.

I'm hoping we'll get more.

Neil

[FILIP BOBAN]

RED RAW AND PREMIERE DESTROYED MY MACBOOK PRO M1 MAX CHIP

Hey Nicktheclark,

I have some news to share about that issue. I have been working with R3D Raw when I got my new MacBook Pro with the M1 Max Chip back in 2021.

I have done a lot of work with it using BlackMagic Raw and big projects using LrC, Photoshop, Illustrator, and a bunch of other Creative Cloud apps with my MacBook Pro. Everything was fine; the M1 Max chip was incredible and had zero issues until I started working with R3D Raw files since I bought myself a KOMODO.

I worked with 6k ELQ files, and after the first project in Premiere, I started having the same issues. At first, I thought there were some kinds of bugs. I started searching the web just like you. I didn't find any solution, so I just kept on restarting Premiere because it fixed the problem until it didn't. After that, I had issues rendering RED RAW in general. The next thing to happen is that Lightroom started showing the same issues as Premiere when rendering. Files were corrupted, and some just came out fully black. My export didn't work at all! I started panicking because I had a foreshadowing. I started solving the Media Encoder export issues with rendering on software only. I fixed my Premiere preview issues by running Premiere fully on software, which means I had to run it on Rosetta 1 back then. I fixed the Lightroom export issues by changing it also to export using software only. Those were the only working fixes that I had, but it wasn't a fix; it was a really annoying and very, very slow solution to a problem that shouldn't be existing. Shortly after, they announced that they would remove Rosetta, and that's when I had no chance of working with my Mac because clearly, the full capacity of my chip wasn't there anymore. So I visited a bunch of Apple stores when finally one guy had the necessary knowledge to help me out. We ran a bunch of tests for 6 hours, and he came up with just one answer. Premiere in combination with R3D Raw simply destroyed one part of my M1 chip, the "GPU" part. Normally, you could fix the problem by resetting GPU VRAM, but since the new silicon chips don't have VRAM because CPU and GPU is one and the same, there was no workaround. (from what I know, VRAM is a type of memory specifically dedicated to the graphics card or GPU in a computer. VRAM is used to store and quickly access graphical data such as textures, frame buffers, and other visual elements that are essential for rendering images on a display.) Even a full reset didn't work because the problem was a hardware issue that was unreachable without installing a different OS on my Mac because iOS is not possible to fix this problem.

In summary:

- M1 Max Chip was irreparably damaged by R3D RAW and Premiere Pro
- Average Performance of my Mac was throttled down to 30%
- Apple support is not able to fix the problem without exchanging the chip for a new one.

Luckily, I had AppleCare+, and I only had to pay 200€ for a new chip. Since then, I never ever tried working with RED RAW on this Mac again. I have a big PC at home where I do the necessary work, but RED and Apple is no good combo since the new chips came out. Now they released Rosetta 2, and today is the first day where I'll try to work with RED RAW again on this Mac.

Wish me luck! I hope this could help. Cheers

[FILIP BOBAN]

Also note that IOS WILL NOT RECOGNIZE NOR SHOW ANY SIGNS OF ERRORS with a failing M1 GPU MEMORY PERFORMANCE since it is not capable to run a diagnosis regarding this issue. It's a sofware/hardware communication issue that is so unique that its not fixable.

[R Neil Haugen]

Disturbing information, and thanks for posting! 

I'll link to some staffers here ...

@Wes Howell @Fergus H @Bruce Bullis 

[Fergus H]

Hi Filip, 

Thank you for this report. I'm very sorry that you had a problem with your M1. I have not heard of customers having this problem before. We do extensive testing with R3D files, including those from the Komodo and the higher resolution files from the Raptor, and we have many customers using R3D files. In fact, at Sundance last week, we were shooting with our Komodo-X and immediately showing those files playing in real time on our Mac. 

"Now they released Rosetta 2, and today is the first day where I'll try to work with RED RAW again on this Mac."

Premiere Pro for Macintosh can run on Intel Macs and it can run on Apple silicon Macs but it cannot run using Rosetta 2. Note that Rosetta - the original version - was released in 2006, as part of Apple's transition from PowerPC chips to Intel chips. Rosetta 2 is the version that was for the transition from Intel to Apple silicon; it is not a recent release. Premiere Pro is optimized for Apple silicon Macs and you should get great performance on your MacBook. Since the first release of Premiere Pro for Apple silicon, we have continued to improve its performance. I would encouage you to ensure you're using the latest version (currently v24.1) on your computer. 

Of course, if you have any issues, please let us know! I'm a product manager for Premiere Pro and one of my focus areas is our support for camera and codecs. 

Regards,

Fergus