Fed up with Premiere Pro's unresolved bug issues

[Smartie98]

I am trying to use PPro V22.0.0 (Build 169) but facing issues with importing .mp4 or .mov taken in iPhone into the Software. My videos are all less than 1 min, but the time wasted to get it processed in PPro are all several hours and still without success. I end up doing the same in 2018 version of PPro which has absolutely no issues  whatsoever - only 2020 versions onward.
1., Tried uninstalling and reinstalling

2. Hardware to Software acceleration and vice versa

3. Checking and unchecking H264/HEVC Accelerated decoding

Plus many other suggestions made in this forum. 

When I import, the 'Import files' window opens, but the progress bar does not even inch forward even after 24 hours.

Exactly the same issues happen with Media Encoder 2020-2022.

I do not understand why I have to pay hundreds of dollars and end up using older versions like 2018.

System Windows 10 Pro, 16GB RAM, All SSD Drives, AMD Phenom 6-core Processor, NVIDEA GEFORCE GTX 970 Video Card. 

[R Neil Haugen]

I think because your kit is SO older than the program is built to run well on.  And the newer versions don't work well on it. That 970 is simply not of much use anymore. And the Phenoms came out in what, 2007? They haven't been produced in a long time.

Sadly, the use of an app like Premiere Pro doth require staying with hardware typically four years old or less, sometimes up to six. Past that ... it gets pretty sketchy.

Neil

[Smartie98]

I will accept this nonsensical argument if it is indeed an issue of CPU. It is not. The computer is still a power-house and I can run more powerful software on it. Except CC 2020 onwards. The computer fully meets and exceeds reuqirements for running the Clod versions. Try "Switch to Windows 11" next time.

[R Neil Haugen]

An AMD Phenom from prior to 2010 is not a powerhouse ... period. A 970 GPU is old and nearly useless.

That's just life with computers. We bought our first PC in the late '80's. Don't now how many times I've updated to a new rig. Did so a year ago again.

Neil

[Smartie98]

Prove to  me that the non-loading of a 1min video by Apple is due to CPU. Then what would be your explanation why the same CPU has no issue with editing a 3 hour video taken with a Nikon or Sony Camera with PPro? 

[ah.photo]

I'm inclined to agree with @R Neil Haugen here.

@Smartie98 , you say the matter is not an issue of CPU, it most certainly is. Decoding H264/H265 footage (such as what you'd see on an iPhone) is incredibly CPU intensive. These codecs are terrible for editing, and it is my opinion that even having good hardware is no excuse to avoid best practice. Why drain so much on your CPU/GPU when you can make proxies or mezzanine files that make it easier on your system?

While your GPU does support GPU acceleration which will attempt to assist the CPU in decoding of 264/265 media, the 970 GPU is, as Neil said, not going to do much help, and the CPU is well below spec.

You could try creating low resolution proxies with a less intensive codec like ProRes to see if that helps, and it may, but you're still working with a well below spec CPU, and while GPUs are becomign more relevant thse days, in my opinion the CPU is the most critical system in editing.

[Smartie98]

Obviously, you haven't an answer for my original question as well as why a full HD video editing of a 3-hr footage taken with other cameras such as Nikon & Sony are possible on PPro CC 2020-22 while a 1 min footage taken on Apple iPhone cannot be handled by the same software on the same hardware. I have more than 150 HD videos on YouTube produced by PPro, most of them more than 1 hour. And if you search using Google, you will find hundreds having similar issue as mine.
Anybody else with a real answer?

[Phillip Harvey]

Just throwing in here that a phone is going to record Variable Framerate compared to a Nikon or Sony camera, and VFR is like poison for editing software. Why does it work in an older version and not a newer version? I don't know, but perhaps it's due to some of the changes made in how the software works with GPU's (or hardware in general) in that time.

[Graeme Bull]

Amusingly, you answered your own problem. You have stated clearly that with other cameras your PC and the software is up to the task, but iPhone footage is not. The recommended approach at this point is to transcode the footage from the iPhone (you're not alone in the years that Apple has been encoding videos in such a poor way that it causes unending issues all over the place) to something else and fix it at the source. It's not unusual to have to do this for some cameras, especially the lower end ones that have terrible codecs etc. Apple has been known to use VFR and VBR to the demise of Premiere in some cases, especially yours as your computer is just so old that the codec decoding algorithm struggles to work. Let up on everybody here for pete's sake, we're all just trying to help. NONE of us work at Adobe and we might as well be your buddy sitting next to you kind of thing.

[ah.photo]

@Smartie98 

iPhone footage is going to be more demanding on your computer. It's VFR media, and if I'm not mistaken, iPhones are pretty much all shooting H.265 these days, whereas your Nikon/Sonys may be shooting H.264 CFR. Heck you said "Full HD" footage, but most iPhones now shoot 2160p UHD by default, so even the resolution might be higher too.

As far as Google goes, with all due respect, a lot of folks are not well versed in the above. That's ok, of course! However it's easy to mistakenly think "oh it's iPhone footage, piece of cake" because the phone is so easily accessible, and they might not realize that it's the most demanding type of footage your computer can work with. A lot of creative folks do not have in-depth knowledge of codecs, and this is why these questions often get asked.

I and the other posters are genuinely here to help you out, not be hostile to you. Although it's disappointing you think we're not providing you with "real answers" or "nonsensical arguments". The fact is it's not an argument at all, we're just observing what you're telling us and providing answers.

Again: iPhone footage is more demanding on your machine than many other cameras. VFR + H.265 + potentially higher resolutions will demand performance in excess of what your machine can reasonably provide.