field flickering on cursor when playing frame by frame backward

[Makkamaki]

Hi.
Is anyone aware of this issue in premiere pro 2022?
When I play the cursor frame by frame backward on interlaced footage, I get both the two fields played on the screen the result of looking jerky, instead of having them displayed in the old way with interlacing lines at the same time.
This new way of going back when I have to edit drives me nuts.
Have anyone had the same issue? Is there a way to fix this?

Please see attacched material.
Thank you 🙂

[Michael Grenadier]

luckily I haven't had to work much with interlaced footage in a number of years (don't miss it at all) but I do remember that in FCP7, the way interlaced footage displayed varied with the scale of the viewer.  Might be worth changing the scale of the source or program monitor and see if that helps.  

[Makkamaki]

Thank you for your reply.
Unfortunately, I still work with broadcast material (mxf file Op1a 1080i) both for source and delivery format.
I know for sure this is not a window-size issue. That must be an Adobe Premiere Pro 2022.4 bug.
For this purpose, I've installed an older version of Premiere Pro (2021) to compare the issue on the same computer, and I had confirmation that this is not happening there. Please, look at the attached file.
Sadly I have all the projects and settings on the newer version and cannot go back to the old one. 😞

[Jeff Bellune]

I'm sure you've checked this, but just in case:

[Makkamaki]

Thank you, Jeff.
Yes, I tried. There is no difference. Whatever I select, I still get the same behavior.
I think this isn't only a field interpolation issue. There is also some problems because when I play reverse speed (under the speed/duration menu) the preview is jerky or has wierd artifacts. It won't smoothly play until I render the clip (the same thing doesn't happen in the old version of Adobe Premiere).
By the way, all this happens on a Mac with Monterey and Big Sur. I can't test it on Windows.
I also checked with a colleague who works remotely, and she is having the same issues, always on a Mac.
I wander if there is anyone at Adobe aware of this issue. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Jeff Bellune]

And a further thought: that back-and-forth effect usually is a result of Pr or you mis-interpreting the field order. So you've got upper field first video in a bottom field first sequence or vice-versa, along with single-field display set in the program monitor.

[Makkamaki]

Unfortunately, nothing has changed.
And with further check, as previously said, I don't think this is a field problem only. Please take a look at the video that I posted.
The sequence is an mxf Op1a 1080i 25fps 50mbps. I started the cursor at the cut of the scene, going backward. You can see that even if I keep on moving a few frames toward the left of the timeline, Adobe Premiere keeps on showing me the last image before the cut jumping back and forward between the two frames.
You can see that in Premiere 2021, this thing doesn't happen.
When you have to edit something, that kind of behavior drives you crazy!!!
Now, sometimes, this beahaviour stops, and everything seems fine, but after a few minutes I am working with the project, the issue starts again.
If any of you is experiencing this issue, please let me know.
Also, if you have a Mac, please, try to reverse any portion of video and check if it has a strange behaviour while you preview it (that doesn't have to be interlaced, but if it is an mxf Op1a, 1080i, you can see it better).

[Michael Grenadier]

Here's where to report a bug (I think)

https://tracker.adobe.com/#/home

And there are ways to revert a project so it will open in an earlier version of premiere

Do some searching here and you'll find several methods....

[Makkamaki]

Ok! Thank tso much to he both of you for your support.
If I should find a solution, I will post it here.
Have a great day.

[Jeff Bellune · Accepted solution]

AVCHD 1080i footage from a Sony NX5U works properly frame-by-frame with a clip time-reversed.

Exporting that AVCHD footage to MXF Op1a and reimporting it into Pr, then time reversing it, produces the effect you described. So it's definitely codec specific and happens on my Intel Mac.

[Makkamaki]

Ok! So it is probably an issue caused by the codec, but it is how the latest version of Adobe Premiere Pro handles it that makes it behave like that. (with the previous one is fine)
I also have a minor artifact with mp4 files with H.264 codec while previewing it.
Anyway, I found a workaround to open the projects with the older version, and now I will work with that.
https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-pro-discussions/open-premiere-project-in-older-version-downg...
Thank you so much for your precious help and interest in the issue.
I appreciated it.

[Michael Grenadier]

and thanks for posting your workaround.  It is about getting the job done by whatever means necessary