Frame substitution recursion attempt aborting after multiple attempts on file

[kbourg]

I'm a beginner at Premiere Pro, and I just updated it to v13.1.5. I've been working on this project for months, and now that I updated I keep getting these errors "Frame substitution recursion attempt aborting after multiple attempts on file" "Error retrieving frame" (see attached). It has affected about 90% of my footage making my file unusable. I was online with Adobe Support for 2 hours yesterday with no resolution. Does anyone have any ideas on if this can even be fixed? I tried replacing my footage with the orginal again and still no luck. I also attached my computer specs. Hopefully I'm explaining this correctly since I'm a beginner.

[fernandoa90973545]

I change the extesion mp4 for m4v and this fix the problem for me :/.

[jones1351]

Although I despise workarounds because, WE SHOULDN’T HAVE TO!!!! – Adobe. Here’s what helped me.

Take the ‘offending’ clip(s); right click -> ‘render and replace’.

Take that result; right click -> ‘nest’.

Then re-apply all your effects to that ‘nested’ sequence.

Tedious double work, but it helped in my situation. And again, WE SHOULDN’T HAVE TO!!!

[Christian.Z]

Have you tried resetting preferences and/or reseting your workspace?
Reset your preferences by holding shift+alt (or option) when you launch Premiere

[Pat Finnegan]

That's a great tip, thanks. Do you know if there is a similar trick to starting Premiere without plugins loading?

[Christian.Z]

I don't believe there is, unless you uninstal the plugins.
@Kevin-Monahan any hidden tricks?

[Kevin-Monahan]

Nowadays, there is @Christian.Z . Press any key at launch and get the option from the Reset Options dialog box. Pretty nice!

Kevin

[default4gza2ohim5rf]

I was having this issue when I was bringing in footage at 59.94fps and Adobe was reading it as 29.97fps and stretching it.

To fix I did this: https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-pro/59-94p-recorded-avchd-video-previews-as-29-97fps/m-p/106...

Right click file in project window and click Modify>Interoret and charge fps from there.

[pradamedia]

Try nesting the offending images or sequence of images. Very often I get this error on exports where I have complex moves within jpegs and/or overlays or filters. It works for me everytime.

[fernandoa90973545]

Another solution, check (unistall) your plugins or addons, I unistall cinegy daniel 2 and the error gone.

[Kevin-Monahan]

Cezar,

Sorry about the misunderstanding. Yes, if the "Delete Render Files" item cannot be selected in the menu (it is disabled), all the video preview files are deleted for the project. I hope that info helps you!

Thanks,
Kevin

[defaultd3v496w73kto]

Changed the location for video and audio previews from Scratch Disk setttings, it worked like a charm.

[dominics65875959]

My solution is to simply change the sequence settings.
Specifically I found the following worked for me:

- changing the Video Preview File Format to Quicktime
- changing the codec to None (Uncompressed RGB 8-bit)
- Reducing the video preview size (width around 500 for eg)

These settings also seem to make playback smoother. I discovered this through experimentation, so have a play around and you may find other settings improver performance even more.

2022 and still half my Adobe expertise seems related to avoiding bugs...

[Stuckeymax]

VLC will do it, free. Download from Windows Store, convert your file to YouTubeHD, load that into Premiere. File is approximately the same size, and now all is cool.

[jim doyle]

For what it's worth, I just ran into a simialr problem.  I was recording an hour long presentation to a SD card.  The video was broken down into 3 video segments on my card ( this tends to be normal).  I usally piece the 3 segments back without issue.  On this occassoion, the second clip came up with the mention frame recursion error. I'm using the latested version of Adobe CC.  It was frustrating.  After reading some of the relpies, I tried a much older version of Premier Pro and it worked.  I should mention that the clip would play properly in my VLC player and when I  loaded the raw clip to youtube, it played as well.  Could this have something to do with the problem occurring at the exact moment as a new clip was made?  Not sure, as this was the first issue that I have had.  Hopefully, this might further the discussion.  

Cheers

[Duane R Garnett]

Found another fix to this issue... for some reason my footage was 49.99 fps... very odd frame rate indeed, I didnt record it to be fair... I had to use Handbreak to change the frame rate to a more common fps like 25fps. After that, Premiere rendered no problem. So just check the frame rates of the original footage. 

[Pursuit Films Post]

Never update anything during the middle of an active edit.

Editor Rule #1(ish) : preserve the project file at all costs. Save new versions DAILY - if not more - with a stirct and universal naming convention : ProjectName_OtherInfo_YYMMDD. Auto save helps every 15-20 mins but you want to "Save as" each session. 

[piercejackson]

XML out to Resolve as a last resort

[Jumbie25883708appp]

Had the same issue after updating to Premiere Pro 2023 on a project from 2022 

Fix: Sequence > Sequence Settings > Under Video Previews my Preview File Format is set to Quicktime - Switch Codec from Animation to Apple Pro Res 422

System:  Thinkpad P53 - Intel Xeon, Nvidia RTX5000, Windows 10 Pro 64

Footage: .MP4 File // MPEG Movie // Codec Type: MP4/MOV H.264 4:2:0 (Full Range)