I'm sick of Premiere's lag. Hangs, crashes, and everything in between. I need answers.

[Pierson Smith]

I'm paying $50 dollars a month for this. Premiere hangs, crashes, freezes, has high input lag, takes forever to render simple effects, doesn't kill task properly so I have to spam "End task" in task manager to not even CLOSE the app, but just to allow me to open windows and the start menu, as it freezes almost everything when I close it, and sits in my Task Manager using upwards of 4-5gb of RAM doing nothing. I have a Ryzen 7 3800X, 32gb of RAM, and an RTX 2060 Super. This should not be happening. I've asked previously, I've tested NVIDIA Studio Drivers, and I've even tried support. All they did was restart my computer, restart the app, clear my media cache, and disable my GPU only to then leave, saying "they couldn't fix it."

I'm sick of this. I've been a customer for two years. Two years I've given you my money and sat back and said, "oh it's fine, I'll just restart again." Those days are done. $600 a year isn't in any way justified for this buggy mess you call "software." I need answers.

[Peru Bob]

Have you tried uninstalling, using the Cleaner Tool, and reinstalling?

https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/cc-cleaner-tool-installation-problems.html

[Pierson Smith]

I have not.

[R Neil Haugen]

I understand the frustration ... but before any of us can help, there's additional data we need to know.

What media are you working with, and what created it? Do you have multiple tracks of video and graphics, or mostly pretty simple single-track sequences? And effects are you using?

Those would help us understand things better. With an 8-core CPU and 32Gb of RAM, and a 2060 with it's 6Gb of vRAM, a fairly simple seqeunce should be smooth as butter as long as it's not drone/H.264/5 based media. Several tracks deep and/or a lot of H.264/Warp & such things, the behavior you're getting would be expected.

Neil

[Pierson Smith]

This issue occurs no matter what is in my sequences. I'm using OBS to record 2560x1440 60FPS MP4 video.

[Warren Heaton]

Try transcoding some of your OBS to record 2560x1440 60FPS MP4 video to Apple ProRes422 LT (if you're tight on drive space, use Apple ProRes422 Proxy).  Then, import the ProRes footage into a new project and create a new Sequence from the ProRes clip.

By switching to a Smart Rendering CODEC, your editing experience should be much better.

[Pierson Smith]

That's great, and and I thank you for your help, but I don't think that will fix the Task Manager and RAM issues.

[Warren Heaton]

It sounds like it may be time to talk to a consultant about hardware and workflow.

Puget Labs Consultation Service - Puget Systems

It's 100% possible to have a stable workstation.

[Pierson Smith]

I don't have the kind of money for a workstation.

[R Neil Haugen]

Hey, understood. Which is why those here are trying to help with alternatives.

Such things as transcoding, or using proxies, or using a lower framerate simply to cut the load on your current gear.

NLEs can be pretty demanding apps. Largely because we users demand so many things of them and at high levels.

Neil

[Andy 1968]

The MP4 screen recording would use the H.264 video codec. It might be a variable frame rate causing problems. Most H.264 screen recording will playback easier than Pro Res when using Nvenc. Have you enabled Nvenc. You could try disabling audio input or even try ASIO4ALL drivers. You could also try disabling your start up programs. 

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hi Pierson,

Sorry for the frustrating experience with your OBS recorded footage. I have to side with Warren here. Andy has some good points too. OBS streams are the worst footage that can be edited on any computer, bar none. I profess that 4K H.264 60fps VFR footage is purely satanic; it is so bad. Of course, this warning is not on the back of the cereal box. You have to hear it from fellow editors, I think.

What to do? As Warren suggests, you should convert this truly evil footage to either another .mp4 file or to ProRes LT. I like to use Shutter Encoder for all game stream footage. Once you do that simple step, your computer will be a lot more responsive to your editing commands. Try it and report back. I hope the advice helps.

Thanks,
Kevin

[Andy 1968]

I would opt to convert to an easy to edit H.264 format and enable Nvenc. I myself use Nvdia's Shadowplay for screen recording (MP4) and it works just fine in Premiere Pro. 

[Kevin-Monahan]

Thanks for your input, Andy.

Kevin

[Pierson Smith]

Thanks for the help. I've tried this and it seems to make the app run slightly smoother.

However, this does not fix my main problem of the app sticking in Task Manager and not re-opening or letting me use Windows Start.

[Andy 1968]

Sometimes you need to wipe and reload Windows and reinstall all your programs.  

[Pierson Smith]

I'm sorry, what? I can go out and buy Vegas for $200 forever and be done with all of this. Instead, I'm sticking here hoping for answers. From an editing standpoint wiping Windows is detrimental to my workflow as I have a ton of assets and settings installed. I shouldn't have to factory reset just so this works. Kinda sad that the only person being super helpful is an actual employee.

[Warren Heaton]

@Pierson Smith 

It's understandable that you're frustrated.

It isn't appropriate to take that frustration out on others who are sharing how they get their Windows based computers to tun Premiere Pro well.

[Pierson Smith]

I'm sorry. I'm just frustrated about this whole situation. I understand that you are trying to help but wiping everything is just not viable for me.

You shouldn't have to lose everything just for a program to work. That's why I'm mad.

[Andy 1968]

It is really hard to troubleshoot a computer without getting to work on it in person. That being said any program (even Vegas) can get to the point where the only solution is to wipe and reload Windows. On your system Premiere Pro might not be the reason your system is acting up although it probably is. There might be a start up program causing problems. The fact that Windows does automatic updates does not help. 

[KingWV]

Hi Pierson,

My adobe premiere pro has been constantly crashing as well. I purchased the adobe suite because it is what I used in college, so I was familiar with it. However, it looks like I'll be better off paying the one time $200 fee for Sony Vegas, if I understand correctly.

[Andy 1968]

Buying Sony Vegas for $200.00 would be a waste of money. The Software is over 5 years old. You want Magix Vegas Pro. 

[Dave23018622dy0o]

I agree, since one of the recent updates there have been constant CTD with a lot of lost work.  This needs fixed as it is not acceptable.

[basil1891]

Well, if it really "hangs, crashes, freezes" for 2 years already, the system must be unstable. I suggest to do thorough stability tests, start from CPU+RAM (Prime95, y-cruncher, LinX) and if those are OK, move to GPU checks later.