Major H.264 Export Error

[ben.woody@crowleywebb]

I'm having major issues trying to export out of Premiere.

Mac OS Big Sur 11.4

Premiere pro 15.4.1

Processor  3.6 GHz 10-Core Intel Core i9

Memory 72 GB 2133 MHz DDR4

Accelerated Renderer Error. Unable to produce frame. (Error attached although I have about 10 different ones at this point). All the same issue with different times and details every time. 

I've tried changing my renderer. I've tried changing my original media folder names. I've tried exporting in a different codec. I've tried removing all my slow motion clips from my timeline. I've tried using a different hard drive to work/export on. I've done all of this both through Premiere and Media Encoder. And yes, I've tried turning it off and back on again. Nothing.

All clips are interperted at 23.976. This was my original project framerate and I have not changed it. Half of my clips are 23.976fps and half are120fps all interperted at 23.976 (automaticaly after being shot in S&Q on a Sony FS7). All files are .MXF shot on two identical FS7s with the same settings. 

Everytime I get this error it tells me where in the timecoed the error happens, but I have no effects or other file types at that place in my timeline. This error range is different every time. It also says "rendering offset at..."  a different time every time as well. When I remove the error range from my timeline and export again it just gives me a different error window. 

[Jeff Bugbee]

Where are you exporting to? The local internal drive or an external drive? If external: what type of drive, what connection protocol?

[ben.woody@crowleywebb]

I'm working off and exporting to the same external drive, USB 3. I have also moved the project and media to a faster thunderbolt 3 drive and tried exporting agian. Same issue. I'm never cross exporting from one drive to another. 

I will try to move everything internally and try again. 

[Jeff Bugbee]

You can simply try exporting to your internal SSD without changing anything else. Reading from an external drive and exporting to that same external drive is a big no-no.

[Richard van den Boogaard]

This seems like very solid advice. Please let us know if this has solved the problem.

[ben.woody@crowleywebb]

Exporting from an external hard drive to internal SSD did not work. 

Moving the entire project to my internal SSD, exporting to internal SSD did not work. 

I will try using another machine when I can. 

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hi Ben,

Sorry about this. It seems as though your computer should be able to handle most jobs. I do have a number of questions that may shed some light on your issue.

1. Do you have the 4 GB VRAM GPU or the 8 GB VRAM GPU? It's possible you are running out of VRAM on the output.
2. With this footage, are you scaling from 4K to HD according to your Sequence Settings? Scaling stresses the GPU.
3. Do you have any GPU accelerated effects attched to your clips? If so, which ones? GPU accelerated effects stresses the GPU.
4. What codecs have you tried transcoding to? ProRes? Transcoding formats helps an export workflow, mainly if you export in that same codec. More on that in a sec.
5. Have you performed any basic troubleshooting steps, such as, deleting all media cache, trashing preferences, and checking Adobe folder permissions? After updating Premeire Pro or macOS to major new versions, you need to check all these things.
6. How long is your sequence in duration? Longer sequences containing 4K footage and GPU accelerated effects stress the system far more than shorter ones.

Let us know, OK? Then, we can have the info we need to make suggestions on getting your export completed, which I assume is to an H.264 preset. Is it not? If you have only a 4 GB GPU, then read on.

Personally, when I am in this situation (my GPU is not powerful enough to support GPU accelerated processes and hardware encoding at export time and my H.264 exports fail over and over because of this or that GPU related task), I use smart rendering to get a ProRes master and avoid tasking the GPU at render time. With smart rendering, the GPU is stressed while rendering previews instead. It's easier on the computer because it's not trying to process effects at the same time as it's trying to process GPU accelerated rendering of H.264 files when you are trying to export.

This involves changing your Sequence Settings > video preview codec to ProRes (Edit Mode > Custom unlocks it). Render the entire Timeline to ProRes. Then, output to ProRes with the "Using Previews" button enabled. This is definitely the "fool proof" way to export any show. You now have a ProRes master that you can make H.264 copies with very quickly. This carries a lot of advantages such as exports where files are copied rather than encoded, so it's lightning fast. If you find errors, you fix the error, render that small section - and bang, you can output a new master in seconds (not another hour for another H.264 export). Finally, this allows an export when otherwise you are timed out with too many rendering processes going on at the same time as your exporting process. When you are stressing the GPU from all sides like that, you get these errors around that piece of hardware. To fix? Buy a computer with larger GPUs, but in the meantime, if you get these errors, smart rendering will get you to the promised land every time. Let me know if you need help with this tried and true method instead of troubleshooting a problematic H.264 export workflow? Most people have no idea about this, but I've shared it a lot here in forums. Try it out and let me know, if you have time (and drive space).

Thank You,
Kevin

[ben.woody@crowleywebb]

Hello Kevin,

I appreciate your reply, and my apologies for the delay. Luckily I passed
my problematic project off to another one of our editors and switched
gears, although I would still like to get to the bottom of the issue.

I will start by saying the project exported just fine on two other machines.

This machine is pretty much brand new, I have not had it long (not
purchased by me so bear with me on the specs). My VRAM shows (total) 16GB.
So unless I'm looking at the wrong spec I am assuming the GPU is not the
issue. I am not scaling down from 4k to HD in my timeline. It is all 1080
interpreted at 23.976, some of the footage was shot at 120fps but auto
interpreted at 23.976. I have had projects where I did scale from 4k to HD
and had no issues. I've been able to edit 4k pretty seamlessly without
proxies as well. I removed all color and transitions from my timeline which
did not solve the issue. No other effects were used. I have not tried
transcoding the footage, that was my next step but like I said I passed off
the project to another editor. I'm curious how this would have helped
because my error report always specifically mentioned a problem with the
.MXF renderer. I did not try deleting all media cache, trashing
preferences, or checking adobe permissions before passing off the project.
I was also curious if this is a Big Sur issue, which came installed by
default. I had just updated Premiere as well, but going back to the
previous version did not work either. My timeline was only a couple minutes
in duration. And yes, my export is an H.264 preset, although ProRes and
other codecs failed to export as well, again, getting the .MXF renderer
error.

I have not run into any errors with other projects in the meantime
(although none were using .mxf files). Now with some time to troubleshoot I
will go back and delete media cache, trash preferences, and check adobe
permissions to hopefully prevent this from happening in the future.

Again, thank you for your help so far.


Ben

--

Ben Woody | Videographer | Crowley Webb | 268 Main Street, Suite 400,
Buffalo, NY 14202 | Office 716 856 2932 x231

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