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NameTheJames
NameTheJames
Known Participant
October 30, 2021
Answered

No Hardware Encoding on M1 Pro

  • October 30, 2021
  • 3 replies
  • 17177 views

Hello all, I am putting my new 14" Macbook Pro (base configuration 8-core M1 Pro) through its paces and noticed that I only have access to Software Encoding in Premiere and Media Encoder when using H.264 (Match source, high bitrate -- and I did try changing it to CBR rather than VBR per some other forum suggestions; that made no difference)

 

1. Is this an issue with the Apple Silicon chips that is yet to be updated? The GPU is a major draw for this computer to me and I'd love to be able to use it to encode more quickly.

2. Are there other codecs I should try? I tend to use H.264 for maximum cross-compatibility and have not dabbled with ProRes or any of the other multitude of options.

 

I am getting the "Your system's hardware does not support hardware acceleration for the current settings" message.

 

Thank you!

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer geekinit

    "Hardware" versus "Software" encoding for H.264/265 or "HEVC" exports is limited by your CPU, not your GPU.

     

    It is only about whether your CPU has the extra hardware bits specifically used for 'hardware' long-GOP encoding. It has nothing whatever to do with your GPU or GPU accelerated effects within Premiere.

     

    And the controls for long-GOP "Hardware" versus "Software" encoding are found in the Preferences dialog, and also in the Export dialog if you have chosen a long-GOP preset for H.264/265 HEVC.

     

    Neil


    For me, it was hitting "Match Source"  which apparently enabled settings from my camera's source that my GPU could not support. 

    Thanks,

    Eric

    3 replies

    J
    JonasJaekenMedia
    Participant
    October 23, 2022

    I'm still having this issue. I just got myself a new Macbook M1 Max and have the same problem.
    I cannot render with Hardware Encoding if I choose CBR. It only works when I switch to VBR 1 PASS. Switching to H.264 or H.265 doesn't help either.

    R Neil Haugen
    R Neil Haugen
    Legend
    October 23, 2022

    I don't recall any app that has 2-pass hardware encoding. As the hardware bits that do long-GOP encoding don't have that capability. They can do it fast, but not always better.

     

    The CPU can do the two-pass thing. First pass goes through the entire export to figure out what it will do for encoding in the second pass.

     

    And out of curiosity, why do you need CBR?

     

    Neil

    Everyone's mileage always varies ...
    Warren Heaton
    Community Expert
    Warren HeatonCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    November 2, 2022

    Dear Neil,

    Thank you so much for your information and help. But after having this new Macbook M1 Max for about a week I am experiencing more and more issues when working with Premiere Pro (2023) 23.0. Not only with slow renders but also when editing. Mostly Sony A7IV footage (XAVC S or S-I)

    I've looked up so much on the internet about this, but can't find any solution as to why my new macbook runs premiere pro so slow. I'm starting to think there is something wrong with this model. 😞

    I tried using Resolve and it runs pretty smoothly. But i'm so used to Premiere.


    Cheers
    Jonas


     

    MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2021) Apple M1 Max

    • H264 CBR is Software Encoding
    • H264 VBR 1-Pass is Hardware Encoding
    • H264 VBR 2-Pass is is Software Encoding
    • H265 CBR is Software Encoding
    • H265 VBR 1-Pass is Hardware Encoding

     

    iMac Pro (2017) 3 GHz 10-Core Intel Xeon W

    • H264 CBR is Software Encoding
    • H264 VBR 1-Pass is Hardware Encoding
    • H264 VBR 2-Pass is is Software Encoding
    • H265 CBR is Software Encoding
    • H265 VBR 1-Pass is Hardware Encoding

     

    HP Omen 15-dh1xx Laptop Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-10750H CPU @ 2.60GHz 2.59 GHz

    • H264 CBR is Software Encoding
    • H264 VBR 1-Pass is Software Encoding
    • H264 VBR 2-Pass is is Software Encoding
    • H265 CBR is Hardware Encoding
    • H265 VBR 1-Pass is Hardware Encoding

     

    DaVinci Resolve 18 makes it difficult to tell if "hardware acceleration" is being used for H264 and H265 exports as the Export Option simply reads "Use hardware acceleration if available".

     

    For Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve, I would transcode Sony A7IV footage (XAVC S or S-I) to ProRes 422 HQ or ProRes 422 LT.  XAVC is a great CODEC for in camera acquisition of picture, but it's not a great CODEC for editing.  Sony makes Sony Catalyst Prepare available for transcoding to ProRes, but it's easier to do it via Premiere Pro's Ingest project settings.

     

    Jonas, I highly recommend that you take one of your current Sequences that uses Sony A7IV camera original footage and make a duplicate Sequence with "_ProRes" added to the duplicate Sequence name.  Select all of the Clips, right-click and use Render and Replace transcode Individual Clips to ProRes 422 LT.  60 minutes of source footage should take about three minutes to transcode and require about 42GB of storage space.  When that is finished, change the duplicate Sequence settings to Custom QuickTime Apple ProRes 422 LT.  You'll be prompted to delete Render Files (click OK).  Close the Sequence Timeline and re-open it.  You'll notice that the Yellow Preview Render line appears much less frequently if at all.  Re-render if needed.  You'll notice that that is much, much faster being ProRes to ProRes. Export both the Sequence that uses Sony camera original footage and the duplicate that uses ProRes to the "Match sequence preview settings" Preset.  Take not of the export times.  Export both Sequences to MP4 and also take note of the export times.  Also keep in mind that ProRes can be uploaded to FrameIO, Vimeo and YouTube.  If you try Resolve, it defaults to ProRes HQ for the "Optimized" setting under macOS, but it can be set to ProRes LT or DNx.  Premiere Pro supports more choices for "Smart" editing, but you're on a computer with encoding engines for ProRes so use ProRes unless something about your workflow were to require DNx.  If you were to ever switch to Avid Media Composer, your Sony footage would be transcoded to DNx when ingested.

     

     

     

     

     

      P
      phatcorns
      Known Participant
      February 7, 2022

      I have also found that CBR encoding does not work for Hardware Encoding for h.264 or h.265. It has to be VBR it seems.

        NameTheJames
        NameTheJamesAuthor
        Known Participant
        November 1, 2021

        For anyone who comes across this later -- it seems this issue was in my Memory settings. "Optimize rendering for:" was set to Performance, rather than Memory -- once I set it to Memory, Hardware Encoding became available.

          S
          Steven J McConnell
          Participant
          November 26, 2021

          Hmm, that's really odd. I'm experiencing the same issue, but the switch to "memory" didn't fix it.

           

           

          NameTheJames
          NameTheJamesAuthor
          Known Participant
          November 27, 2021
          Yeah, you know, going further with this I’ve found more exceptions. I’m not
          sure exactly what is the cause anymore, but hardware encoding is working
          for me now on ordinary MP4s.
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