Not Exporting Correctly with Weird Color Glitches

[Brandon Loshe]

Hello Community,

I am having weird color glitches (screenshots attached) every time I export out of Premiere Pro 2020 (Version 14.0), each time in different spots. It doesn't seem to matter what kind of footage it is. It happens sometimes on ProRes footage, HEVC footage, and even After Effects (17.0) Dynamic linked files. I've been trying over and over for a couple weeks now. Now I'm up against a deadline about a day away, so I hope you understand my urgency. So far what I've tried to do to fix things:

1. Tried exporting straight out of Premiere instead of Media Encoder.

2. Cleared the Cache.

3.Reset the PrPro Preferences.

4. Imported already-exported videos to stitch together the good pieces and re-export (not ideal, but PrPro 2020 runs so slow that I resorted to this).

5. Completely uninstalled and reinstalled PrPro and After Effects.

6. I'm currently trying Software Encoding in the encoding settings. I had been using Hardware Acceleration because Software Encoding will take a lifetime. But I'm using this on the already-exported videos that I brought back into the project because it won't finish on time at this rate. Question: generally speaking, if you have a lot of spare time, is it better to use Software Encoding (other than the advantage of having the VBR, 2 Pass option)? 

Computer Specs:

macOS Mojave Version 10.14.6

Mac Mini (Late 2014)

Graphics: Intel Iris

Any other ideas, suggestions, or things for me to try to fix this?

Thanks,

Brandon Loshe

 

 

[R Neil Haugen]

Brandon,

If you've an Nvidia GPU, roll back to the 445 or 442 drivers use the options for Clean Install and Studio driver, and see if that helps.

Neil

[Brandon Loshe]

Hi Neil, 

Actually, I'm on Mac. So I don't have Nvidia GPU. I have Intel Iris. I do have the options for both GPU Acceleration (OpenCL) and GPU Acceleration (Metal).

[Steve Griffiths]

I suspect your Mac mini is at the lowest limits of allowed specifications for Premiere Pro 2020 or perhaps even below them ...

I would suggest using 'software only' rendering to hopefully resolve the glitches. Yes it's going to kill rendering times but may solve the issue.

You could also try upgrading to Premiere Pro version 14.3.

With a deadline looming you could also preview render your sequence before export and when exporting select 'use previews' in the export window. 

[Brandon Loshe]

Yeah, if I remember right, my Mac Mini is now close to the minimum recommendations. I tried opening the project on a newer Mac, but apparently Dynamic Link doesn't work on neither Catalina or Big Sur (Beta)? At least that's what seemed to be happening for me personally, and I found other users experiencing. So I'm sort of stuck on this older Mac Mini.

Software only seemed to work. I'm not sure if it was using that, uninstalling PrPro and After Effects, or dumb luck. But at least I got something now.

[Warren Heaton]

Dynamic Link should work as expected as long you're using corresponding versions of the Adobe applications.

So, Premiere Pro CC2019 to Media Encoder CC2019 or Premiere Pro 2020 to Media Encoder 2020.

If you're opening a Project file in Media Encoder, an older .prproj might open in a newer version of AME.  

Exported movie files should open in prior versions as long as the file format is supported.

[Brandon Loshe]

That's what you would think, right? That's why I'm a stickler for always keeping the exact Adobe software versions for all of the apps. In this case, Dynamic Link did not work as it should. It would only work if I had the AE project open. I read throughout other community posts from other users experiencing the same problem on MacOS Catalina. So I chalked it up to Dynamic Link just not working on Catalina and Big Sur (Beta).

[Warren Heaton]

For future projects and maybe even this one, always transcode source footage to Apple ProRes, edit in a custom Sequence with Video Previews set to Apple ProRes and export to Apple ProRes (pick any flavor or ProRes, but based on what you've mentioned I'd go with Apple ProRes422 LT).  With ProRes from start to finish, you're taking advantage of Smart Rendering in Premiere Pro.  When you're ready to create an MP4, drop the exported ProRes file into Media Encoder.

If you can establish that Software Only eliminates the problem, you may need to factor that into your export times; however, Premiere Pro does support the built-in graphics of that model.

As far as weird color graphics go, as long as your footage converts to ProRes fine, it should remain fine from start to finish.

Definitely update to the latest version of Premiere Pro (14.3).  If the problem persists, consider installing an older version of Premiere Pro.  (Although, project files are not backward compatible).

If you've been exporting to MP4, I would avoid using that as source in another Sequence.  Compression generation loss with MP4 can be very unforgiving.  Apple ProRes LT and up is great to use as source at any time.  MP4, not so much (it has to be a high bit rate and even then it's not a mezzanine format - that is, it's not meant for editing even though people use it for editing).

[Brandon Loshe]

Hi Warren,

Thanks for the reply. For example, would you even transcode all GoPro footage to Apple ProRes422?

"as long as your footage converts to ProRes fine, it should remain fine from start to finish" - While that makes sense, unfortunately, that's not what I'm experiencing. The weird color graphics doesn't seem to discriminate what kind of format, codec, or file type the clips are in.

[Warren Heaton]

Yes, I would transcode GoPro footage to a CODEC that is good for editing.  GoPro provides the Cineform CODEC for just this purpose which Premiere Pro supports, but since you're on Mac I'd go with ProRes.

While you can transcode on the Adobe side, GoPro Studio will do it as well (I remember something about the application name changing) and also allow for removing the Fisheye distortion if present.

An advantage of using a mezzanine CODEC is that you minimize unexpected issues.  Unfortunately, you don't eliminate them.

[Kevin-Monahan]

B,

Problem is doing HEVC at 4K in a system that barely gets out of the box at HD. Personally, work in HD. Transcode it all to ProRes LT and go from there as a workflow. You should have no trouble after that, but look into updating.

Cheers,
Kevin

[Brandon Loshe]

[moved out of nested response]

[Brandon Loshe]

Progress report: I updated the software to the latest versions (PrPro 14.3 and AE 17.1.1) as Warren suggested. And then it looked pretty promising switching to software only, as Steve suggested, even though it took forever. This morning it was at 99%. As I watched the paint dry, I get the crash message requiring Premiere Pro to shut down. Never finished writing the video file! I can't freaking belive this is happening! Why would it go through all of that just to crash at 99%?

[Brandon Loshe]

I've had so many bugs in 2020 that I can't get any projects to export correctly. After struggling with this for weeks now, I'm fairly certain many of my problems are coming from the Lumetri Color. I reported the bug, but I don't know what to do in the meantime.

https://adobe-video.uservoice.com/forums/911233-premiere-pro/suggestions/40946509-lumetri-vignette-b...

[R Neil Haugen]

I'm having no trouble with the Vignette ... though I don't use it hardly ever. If I want to vignette something, I typically use a masked/feathered opacity effect.

Neil