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TheAngryBlobfish
Participant
June 28, 2020
Answered

Pause/Play button is SLOW

  • June 28, 2020
  • 1 reply
  • 4071 views

When editing my video, there is frequently a very large delay between when I hit the button and when the media actually starts running. The yellow line above the timeline has also turned partially red - not sure if this is a part of the problem or just a feature I have no clue how to use, but thought I'd mention it. I have uninstalled/reinstalled Premiere Pro, and I have tried multiple other troubleshooting problems for media players, but none have worked. Any ideas on how to fix this?

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Correct answer Phillip Harvey

A surface is never going to be an ideal piece of hardware for video editing, but you still should be able to benefit from working with better editing codecs.

 

In Premiere Pro you can right click on a clip and select Properties to see some information about it (including the codec). An app called Media Info can provide a lot more information in the Tree View, and is generally a useful thing to have on hand when dealing with media.

 

A little more info for context:

H264/AVC or H265/HEVC are compressed codecs -- also called interframe codecs -- and their focus is reducing file size. Part of how they do that by preserving data across many frames, rather than frame by frame. That means when you press play (in editing software) your computer has to decode a large number of frames to figure out what one frame looks like.

An intermediate codec -- also called intraframe codecs - are commonly used in post-production workflows and they work the way you would think, where one frame = one frame. The file sizes are larger, but they are easier for your computer to decode.

 

The two approaches to using intermediate codecs are to either 1) transcode all of your footage into the editing codec before importing/working with it and preserving the relative quality level, or 2) make proxies into a lower bitrate version of an intermediate codec.

 

The types of intermediate codecs most often used are ProRes, DNxHD/HR, or Cineform. Different people swear by different ones. I personally use ProRes most often, but they are all somewhat comparable. Here is a chart comparing the various codecs so you can see how the bitrates/bit depth relate to one another: https://blog.frame.io/2017/02/13/50-intermediate-codecs-compared/

1 reply

P
Community Expert
Phillip HarveyCommunity Expert
Community Expert
June 28, 2020

Can you talk about your computer specs and the type of media you're working with? The media has a large impact on the playback performance. If you're working in h264/h265 it's going to take a lot more computer power to decode (playback) than a proper editing codec. Something like that would account for the delay. Your hardware is also going to be a factor in that, but with the right editing codecs you can stretch your hardware pretty far.

 

Are you using the GPU renderer or Software Only? (File>Project Settings>General). If it's on Software Only you'll get a lot more red render lines. Otherwise it's going to be effects that are causing the red render line (an indication that you should not expect real-time playback). The more effects you add, the less likely you'll get real-time playback.

    T
    TheAngryBlobfishAuthor
    Participant
    June 28, 2020

    Thanks for your help!
    I am running on an Intel Core i7 CPU with a 64-bit operating system. It is a Microsoft Surface 3 laptop. Let me know if any other specs are needed. Sorry, but how can we check if we are running on h264/h265 and how can I load a different codec?

    P
    Community Expert
    Phillip HarveyCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    June 28, 2020

    A surface is never going to be an ideal piece of hardware for video editing, but you still should be able to benefit from working with better editing codecs.

     

    In Premiere Pro you can right click on a clip and select Properties to see some information about it (including the codec). An app called Media Info can provide a lot more information in the Tree View, and is generally a useful thing to have on hand when dealing with media.

     

    A little more info for context:

    H264/AVC or H265/HEVC are compressed codecs -- also called interframe codecs -- and their focus is reducing file size. Part of how they do that by preserving data across many frames, rather than frame by frame. That means when you press play (in editing software) your computer has to decode a large number of frames to figure out what one frame looks like.

    An intermediate codec -- also called intraframe codecs - are commonly used in post-production workflows and they work the way you would think, where one frame = one frame. The file sizes are larger, but they are easier for your computer to decode.

     

    The two approaches to using intermediate codecs are to either 1) transcode all of your footage into the editing codec before importing/working with it and preserving the relative quality level, or 2) make proxies into a lower bitrate version of an intermediate codec.

     

    The types of intermediate codecs most often used are ProRes, DNxHD/HR, or Cineform. Different people swear by different ones. I personally use ProRes most often, but they are all somewhat comparable. Here is a chart comparing the various codecs so you can see how the bitrates/bit depth relate to one another: https://blog.frame.io/2017/02/13/50-intermediate-codecs-compared/

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