Performance Issues with Premiere Pro on MacBook Pro with Apple M1 Max

[Brentbat123]

I just bought the new Apple 16" Macbook Pro with M1 Max chip.   Supposedly this thing is a beast!

But I think I must have something misconfigured, because it won't even play one of my GoPro 5K videos without jumping and stuttering in Premiere Pro (I'm just viewing the video in the source window, so havne't even applied any effects, scaling etc.  and it is STILL jumpy.

It's a clean install.  Premiere Pro is v 22.11

Mac is running V12.01 OS, Apple M1 Max chip and 64GB memory.  Running off internal SD drive which is super fast.

What can be causing this?  Any ideas?

[Jeff Bugbee]

this certainly shouldn't be happening. Can you show the specs of this file? Preferably using Mediainfo in treeview.

https://mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo/Download/Mac_OS

[Brentbat123]

Hey Jeff

Thanks for your reply. I have attached two different file specs,  one is the original gopro file, and the other is a GoPro file that I transcoded into ProRes 422.

I was expecting that the M1 Max Pro would be able to smash through a HEVC GoPro file.

And when I transcoded the GoPro file into ProRes, it played nicely when scrubbing etc.  But as soon as I applied a colour grading effect, I could see it start to get choppy in just regular playback.  THIS REALLY surprised me because I thought the processor was optimised for ProRes. 

That is why I'm wondering if there is some other setting not right.

Thanks in advance.

[Jeff Bellune]

Try turning these settings on/off to see if things get better.

 

 

[Brentbat123]

Checked both of those settings... they are the same as your screenshot.  I unchecked the preference to "enable hardware accelerated decoding" and restarted but no noticeable difference.

On the Project settings, I had no option to change the value that is in there (Mercury Playback Engine GPU Acceleration Metal).

Perhaps my expectations were too high?  I thought with this chip I'd be able to at least play back fluidly even when applying some pretty standard effects (colour grade, sharpening etc.)

I noticed one particular effect that seems to make the clip judder a lot is when I apply a Sharpen effect and use an elliptical mask with a feather on it (to focus the sharpening more towards the centre).   This effect seems to cause a lot of dropped frames on playback.

[Jeff Bellune]

You're attempting to move a lot of pixels around at a very high frame rate, all while decoding a highly compressed codec.

Using a proxy workflow may be your best bet in this situation

[Brentbat123]

Hey Jeff

Just to clarify,  I'm getting the dropped frames on a ProRes 422 transcoded file.

Originally shot at 5K@60fps on a GoPro

Transcoded into ProRes 422

Then I am editing it in a 1920X960 sequence at 29.97fps (usually scaling the clip around 35%)

Maybe I do need to go back to a Proxy workflow.... instead of transcoding to prores thinking this will give me a smooth playback,   maybe I leave the master files in their native format, and instead build lower resolution proxies.

I guess my expectation were just too high thinking I could edit smoothly on Prores.     Bummer :~(

[Jeff Bugbee]

The H.265 file will not play back well regardless. H265 is not an editing codec, M1 chip or not.

The ProRes file should give you better performance, which it sounds like it is. But after applying effects, performance goes down. Again, this is expected on a 5K video file with a bit rate of 2Gb/s (!!!). Like the other Jeff said, you would benefit greatly from a Proxy workflow. Remember, the M1 chip is not an end-all solution that'll just chew through anything you throw at it. There are still restrictions.

Another question is are you running the M1 optimized version of Premiere or using the Intel version through Rosetta?

[Brentbat123]

Hey Jeff Bugbee

Thanks for chiming in.  Regarding the version of Premiere Pro,  It says Version 22.1.1 (build 72).  I'm ASSUMING that when I did the install it downloaded the M1 optimized version automatically.  Any way to check for sure?

BP

[Jeff Bugbee]

In the CC Desktop app, hover over Open

[Brentbat123]

Hey Jeff Bugbee

I just re-read your note and thought about the "!!!" next to the 2Gbp/s bit rate.   

This is the first time I've used ProRes codec.  Historically I was working with proxy files.

I used one of the standard Prores presets for my transcoding,  but perhaps this is my problem.   Any advice on the optimimum settings for Transcoding into ProRes to still give good quality, but perhaps run at a more manageable bit rate?

BP

[Jeff Bugbee]

I've never actually worked with 5k ProRes files, 2 gigabit/s files sounds insane for any machine. 

ProRes data rates are generally fixed, your 2gb/s bitrate coincides correctly with what Apple says a 5k 60fps ProRes 422 file would be: https://www.apple.com/final-cut-pro/docs/Apple_ProRes_White_Paper.pdf

That being said, a ProRes422Proxy file would be 600mb/s ( .56gb/s) which I think would be MUCH more managable. Can you give the ProResProxy preset a shot?

[Brentbat123]

Thanks for this (both Jeff's).

Actually I just tried an experiment.

FILE                                      Size,                 Data Rate

Original GoPro file             1.21GB              99.7 Mb/s

ProRes 422                          24.8GB              2,046 Mb/s

ProRes422 Proxy.               7.9GB                   653Mb/s

I dropped all 3 into a 29.97fps sequence 1920X960 sequence

I applied 2 effects to each clip

Cinemagrade colour grade

Sharpen effect with a feathered elliptical mask.

Prores clips definitely played and scrubbed better than H265 Gopro clip, but all 3 of them struggled with the Sharpen effect & mask.   If I took the mask off, it was fine, so it seems as though the sharpen+mask is what is causing a lot of grief.

I really appreciate your help guys,  I'll have a think about how to modify my workflow, but will likely go back to using 422 Proxy and editing with proxies.

BP