Playhead moving in a chunks rather than smoothly.

[jer333]

The playhead will not run smoothly across the timeline when I'm playing back a video. Instead it moves in chunks like it's delayed. Also if I type in the effects panel while the video is playing back, the input will not show up until I pause the video again. This to me seems similar to a CPU issue but I've checked and my usage is at 10%, could be that Premiere itself is running high?!

This is across all my projects.

I'm using Version 23.6.0 on a laptop with 32gb RAM. I have reset preferences and media cache, and also tried changing my render settings. None of these have helped.

Any help would be wildly appreciated.

[jer333]

Added: I'm also finding that it will work properly for a while, until I make a change to something. Then it will throw a fit and move at the speed of a snail again.

I've just tried removing the video to leave only audio, reducing the playback quality and saving the project but none of these have helped either.

Thank you.

[mstegner]

Can you post a screen shot of "Preferences>Audio Hardware..." and "Preferences>Playback..." so we can try to diagnose the issue?
Then, try setting "Preferences>Audio Hardware>Default Input..." to "No Input" and see if that helps?

[jer333]

 Hi. Hope these work.

[jer333]

Your recommendation of Preferences>Audio Hardware>Default Input... to "No Input" seems to have fixed it! Can you tell me what those settings do? Thank you.

[mstegner]

It turns off the audio input in Premiere, and just uses the audio output as the clock source.  Some systems (I don't know which or why yet) have issues with the audio input.  I think it is due to a sample rate or clocking issue but I can't tell why and can't reliably reproduce on my end.
If anyone has any info please add it here.

[Harryscopic]

I also have this problem. The playhead in the timeline and in the program window don't keep up with the playback, they jump to position every few seconds or when playback stops. It's strange that the video isn't jumpy but the plaheads are.

I have only noticed it since the last update to version 23.6.0 (Windows 10). I tried changing the audio settings suggested by mstegner but the problem persists.

There must be another cause for this, please help if you have found a solution.

[mstegner]

@Harryscopic 

The issue I mention is specifically for jerky Video Playback.  The CTI not moving smoothly points to an out of date graphics driver.  I recommend you update your graphics drivers to appropriate drivers and see if that helps.

[Harryscopic]

Thank you mstegner, isn't the issue we're discussing the playhead movement during playback?

In my case, the playhead position counters in the program window and the timeline also change in leaps together with the playheads, despite fluid video playback. But the counter in the Effects control and Source window runs normally.

I'm using the latest driver available for my graphics card, released last week, Nvidia Studio Driver version 537.42.

[jer333]

Hello again, everyone.

After updating to 24, the issue is back again. I've tried the suggestions listed in this thread, as well as mucking around with the timeline / playback settings but to no avail. 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.