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chockolate
chockolate
Participating Frequently
December 28, 2019
Question

Premier Pro 2020 (After Effects, Media Encoder, Audition) Issues with macOS Catalina

  • December 28, 2019
  • 7 replies
  • 6128 views

Purchased the new Macbook Pro 16" (2019) (max specs) and did a clean install of Abode CC 2020 on it. (The Macbook Pro 16" has macOS Catalina 10.15.2 installed on it).

 

After installation, everything ran smoothly. However, after the Macbook was switched on for a while, when I tried to open Premier Pro 2020, it takes very long to load at the splash screen, before eventually loading and having the error "Premiere Pro could not find any capable video play modules. Please update your video display drivers and start again." Upon thinking that this is an only Premier Pro issue, I decided to check the community forums and tried all the following methods listed below:

 

None have worked and I've reformatted the Macbook Pro 16", did a clean install of only Adobe CC without any other apps installed and frustratingly faced this exact same problem with Premier Pro 2020 with each and everyt try. It will load fine upon the first few tries, but having the same error after the laptop has been switched on for a while. This is when I noticed the the same issue with accompanying apps After Effects 2020, Media Encoder 2020 and Audition 2020. Similar, they will all load fine when the computer starts up. However, upon quitting the apps and re-opening them, they will each take very long to load (butterfly wheel appears); for After Effects, while the app eventually opens and project files are able to load, the software detects no GPU even though GPUsniffer detects one. Project files in After Effects 2020 do not render any graphics in the screen at all.

 

However, upon reading some of the suggestions from others in the community, I went ahead to downgrade to Premier Pro CC 2019 (v 13.1.5), After Effects CC 2019 (v 16.1.3), Media Encoder (v 13.1.5) and Audition CC 2019 (v 12.1.5). They all load fine without any issues on the Macbook Pro 16" (current working state).

 

Thinking that it could be an issue with the way I've installed Adobe CC 2020 and in particular Premier Pro 2020, I actually spoke to Adobe Customer Service online. After some back and forth conversation with recommendations and assistance, Customer Service Officer ASHUTOSH stated that "So if you can see, I have shared the compatible drivers list with you. You will not find the graphic card in the lists of compatible of graphic card for premiere Pro" and concluded that "the error which you are facing is not related to Adobe, the graphic card says that unable to get playable modules, which is related to graphic card."

 

After that I actually believed that it was indeed an issue with the Macbook Pro 16" (2019)'s GPU [AMD Radeon Pro 5500M 8 GB], especially since Premier Pro 2020 and the abobe accompanying apps seems to load fine on the Macbook Pro 15" (2018), Macbook Pro 15" (2017) and Macbook Pro 15" (2016). These computers have all been upgraded to Catalina from Mojave prior.

 

However, after a clean install of macOS Catalina 10.15.2 on the Macbook Pro 15" (2018) [Radeon Pro Vega 20 with 4GB of HBM2 memory], the above same issues appeared on it. Premier Pro 2020, After Effects 2020, Media Encoder 2020 and Audition 2020 all faced the exact same issues as the Macbook Pro 16" (2019). Similarly, downgrading to the CC 2019 versions of the above applications work fine and smoothly. This means that what Customer Service Officer ASHUTOSH shared was inaccurate, especially since the Radeon Pro Vega 20 is listed on the list of compatabile GPUs for Premier Pro.

 

Hence, after days of troubleshooting as well as noticing some other folks experiencing the same issue, here's hoping someone from Adobe can come out to address this issue and hopefully clarifying the following:

  • Does Adobe CC 2020, especially the video-related applications like Premier Pro 2020, After Effects 2020, Audition 2020, etc. have GPU-loading related issues with macOS Cataline 10.15.2?
  • Having Adobe CC 2020 app installed on Macs with macOS Mojave installed prior to upgrading to Catalina does not resulted in any issues in running the app. The Macbook 2017 and 2016, both of which have are on Catalina now, load Premier Pro 2020 and the accompany apps without any errors or issues. Does this mean that certain permissions and perferences transfered over from macOS Mojave to macOS Catalina allows this apps to detect the GPU on the respective machines without any issues?
  • Am pretty sure it's an issue with the way Adobe CC 2020 interacts with Catalina 10.15.2, especially since my other Mac workstations with Mojave installed work fine with Adobe CC 2020. Is staying on Adobe CC 2019 the only way going forward for Macs with Catalina installed?
    This topic has been closed for replies.

    7 replies

    J
    jamesm46355552
    Inspiring
    April 18, 2020

    Glad I found this post. I've been going nuts. Same computer as you (macbook pro 16" 2019 top spec in every way, bought 2 months ago). After Effects is unusable. Premiere Pro is not far off.  I'm going to try downgrading all adobe software. Were you getting glitchy playback in AE (looks like skipping frames, but really randomly - sometimes it will look fine, and then not, and then fine again). 

     

    Thanks very much for the detail you put in to this post. Very helpful.

    S
    sailor555
    Participating Frequently
    April 18, 2020

    I guess I found the problem: Using older saved files from previous versions of PP causes the problems. Using PP from the beginning with fresh footage causes no problems at all. Try it, 

    Andreas

    J
    jamesm46355552
    Inspiring
    April 18, 2020

    Cheers for that. Did a project the other day with new footage etc, but still issues. Will try rolling back to 2019.

    S
    sailor555
    Participating Frequently
    April 1, 2020

    Premiere Pro CC2020 and related programs all updated yesterday. I had 20 total freeze crashes in a row when trying to render . No chance. Zero success. Had to go back to the prvious version. Lost many hours working time.

    Mac OS CATALINA
    Version 10.15.4 (19E266)

    MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018)
    2,9 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i9
    32 GB 2400 MHz DDR4
    Radeon Pro 560X 4 GB
    Intel UHD Graphics 630 1536 MB

      johnpooley3
      johnpooley3
      Inspiring
      January 31, 2020

      An Adobe staff member in the facebook group "Adobe Premiere Pro Editors on Facebook" has a workaround for this and will apply it if you post in that group. 

      J
      jftardif
      Participant
      February 6, 2020

      Couldn't find this workaround

      A
      arkalmed
      Inspiring
      January 18, 2020

      I created a bug report. Please vote (!):
      https://adobe-video.uservoice.com/forums/911233-premiere-pro/suggestions/39465136-bug-report-crash-pr2020-14-0-and-14-0-1-pre

      A
      arkalmed
      Inspiring
      January 16, 2020

      This does not only affect newer Apple hardware. I'm having the same issues on my MP Trashcan 2013 with dual AMD D500 on Mojave:

      https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-pro/premiere-pro-could-not-find-any-capable-video-play-modules-please-update-your-video-display-drivers/m-p/10862082#M247598

       

      Not specific to PR but AE too....

      chockolate
      chockolateAuthor
      Participating Frequently
      January 27, 2020

      For what it's worth, the same issues are replicated in the 2018 and 2017 Macbook 15" when there is a clean install of Catalina.

       

      Leads me to believe that this is definitely not a hardware issue but a Adobe CC 2020 x macOS Catalina issue. Hope someone from Adobe will come forth, acknowledge and find a fix for this.

      lu-mod
      lu-mod
      Participant
      January 5, 2020

      hey there claudiochock -

       

      for what it's worth i have the exact same problem on a brand new mac pro.  it has been driving me completley mad so i'm glad i'm not the only one.  i completely rebuilt the system to what i thought was success until about an hour in and the issue started again.

       

      i'm downloading the 2019 versions right now in the hopes that they give some relief until this can be figured out. 

        K
        kwinzeler
        Participant
        January 6, 2020

        I'm having the same problem on my 2019 Mac Pro (Radeon Pro Vega II GPU).  This is an Adobe issue. 

        J
        Jim Curtis
        Inspiring
        January 6, 2020

        New MacPro here, too.  I did a clean install of all my apps and only migrated my Documents from my prior system.  I can work with Pr 2020, but with issues I can't tolerate (I've posted on this forum about it.).  Back to 2019, which works better.  There are several Project downgrader solutions around.  The only feature in 2020 that interests me anyway is the expanded options for speed changes.  I can work around that as I have before. 

         

        Adobe has a lot of gall to put out such a buggy release, and call it an "upgrade," IMO.  But then, most of their Pr x.0 releases have been imperfect.

        That said, the new "security" features of Catalina are onerous, and it appears the only way to get some apps to operate properly, you have to open the door to access to your file system - to make your computer insecure.  If you want a color picker to work, you have to allow the app to "record your screen."  I've kept the security pane open upon installation to verify that every third party plug in is safe, and I have dozens of them.  It's been quite a chore making the transition to Catalina - two full work days. 

         

        Sorry that I can't offer a solution, but rather an anecdote that the combo of new MacPro, Catalina, and Pr 2019 and 2020 work more or less OK on my system - or well beyond the splash screen.  My surmise is that your issue may be related to permissions (security) of a folder the app is trying to access.  Maybe try adding a new User / Admin, and see if that helps.

        W
        WithersDigital
        Participating Frequently
        December 29, 2019

        I don't have a Catalina Mac that hasn't previously been upgraded from Mojave to test this on, but it sounds like permission issues especially knowing how much things have changed in Catalina. Have you played with settings in Security and Privacy? I would try adding Premiere and Media Encoder to the "Allowed" list under Files and Folders and Full Disk Access. 

          chockolate
          chockolateAuthor
          Participating Frequently
          December 29, 2019

          Hi WithersDigital,

           

          Thanks for your suggestion. Have actually tried on both the MBP 16" (2019) and MBP 15" (2018) but to no avail.

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