Premiere Pro 15.4 breaking plugins

[PugetSystems_Matt]

Just updated to 15.4 on several systems, and it looks like it is causing problems with various plugins. Already heard some people talking about issues with Red Giant, but I'm having issues with my own plugin as well.

On launch, the plugin looks like it starts to load, but nothing shows up in the panel itself. And if I close the panel and re-launch it, I don't even get the plugin panel to come up until I close and restart Premiere Pro.

Tried taking out pretty much everything in my index.html file except a single text field, but still nothing. So I think it has something to do with a change to what is needed in the manifest file perhaps? What is odd is that it seems to load just fine on my M1 Macbook, but not on my desktop PC.

Anyone else seeing similar issues?

[bbb_999]

Hi Matt,

I think you mean (JavaScript-based) extensions, not (C++-based) plug-ins...correct?

We've tested numerous internal and 3rd party extensions in 15.4, without issue, but if you could send me your extension directly, we'd be happy to investigate further.

[bbb_999]

Well, some good news: Apparently, your panel doesn't fail to load in 15.4, on all systems: 

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hey Matt,

Thanks for the message.

Edit: appears the application manager needs to be updated. See Neil's response. 

Regards,
Kevin

[bbb_999]

Existing extensions should continue to load.

[defaultduh8dy0w0z5g]

UUUUUhhhhhh how do you upgrade the application manager

[Bruce Bullis]

Not sure which application manager you mean...?

[R Neil Haugen]

Anyone with plugins should ALWAYS check with the plugin maker for updates when they update PrPro. Period.

For those with RedGiant/Maxxon plugins, you need to update via your RedGiant/Maxxon Application manager, and then all is well.

Neil

[davef43726944]

No, you don't ALWAYS need to. It's pretty easy to update PP, check if things work and then roll back to an earlier version if they don't. 

[R Neil Haugen]

Well ... if you don't mind finding out when it doesn't work, hey, that's fine.

I like to just have things work when I get started ... so if I do update PrPro/Ae/Resolve, I do always check for updates for plugins before starting the app. So like, this morning, my RedGiant stuff was all available immediately as I sat down to work.

So  ... no, you don't have to ... but it might be a wise thing to check ...  😉

[davef43726944]

This update breaks Maxon/Red Giant Universe plugin compatibility. 

[Kevin-Monahan]

Sorry, Dave.

Edit: appears the Maxon - Red Giant application manager needs to be updated. See Neil's response. 

Regards,
Kevin

[davef43726944]

I have, but haven't heard back yet. Should have mentioned that this issue is with Big Sur, but Windows 10. 

[R Neil Haugen · Accepted solution]

It isn't PrPro that isn't working. You need to update your Red Giant Universe application manager via the Red Giant Application manager.

Then it all works with 15.4 as you expect.

Neil

[davef43726944]

Tried updating Universe, but that did not do the trick. On Big Sur 11.4 btw

[R Neil Haugen]

On my system, the RedGiant app manager showed an update available. I did it ... then told it to check for updates. It then showed a new update, which I installed. So ... perhaps tell it to call home again.

Also ... dump your cache files in Premiere after you've run the update process with a plugin manager. Then relaunch PrPro, see if it works.

If it doesn't, check with RedGiant/Maxxon is I would guess the next bet.

Neil

[davef43726944]

Tried that as well, but no dice.

[R Neil Haugen]

Close PrPro. Dump your PrPro cache/cache database files. Run the RedGiant/Maxxon app manager again, and tell it to check for updates ... mine only got the last one after I did that.

Then when the RedGiant/Maxxon manager can't find an update, try PrPro again.

Neil

[davef43726944]

Cleared all caches, uninstalled all of RG software. Installed fresh Maxon App Manager and Universe 4.0.1 and the RG effects still do not show up in PP. On the PP loading screen I do see the plugins being scanned which is odd.

[R Neil Haugen]

Yes, definitely odd. Premiere and Ae went to an udpated ... format? ... code style? ... basis for such things as is explained elsewhere. So that's why the updates are needed for some plugins.

But after updating, they should properly work, and it's a real pain that yours aren't! On my rig, all my RG bins of effects are showing in the Effects panel, and usable. So ... wish I could puzzle out the hangup for your system.

Neil

[davef43726944]

At this point it seems like a Maxon issue since their application manager software is pretty garage overall. Just surprised others aren't having similar issues.

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hi Dave,

Sorry about that. Have you tried a fresh project?

Thanks,
Kevin

[davef43726944]

Tried that as well, but the plugins don't show up in the Effects tab.

[PugetSystems_Matt · Accepted solution]

Update on this: turns out it was because Premiere Pro (and After Effects) moved to CEP 11. Shoudln't affect packaged plugins, but since I am doing development, I had to get into the registry and add a "PlayerDebugMode" key under CSXS.11 .

So, no issue with Premiere Pro, I just wasn't aware that Ae and Pr moved to CEP11 with this latest release.

[jondrometa]

Thank you for this solution! I was experiencing the same thing for our internal extension (in development mode) and this resolved the issue for us as well.

Also: Make sure your extension is running NodeJS version 15.9.0 or higher, as mentioned here on Adobe's CEP Resources page.

1. Update the Node Modules: CEP 11 works with NodeJS 15.9.0 and Node-WebKit 0.50.1 versions.

If extensions were build on older version of NodeJS there can be cases where these extensions may not load in CEP 11 due to incompatible node modules.

In such cases, the node modules need to be updated using NodeJS version 15.9.0 or higher.