Premiere Pro 2024 Timeline Lag

Regarding the requirements, I believe my current computer meets the necessary specifications in terms of RAM. As stated on the website you shared, the minimum requirement is 8GB, and the recommended is 16GB. As mentioned in my first message (and shown in the attached image), my current PC has 16GB of RAM.

Yes, you’re correct in saying that my computer doesn’t meet the RAM requirements, but this only applies in the context of editing 4K videos, which is an exception since I rarely work with 4K projects. Even when I do, I usually don’t encounter issues related to previews or similar tasks (except when applying heavier effects).

Here’s what I can share about my workflow: I usually work on 1080p 60fps projects, which pose no issues for my computer. Occasionally, I handle 4K projects at 24fps or 60fps, but, as I mentioned before, those instances are rare. In the video I attached in my first message, I was working on a 1080x1920 60fps project for TikTok. I was editing an m4a audio files at 194kbps as you could see in the attachment in my first message. As requested, the tree view of the audio file I was using in the video is also attached. Normally, I work on 1920x1080 30fps videos, yet I still encounter the same issues. Logically, I’d expect these problems to occur more frequently when working with videos, but I’m even experiencing them with only audio files on the timeline. This doesn’t make sense, as my previous computer, which was far less powerful than my current one, could handle 1080p 60fps projects without significant issues, instead of just the preview that didn't work very well. On that older computer, the timeline would lag slightly (equivalent to around 20fps) only when working on very large projects. However, with my current setup, editing large videos has become extremely challenging due to this issue. It now feels like my timeline runs at around 5fps after making only a few cuts.

I tested the same files in another program, DaVinci Resolve. Although my computer struggles to play previews for 1080p 60fps projects in Resolve (which is why I subscribed to Adobe in the first place), the timeline in Resolve was entirely lag-free. This leads me to believe the problem isn’t with my computer.

Regarding the number of processes running on my computer, since it has mid-range performance, I can typically have multiple programs open while editing without any issues. I’ve also run tests closing everything else (including background programs), but this didn’t help. Normally, alongside Premiere Pro, I have a browser open (used to search for images to include in my projects or to read the video script I’m editing), File Explorer (to import additional files into the timeline), and Notion (to track and mark editing tasks as completed). In the background, I also run a few minor programs, such as Microsoft Defender, RadminVPN, QuickLook, ShareX, and occasionally Parsec. During tests comparing Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve—even with two instances of Minecraft open—DaVinci performed better. I believe developers could optimize Premiere and/or revert to the previous timeline system, which was much more efficient and performed far better.

I pay $80 a month for a program that not only crashes without warning but also has a poorly optimized timeline.