Premiere Pro not responding

[Guest]

Hello,

Yesterday I was working on a project when I suddenly experienced frequent and random hanging. Later on I can't even open the file without the dreaded Not Responding thing. I thought the project file was corrupted so I deleted it.

Today I restarted the whole thing but halfway through it hanged. Now, I can't open the file without Not Responding, again!

Help!

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo  E8400 @ 3.6GHz

Memory: 1GB Crucial DDR2-800MHz x2

Video: Nvidia Geforce 9600GT

[Harm_Millaard]

Some suggestions

[Guest]

Okay, I restarted my computer, opened Premiere Pro and opened the project. It loads without hanging. I added some transitions, did some minor editing, and save it. I wanted to export it as a .mp4 to add some effects with After Effects. I went to File>Export>Media, chose H.264 and chose my custom template (which worked before). It brings me to Adobe Media Encoder, I clicked Start Queue, and it hanged.

[excited_Genie16B8]

As a side note, your work flow is less than ideal.  H.264 is a final delivery medium, not a proper intermediary.  Use something like Uncompressed or Lagarith for that. Or better yet, the Dynamic Link feature of CS4.

[Guest]

Is it advisable to import the Premiere Pro Project file into After Effects rather than a rendered movie file? And can you list some examples of uncompressed file formats for Premiere Pro?

[Harm_Millaard]

You are weak in the memory department. 1 GB is just not enough. At least double that.

Second Jim already gave you a short list, uncompressed and Lagarith. Another is HuffYuv.

In general edit without converting if possible to avoid losses. Only convert to your final format when you are completely done.

[Guest]

You misunderstood. 1GB x2, total 2GB. Though that only just HIT the requirements and not exactly surpass it by much. I reckon that's why it lags so much and shows the dreaded Not Responding.

Also does uncompressed = no loss at all? And when I import the raw .mov into AE there is no sound, normal?

[Harm_Millaard]

Also does uncompressed = no loss at all?

Also does uncompressed = no MORE loss at all? The compression in your source format created losses and can not be undone.

The not responding can be caused by numerous factors, amongst them weakness in the disk setup, indexing or compression left on, processes running, or a whole lot of other reasons. Reread my earlier link, including the link to the Wiki troubleshooting section and the more general troubleshooting guide.

[Guest]

I think it's the RAM problem.

See, previously when I was using Sony Vegas 9 there was no problem. I checked the system requirements and its memory requirements are 1GB (no surprise). Photoshop runs great too, and it's memory requirements are 1GB too. AE and PP requires 2GB and thus I can't run it properly.

[Guest]

Just a couple of hours ago I tried this.

I restarted my system to clear the RAM, exited Messenger, Xfire and a couple of unneccesary applications, opened Premiere Pro and tried to render. I checked the progress after 30 minutes and I saw that an error occured. I opened the error log and this is it:

- Source File: C:\Users\Fabian\AppData\Local\Temp\render_1.prproj
- Output File: F:\vlog\2009-08-22\sequence1_1.mp4
- Preset Used: Custom
- Video: NTSC, 1280x720, 29.97 [fps], Progressive
- Audio: AAC, 192 [kbps], 48 kHz, Stereo
- Bitrate: VBR, 1 Pass, Target 6.00, Max 10.00 [Mbps]
- Encoding Time: 00:27:50
23/8/2009 7:33:11 PM : Encoding Failed
-----------------------------------------
Error compiling movie.

Unknown error.
-----------------------------------------

[excited_Genie16B8]

Well...at least now it's 'responding'.

[Guest]

Well but it doesn't get the job done either.

Should I buy a pair of 2GB RAM? It costs S$99, I'm a student and have limited funds, so I want to make sure it's the memory before buying it.

[excited_Genie16B8]

While the added memory is a good idea, I'd be surprised if that alone solved these issues.

[Guest]

Why'd you say so, and what else do you think I should do? Oh yeah, I tried rendering just like 10 seconds of the video, and it encoded smoothly without errors

P/S: I'm installing 4.0.1 and 4.1.0 updates, it might help. Just a quick question, can I install 4.1 without installing 4.0.1?

[Harm_Millaard]

Hard to know for sure, because you have NOT answered the questions or provided the infomation requested TWICE. Post #1 and post #7.

[Guest]

Uh didn't I already list out the steps I did accurately and in detail?

Post 1 and Post 7 are asking me to read the thread, which I did and thus listed out my steps in detail. I'm going through the Troubleshooting guide now

Thanks for all your help! I appreciate it!

[Guest]

Harm Millaard I get what you mean about not providing requested information. Sorry, I didn't scroll down when I checked the Troubleshooting page (http://premierepro.wikia.com/wiki/Troubleshooting). Okay so here is the information.

Codecs used:

• Video files are 1280*720 (16:9) at 30.000fps, M-JPEG (different files have different Mbps, though)
• Audio (video) files are 256kbps, 16.0KHz, 1 channel, PCM (Big/Signed)
• Audio (commentary) files are 128Kbps, 44.1KHz, 1 channel, MPEG Audio (Version 1)(Layer 3) [Note: Recorded with Audacity and exported to .mp3 using the LAME plugin, I dunno why it doesn't state the encoding]
  
• Audio (music) files are 320Kbps, 44.1KHz, 2 channels, MPEG Audio (Version 1)(Layer 3)(Joint Stereo); Encoding settings: LAME 32bits version 3.98.2
  

Premiere Pro

1. Version number: CS4 4.1.0
   
2. Installation language: English
3. Updates applied: 4.0.1, 4.1.0
   
4. Project settings:
   

• Title Safe Area: 20% horizontal 20% vertical
• Action Safe Area: 10% horizontal 10% vertical
• Video display format: Timecode
• Audio display format: Audio Samples
• Capture format: HDV
• Scratch Disks: Everything to "Same as Project"

   5. Sequence settings:

• General [grayed out]
  
  • Editing Mode: HDV 720p
  • Timebase: 29.97 frames/second
• Video
  • Frame Size: 1280 horizontal 720 vertical (16:9) [grayed out]
    
  • Pixel Aspect Ratio: Square Pixels (1.0) [grayed out]
    
  • Fields: No Fields (Progressive Scan) [grayed out]
  • Display Format: 30fps Drop-Frame Timecode [NOT grayed out]
• Audio
  • Sample Rate: 48000 Hz [grayed out]
  • Display Format: Audio Samples [NOT grayed out]'
• Video Previews:
  • Preview File Format: I-Frame Only MPEG [NOT grayed out]
  • Codec: MPEG I-Frame [grayed out]
  • Maximum Bit Depth: Unchecked
  • Maximum Render Quality: Unchecked

Operating System

1. Windows Vista Home Premium
   
2. Should be pretty much updated; just reformatted so I gotta give it a couple of weeks to catch up on the updates
   
3. English
4. 1680x1050; Highest (32 bit)

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0GHz, overclocked till 3.65GHz

2GB DDR2-800MHz (2 modules of 1GB each)

Video card

1. Leadtek
2. Nvidia 9600GT
   
3. 8.16.11.9062

1 monitor

Audio card

1. Realtek (onboard) and Steelseries (external audio)
   
2. -NA-
3. 6.0.6000.16386 (High Definition Audio Device) and 6.12.8.2012 (USB PnP Sound Device)
   

Each hard drive's capacity and space remaining

• Partitions of Western Digital 640GB
  • [OS] C: 30.1GB free of 56.6GB
  • D: 6.70GB free of 10.3GB
  • [PP & AE installed here] E: 266GB free of 529GB
  • [Media, scratch disks and project files stored here] F: 231GB free of 232GB
  • J: 219GB free of 232GB
  • K: 119GB free of 232GB

Hardware capture device: NA

Capture software: NA

Comprehensive list of third-party plug-ins you installed.NA

Exact text of any error messages: See post 9

Explain clearly what you want to do, what you are doing and what the result i: I wanted to render my sequence, I was doing minor edits, and Adobe Media Encoder stopped encoding halfway through (It didn't hang though) and when I alt-tabbed to Premiere Pro it says Not Responding.It worked if I render only the first 10 seconds or so of the video.

I have restarted my system to clear the memory and cache, exited Windows Live Messenger and Xfire, disabled my Firewall and Anti-virus.

[Harm_Millaard]

First, you have either the MainConcept or Morgan MJPEG codec installed, right? Either one is good for your source.

I do not understand your disk setup. Are we talking about 1, 2, or 3 PHYSICAL disks. If 1, the capacities do not match, if 2 they still do not match, if 3 you have unallocated space. Why have you partitioned these or this disk? Partitioning was useful in the previous century when disks were limited in size and extremely expensive. Nowadays, it is advised to NOT partition any disk and use at least 3 physical disks in your editing system, preferably even more. 1 TB disks are less than $ 100 nowadays.

The not responding error could very well stem from this disk setup.

Check whether your video driver is the most current. I think nVidia is now somewhere around 10.??

[Guest]

There are 2 physical hard disks. One is a 640GB one (C, D, and E belong there) and another is a 750GB one (F, J, K) I partition them so as to organise my data. System files go into C, school goes into D and data (like software, games, etc) go into E. F is the 2nd "E" when E runs out. J and K is my dad's; it's for his entertainment and work purposes.

And yes, my video driver is the most recent. I downloaded it yesterday off Nvidia's site after reformatting.

[Harm_Millaard]

At this moment nothing, apart from the MJPEG codec, as asked above pops out for causing this error. Would you please go back to my Some suggestions link, follow the second link, go to the end and supply the requested info from Process Explorer, Speedfan and DXDIAG?

[Guest]

Right now my Premiere Pro isn't running so I dunno if Process Explorer has the information you want. It's too large to take a screenshot so I'll save it in a file and attach it.

[Harm_Millaard]

Looking at the Process Explorer screenshot, there are a number of processes that you ought to kill. A number of them are devastating on performance.

1. Turn of search indexing on all drives and in all folders. Go to My Computer, right click on a drive, select properties and make sure both tick boxes in the bottom of the screen are clear. Repeat that for all your partitioned drives. Skip those files where Vista claims it can not turn off indexing.

2. Kill these processes:

     klwtblfs.exe, wlcomm.exe, cmdagent.exe, wuauclt.exe, AppleMobileDeviceService.exe, PDAgent.exe, PnkBstrA.exe, StarWindServiceAE.exe, nvSCPAPISvr.exe, mscorsvw.exe, cfp.exe, razerhid.exe, razertra.exe, razerofa.exe, msnmsger.exe, xfire.exe.

3. Download CCleaner.exe to make it easier to avoid the startup of programs at boot time.

4. Have a look at the Tuning Vista Guide and the Storage Guide here: How to get the best from a PC? Some guides...

I'll have a look at the rest of the info and get back to you, but especially point 1 will already make a noticeable difference.

[Guest]

cmdagent.exe is my Firewall, I don't think I can kill it; it must have some sort of built-in protection against malware trying to kill the application. And as for AppleMobileDeviceService.exe it shouldn't be there; iTunes and Quicktime are disabled for startup programs in Msconfig.exe. Some other like PDAgent.exe and PnkBstrA.exe are not listed in msconfig so I can't disable. But I'll kill all these processes before rendering.

Also I'm buying 4GB of memory soon. Even if the memory does not help the problem, 2 extra gigabytes of memory should make video-editing smoother and more responsive. Though I doubt that the memory is not the cause

[Harm_Millaard]

What PSU do you have? Your +12V rail is only showing 8.80V. Does it happen to be an old PSU from your previous system? If so, you have a problem with capacitor aging.

[Guest]

I have a Corsair HX520W PSU. And I bought it about 359 days ago on 30 Aug 2008 with the rest of my system.