RED R3D Files Crash Premiere and Media Encoder on Export

Report · Sep 18, 2025

25
Windows 11
Basic steps to reproduce the problem

When exporting timelines with R3D files from either Premiere Pro or Media Encoder (in any version of Premiere Pro 25) to h.264 encodes, the export will stall indefinitely. Attempting to cancel the export will crash either program completely. Attempting to render timelines will break the codec completely, turning all video previews in any window black, only returning on restarting the program.

Uninstalling plugins, resetting caches etc does nothing. The problem specifically lies somewhere between reading the data of a R3D file while exporting to h.264. I saw known bugs marked "solved" relating to the RED creative LUT program, but I am not using that.

The only current workaround is exporting the timeline to ProRes and then reencoding from the ProRes file. Attempting to render a timeline which has an intermediate of ProRes fails in the same way described above.

Infrequently an error message is displayed. I've attached it here. It was largely unhelpful in me identifying the issue.

I am on a large job involving mixed media formats and the R3D files are the only ones causing an issue. It is tough to determine when this began, but I noticed Adobe had autoupdated recently and may be the culprit. Attempting to revert Premiere to previous versions has not solved the issues, but in the interest of maintaining project cohesion I have not gone back very far in versions and have used the workaround in the meantime.

I've also noticed that even scrubbing the timeline with r3d files has caused stability issues. A great deal of lag and broken playback, but this has been harder to document.

Please help me identify causes. I have some timelines with this issue that have literally no effects on them at all, so to me it feels very codec related.

Thank you!

Report · Sep 20, 2025

Try to delete render files from sequence and render again.

Can you share your system specs?

In Sequence Settings, what are your Video Previews and Codecs set to?

Report · Sep 22, 2025

I've wiped cache more than a few times, including plugins and effects and even wiping plugins themselves.

Digital intermediate is ProRes HQ - pretty standard. I've cut hundreds of spots this year even with R3D footage in previous months. The issue began immediately after an auto-update but has persisted even after a rollback, so I'm confident this isn't a hardware issue but that the update possibly changed something that would have been overlooked in other versions.

As for specs, I'll keep it simple. I've tried different graphics drivers in multiple versions already on this:
Windows 11 Pro 64-bit

AMD Ryzen 7 9700X 8-Core Processor

32 gb RAM

GeForce RTX 3060 - various drivers

Report · Sep 23, 2025

Hi SPM-Editor-01,

We're sorry about the poor experience. For testing purposes, have you tried temporarily disabling H.264/HEVC hardware accelerated decoding (under Edit > Preferences > Media) to check if it's exporting in H.264? Also, let us know the RED camera that was used.

Thanks,

Sumeet

Report · Oct 03, 2025

I've tried turning hardware acceleration on and off several times. It's also definitely exporting in H.264. I've been a Senior Editor for 20 years and I've double checked that.

I do not know the camera. Like I said, footage comes from a lot of sources from many years. However, this problem is the same with any R3D file, no matter the shoot.

Report · Oct 01, 2025

Exactly the same problem for the last 3 days, Red Monstro 8K VV, R3D 12:1. This issue with these files appears every few updates and then disappears. The timeline works without any problems, but the render-whether through Premiere or M0edia Encoder - causes an error with the R3D file. On the other hand, 6K files from the Komodo work fine. It seems that the issue is with the 8K files. My temporary solution between Premiere updates (which seem to do more harm than good-out of frustration, I bought DaVinci today) is to pre-render the file on the timeline to ProRes 4444, and then the sequence will render without any problems. It’s embarrassing that this issue has been around for 3 years, showing up with every update, and no one has done anything about it.