RENDER PROBLEM - AME and Premiere Pro CC causing random horizontal lines on H.264 Renders

[JesseSchluntz]

I just got the new mac pro with freshly installed, up to date software, so of course something isn't working right...

When exporting batches of H.264s from Premiere Pro CC using AME, I get random horizontal lines on screen for most videos. (see below image for a clear example of one of these random horizontal bugs. the line below the logo is the issue)

Tried restarting the app a few times, which gave me a clean render here and there, but mostly the issue persists and it's taking me forever to produce clean renders. I notice this problem less when exporting straight from the timeline in Premiere Pro, but alas it still happens.

This random issue is catastrophic for my workflow. Help?!

[Text formatting corrected.  Please type your posts directly into the forums, as copy/paste often leaves unwanted code throughout.]

Message was edited by: Jim Simon

[CHCHK]

Here's my experience: I had lines (and red frames) for 6 months early on (bought my nMP mid 2014 with D700). Since then I've had a great run without lines for about 14 months.

I mounted my tube sideways, but that's about all I did differently.

Now in the last month I'm getting many unknown export errors and the lines are back. I haven't changed anything during that time except to update to the latest version of Premiere -

which also gives me flashing on long GOP .mxf files and laggy operation (not there in Pr 2014) after a couple of hours. I've switched to software only mode, which is at least reliable, and will contact Apple.

If I could go back in time I would have spent my 11K differently,

Cheers,

Mike

[craigbentley]

Thanks for the specs, Andreas.  We checked our new D700s and the specs are identical, yet yours work and ours don't.  There seems to be zero consistency with this issue!

Mike, agreed - we would certainly give back our 6 trashcans!

Oh, and I just realized I get the dubious honor of having the 800th POST ABOUT THIS INSIDIOUS PROBLEM!

[andreask8268577]

Hi all

I'm new to this forum (and to this strange issue as well).

3GHz 8-Core, 64 RAM, D700, purchased January 2014

I had this problem for the very first time in February this year, after a quality program replacement of both GPU's. A week ago the cards were replaced a second time, to make sure it's not a hardware defect. The problem continues.

Most of the time I work with footage as follows:

4096x2160, 25p or 50p, XAVC-I (Sony FS7)

Sequenz settings:

1920x1080, 25p, ProResHQ

I've also checked:

1920x1080, 25p, XDCAM (Sony EX1)

I see the phenomenon during playback prior to rendering, after rendering and after export (with sequence settings). In my eyes it's not h264 related.

I'm currently on another (brand new) MacPro without any problem:

3.5 GHz 6-Core, 16 RAM, D500

Cheers

Andreas

[tanb76940939]

Does the graphics card replacement programme covers Mac Pro bought in 2014 without Applecare.

I read that only Mac Pro bought in 2015 is eligible for replacement?

I'm using the 8 core with AMD 700. My render is always hit with horizontal lines, both in Adobe Premiere CC2015 and Davinci Resolve.

Currently have to use software render which really defeats the purpose of paying so much for the Mac Pro.

[jamesb4861177]

Ok everyone...any solutions to this problem? My Nvidia IMac is still holding on...has Apple fixed the issue with the AMD Graphics cards?

[craigbentley]

jamesb, if you look back to my post (#820) on 6/14/16, you can see that I thought our troubles were over.  We replaced the D700 card in the A slot on four MacPros, and began exporting horizontal-line-free for the first time in almost a year.

Sadly, a few weeks later, the lines roared back to life on all of our machines except one.  Grrrr.  We tried adding a fan control app on two machines to keep the fan revved up, but no help.

In one machine, we also replaced the RAM, and still got lines.  We're testing another machine with a new chip that Apple is sending, but I have little hope.

We're almost finished adding a Windows machine for the sole purpose of clean exports.  So my advice is to keep nursing that iMac until further developments (or buy a Windows machine!).

[Kevin-Monahan]

jamesb, if you look back to my post (#820) on 6/14/16, you can see that I thought our troubles were over. We replaced the D700 card in the A slot on four MacPros, and began exporting horizontal-line-free for the first time in almost a year.

Sadly, a few weeks later, the lines roared back to life on all of our machines except one.

Sorry about that Craigbentley. It sounds like your GPUs were damaged once more. Can you take your systems back into an Apple Service Center and ask them to replace the GPUs once more?

After you get them repaired, I would closely inspect the bays where these computers reside. Are they cool enough? Well ventilated? Air conditioned? Heat seems to be the culprit in most of the GPU damage cases, so I would maximize the capability to keep these edit bays cool.

Fans blowing more often alone may not provide a cool enough environment for these enclosures, especially if you are cranking on the GPU when exporting with accelerated effects, scaling, etc.

Hope this advice helps.

Thanks,
Kevin

[toneproductions]

What is 'cool enough' I monitor my Sensor temps with istat. With the fans cranked right up they are currently sitting at 80 degrees C

[Derjis]

That seems high... IIRC, I think the max temp for most modern Intel processors should be somewhere in the mid-70s (?). As a point of comparison, our PC workstation (AIO liquid-cooled) tops out in the mid-50s under load --- 6-core i7 5820k oc'ed to 4.05ghz

[thevideoguru]

I'd stay as far away as possible from the AMD graphics cards. Been a nightmare to work with the Adobe applications with them.

[jamesasdfasdf]

As with everyone,

I can not believe this is still an issue. Last month, I took my Mac Pro into Apple and explained to them the horizontal glitch issue and they were aware of the Graphic Card Exchange Program.

Even though my machine was made after the manufacture date range for the faulty card exchange program, Apple still replaced both of my AMD FirePro D500 3072 MB cards.

After editing a wedding video in Premiere Pro, I noticed the glitching bands re-appeared in my renders. How can this crap still be going on?

The temporary fix of disabling, "Mercury Playback Engine GPU Acceleration (Open CL)", did work; but why spend all of that extra money on a machine designed to use both cards?

Here is a render with Open CL enabled:

https://postimg.org/image/s2fuho7kx/

https://s32.postimg.org/ap5k2tc9x/Glitch_Wedding.png

[url=https://postimg.org/image/s2fuho7kx/][/url]

Has there been an absolute fix for this yet?

[url=https://postimg.org/image/53n9thezl/][/url]

https://s32.postimg.org/y61jwb19h/Mac_Spec_PM.png

[matt_milt]

Still an issue here as well. Noticed this horizontal artifact issue today. Using a Mac Pro (Late 2013) with the AMD D500. Haven't tried disabling Open CL yet but really not looking forward to it for exporting a 30 minute show. Just updated to Premiere Pro CC 2015.3 as well, so we'll see if that helps anything. Has anyone gotten any new leads at all? Adobe??

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hi matt_milt,

Has anyone gotten any new leads at all? Adobe??

Please take your computer into an Apple Certified Service Center with evidence of your issues. See if they can replace these GPUs for you. The issue should subside with replaced GPUs.

With replaced GPUs, please ensure that when you return to your bay, the computer is in a cool, well ventilated area, ideally air conditioned. Heat monitoring applications can help you monitor excess heat, which can fire up fans, preventing GPU damage.

Just updated to Premiere Pro CC 2015.3 as well, so we'll see if that helps anything.

Actually, it should not. Most customers have found that the only thing that assists the issue is replacing the GPUs. Likely, they've been damaged.

Thanks,
Kevin

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hi jamesasdfasdf,

Apple replaced both of my AMD FirePro D500 3072 MB cards.

After editing a wedding video in Premiere Pro, I noticed the glitching bands re-appeared in my renders.

Has there been an absolute fix for this yet?

I would take the computer back to Apple. Bring evidence of your issues to them.

One of two things may have happened:

1. They installed faulty GPUs.
   1. Ensure they install new GPUs
   2. Do not install refurbished GPUs.
2. You overheated your GPUs again

Hopefully, they will replace them once more. Once you return to your bay, make sure that the computer exists in a cool, well ventilated area, for example, not underneath your desk in a corner.

I hope that helps.

Thanks,
Kevin

[Jeanwong]

Im not entirely convinced that it is an heat issue? Ive had my mac pro for about 2 years now (late 2013) and have this problem intermittently. The weird thing is I would have a good 6 months run exporting multicam sequences with gopro 4k, motion JPEG 4k and canon mxf files no problems at all.

I  have sequences about 4-5 hours long sometimes 1080p and even 4k! but have not had any problems! (2 diffferent cameras) Yet just recently in a 30min export (multi cams 3 different cameras) shows horizontal lines usually after the 4 minute mark. I have also tried in the past transcoding everything to Proress and it does not work.

The only workaround I have now is to make a queue of 5 exports of the same sequence on encoder and eventually I will get one good export. If not restart and repeat.. or software render which takes bloody ages.

I have moved my workstation 3 times. The lastime my flat with no AC I was working through the summer problem is intermittent the Mac pro would run really warm on most days. To be honest I don't see any correlation. Now Im in an office (about 3 weeks now) with AC it feels like working in a freezer here! still having the problem every now and then.. VERY ODD

[Lft_Nucky]

As said in this post here: Re: Random white/black horizontal lines after exporting in PP cc

I too have been experiencing these weird lines, as illustrated perfectly in the images by Jeanwong above here.

I see a lot of Macbook / Apple users on here, I am experiencing it on Windows myself, Windows 8 to be precise. One thing that does appear to be in common is AMD graphics cards? My graphics card is also an AMD. Not sure if it is a coincidence or not, but I have another issue because of AMD, which shows up in the form of weird flickering artifacts when playing the game GTA 5 for a longer period of time. The only way of fixing this, has been to use software like Afterburner, to put a cap on the memory clock. Usually when playing the game, it goes up to 1600 Mhz, and after a while, the graphical issues show. I capped it to use only 1000 Mhz, which prevents these graphical issues from happening in the game.

I was thinking this might be something similar for Premiere Pro. Sadly.....browsing some websites or watching certain youtube videos cause my system to go above the 1000 Mhz limit I put on the graphics card anyway, and push it up to 1600. Not a problem for a short while, but if left like that for 30 minutes or more, graphical issues would occur in the game again. I do not know why certain websites make the system push beyond the cap....never been able to figure that out. I was monitoring my system, and when using AME CC, that one also pushes the memory clock's Mhz from 1000 top, to 1600, over the limit.

It might be a long shot.....but AMD cards causing graphical glitches and artifacts for some software......while running at 1600 Mhz in your memory clock settings is known. Could be worth looking in to. I will do some more testing myself on this too

Edit 1: The Mercury Playback Engine feature is what causes the software to go over the 1000 Mhz cap I have set it to in Afterburner. When using this feature, it pushes to the 1600 Mhz. When it's off, it only goes up to 1000 Mhz. Obviously renders will take a lot longer without it.......but if this is causing the problem......then it might be worth the extra wait. It's starting to feel that longer renders at 1600 Mhz, or multiple short renders that add up to a lot of time where the AMD card spends running at 1600 Mhz, in combination with AME / PP is what causes this problem, similar to what gamers experience when playing GTA 5 at 1600 Mhz.

[Rex Lint]

Hey guys, just a thought for you to try.  The lines may be related to our Mac Pro overheating during export.  Go into your fan control and crank your fan settings to max RPMS!!   Also let your machine cool down before doing your export.  Render your timeline first, let the temps of your CPU get down around 110, then do your export. 

Don't do anything else while your doing your export either to keep your cool.   Also make sure your machine has some room to breathe in your work space, maybe even give it an external fan as well.

See if that helps.

[Derjis]

Thanks for the update, Rex. It looks like the only real solution for the issue is having the defective cards replaced by the "Geniuses". It worked for our trashcan; no exporting glitches since the card swap.

[michelled4946156]

Hi!

I'm in a conundrum:  I'm getting these lines on my exports, too.  My machine is a Mac Pro and the graphics cards were JUST replaced!!  Literally 2 weeks ago because they were faulty upon delivery.  My colleague has the SAME computer, and he has NO issues.  It's only on 4K footage and there is no issue with the proxy files.

Any ideas?

Michelle

[APB_Post]

I still think the root of this issue can come from a few issues.

1.) I've had this happen with iMacs as well and I still maintain it was a heat issue. I haven't seen this happen on any older macpro towers or other properly ventilated systems. Only on more modern macs. And only when you're talking about large files or files with heavy post fx on them. Proxies, dslr footage, etc don't tend to cause this(depending on the codec)

I was able to remedy this by putting a fan control app on it and crank it when doing heavy rendering/transcoding. I also noticed before adjusting fan speed that the fans wouldn't get even close to their max rpm no matter how hard I was pushing it. After maxing out the fan it made a real difference. It would still crop up from time to time, but flipping to software only, while taking much longer ALWAYS solved the problem.

2.) Depending on your OS I've seen this happen more in different versions. The worst was Yosemite. My guess would be #1 though.

[michelled4946156]

Thanks APB post!  I will try that!

There are two things that still don't make sense to me, though.   This happens in Premiere, with 4K footage, just playing it back.  That doesn't seem like it would be related to heat as there are no exports running.  And, a colleague's computer, which has the same configuration, does not have this problem.  He Is running an earlier version of premiere.

... is it luck of the draw?   Something else?

[michelled4946156]

Oh - And any suggestions for a fan control app?  I don't think we can manually change the fans on the Mac Pro without a 3rd party app, right?

[libsimpso]

I have been using Macs Fan Control. It does the job.

[michelled4946156]

Thank you!  Any suggestions for the new values (C) for (I assume) Sensor-based values?

[Jeff_Dilullo]

We use iStats Menu. It allows us to control the fan speed based on rules. It also allow us to monitor the GPU temps.

We monitor:

CPU proximity

GPU 1 Die

GPU 1 VR Proximity

GPU 2 Die

GPU 2 VR Proximity

We look for all these values to stay below 110F

We keep our fan at 1900 all the time.