Rendering Very Slow in 24.5 (TEMPORARY SOLUTION)

[AndrewDartmouth]

NOTE TEMPORARY SOLUTION AT BOTTOM:

I have seen this being reported on other message boards other than Adobe but updated my system (encoder and Premiere Pro) to 24.5 the other day and all of a sudden exports of half hour TV shows that were taking 10-15 minutes are now 6+ hours in both Media Encoder and Premiere Pro. Like others in some message boards I rolled the version back but whatever change the update made causes the issue to stick and remain. So now basically can't export in a useful way and are having to export XMLs to Devinci to render. That's ridiculous. 

Have done all the usual stuff. Blown away preferences, deleted media cache files and the directories, clean reinstall, importing to new projects, etc. I should note we have three systems running Premiere and all the systems and all the projects are experiencing the same issue. And all the systems could render a half hour show in 10-15 minutes (very rarely 20-25) and are now over 6 hours. 

Talked to Adobe tech support and they had exactly zero ideas and were unaware of the discussions about the issues until I directed them to some Reddit discussions with others having the identical issues since update to 24.5. Does anyone have a work around? This is obviously time critical for us as we are delivering episodic television series. 

****EDIT**** Temporary Solution

Thanks to all who reached out privately as well as on this board. Seems this issue is more widespread than I thought. The following temporary solution was given to me by email and I tried it and it did suffice as a workaround.

1. Uninstall both Premiere Pro and Media Encoder using the Adobe Remove Tool and the explicit instructions on how to use that tool which involves first shutting down certain processes.

2. Delete not only the media cache files but the entire folders from your machine as well as temporary files

3. Reboot

4. Reinstall both Premiere Pro and Media Encoder (latest version is fine)

5. Reboot

6. Start Premiere pro with Shift Key (not sure if this is the same on MAC) and check off all options again clearing cache and also preferences (shouldn't be any preferences anyhow by this point)

7. Import your projects into individual new projects using only the sequence you need to export (if in a Production import each to separate projects - annoying but it seems necessary)

8. Export your file

I did this on a test file that had rendered in 12 minutes previously but then took 8 hours after the update. It took 11 minutes after doing the above.

[MyerPj]

I don't know what the issue is, but you should say something about the media and export codecs you are using. A screenshot of the Export screen would be good also.

[AndrewDartmouth]

This applied regardless of codec or media. As noted in my original post, it is happening across all projects, across multiple systems, and is also being reported online in the Adobe reddit channels with codecs and cameras of all sorts since the 24.5 update. I will take a photo next time we try one, but the last one we tried was 8 hours to export as an MP4. We specifically chose it as a test as it was one we rendered in 12 minutes three days before on the same system with the lower version of Premiere Pro. However, this is happening regardless of the export codec used, and regardless of the camera and codecs used to create the timeline. (We have variety of different projects, and online I'm seeing the same issue with cameras and footage types we don't use as well. So seems widespread)

[Joost van der Hoeven]

What do yo mean by render? Are you rendering in the timeline because you have problems playing back the footage? Or do you mean exporting/delivering the final video? This is not clear form your messages.

As others have said, please van you please share your system info? Like OS and version, CPU, RAM, GPU vRAM? Also please tell us about the codec of the footage used and the sequence settings. Thanks. Also a screen grab of your issue will be helpful.

FAQ: What information should I provide when asking a question on this forum?
https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-pro-discussions/faq-what-information-should-i-provide-when-a...

[AndrewDartmouth]

I thought I was fairly clear in the original post, but I will correct that, sorry. By render, I mean export. We are exporting the television programs we create. We will call it final video for the purposes here but its an export of the completed timeline we send to the colour house as a guide track (we also send them all the files and an XML but that is not an issue).

I purposesfully did not post the computer specs or codecs because as I stated in both my posts the issue is occuring on ALL of our systems here and with ALL codecs and footage from ALL cameras our production house uses. So it isn't connected to either of those issues, so I was trying not to bog it down. And probably most critical here is that Adobe has confirmed it is neither a codec or computer system issue when they logged in remotely but then threw their hands up and referred it up the chain, but said it could take days to a week get back. Fine, so I'm looking for workarounds if anyone has found one as we have series to deliver this weekend.

There is nothing to screen grab. There is no error message. Its an export that for example the last one we did took 8 hours when the exact same timeline on the exact same computer took 12 minutes three days ago before the update. And, the same as other online posters have found in other forums with no solution, rolling back the upgrade doesn't seem to correct the issue.

The Codecs we use are extremely broad. MXF wrapper AVC files, GoPro files, ARRI files, Sony MXF wrapped files, MP4 files, the list goes on in the projects. All of which have the same issue. And again, I think the critical point here is the issue did not exist three days ago. Everything worked fast and quick on all machines.

But by way of example here are the specs of the slowest of our machines:

AMD Ryzan Theadripper 3960X 24 Core 3.80HGHz

256GB System RAM

Windows 11

Obviously Premiere Pro 24.5

NVidia RTX 3090 with 256GB VRAM

NVidia Studio Driver 555.99

All exporting and editing running off internal SSDs with the software and operating system on one drive, media cache on another, footage on another, and export drive yet another internal SDD.

[R Neil Haugen]

This is a frustrating thing. I'm on a 3960x w 128GB of RAM and a 2080Ti, and exports are fast. So slightly less than the machine you list, but very similar.

From ProRes and BRAW, some mp4, to mostly ProRes and mp4.

Many users are getting fast results, but some spread out through the user base are getting crud. That's why the questions. A basic beginning for troubleshooting is to find the difference between good performing systems and those with troubles.

And it ain't obvious at this time!

[AndrewDartmouth]

Yes that is fair. I was trying to not bog things down with stuff but your rationale makes total sense. Its really weird. We were rendering (exporting) at lightning speed and now every single machine is all but frozen (from our perspective as to output guide masters of a 13 episode series for example at 8 hours each is impractical. Hopefully they figure it out. Whatever the 24.5 update does it changes something (maybe in the registry?) but somewhere that even when you downgrade it stays

[PaulMurphy]

I'd be curious to know what effects are being used in the timeline (if any) and if Smart Rendering speeds things up at all.

Cheers,
Paul

[AndrewDartmouth]

I would say no effects at all, but occassionally, very occasionally, we use a film dissolve on a clip or two. But for the most part the only "effects" are occassional scaling (we shoot a lot of aerial footage in 6 or 8k so we can crop if needed so then have to scale). I will have to look into the smart rendering but my guess is possibly it wouldn't be eligible as most of the shows have various codecs embedded and a mix of high speed and regular speed footage which smart rendering reads as would make it ineligble.

[PaulMurphy]

I only suggest Smart Rendering as a possible short-term solution. If you can get your timeline to render previews to a mezzanine codec at a decent speed, you can then export to that codec relatively quickly and encode this file to H.264 or whatever your delivery format is.

[Joost van der Hoeven]

What @R Neil Haugen says, it is super frustrating. I'm currently supporting a big event with 30+ workstations. All Z2 or Z4 with 128GB RAM and a RTX A4000 GPU. All connected to one storage. Due to the nature of this project; (broadcast, close to air) all systems are locke at Pr version 24.3, that was the version we tested on. Not upgrading until the end of the event. Also all footage we use is in the house codec XAVC Intra Class 100 in this case. Other source codecs are not forbidden but all rushed are ingested and transcoded. We can prettymuch predict how long a export of a video item or whole show will take because of this.
What I'm trying to illustrate: we know what goes in and what to expect when it goes out. As you have a big pallet of sources, I suggest to create a sequence with just one of them and test. Repeat with the next one. In vestigate what the bottle neck is. If these simple test all go well, add effects, graphics and sound effects etc.

[AndrewDartmouth]

Its a good idea. We don't normally upgrade automatically but the systems were switched last week accidentally to auto upgrade. Normally we only do upgrades outside of delivery season. I will run tests on a few tests with single codecs, it may identify a bottleneck, however, my frustration is we've been at this for years and not had this issue before and suddenly with one upgrade we are effectively frozen. We are doing a complete machine wipe in one suite to see if we can somehow get premiere back working properly but not super optimistic as we've done a couple of reinstalls (not complete wipes) without luck.

[Joost van der Hoeven]

My approach to do a proper complet wipe (format c:, etc) and then install the bare minimum, then do the tests. You say "the systems were switched". Not sure what that means, but as postproduction manager that is a big red flag to investigate. And just consider yourself fortunate that you had a smooth ride "for years". 

[Joost van der Hoeven]

Just found this Thread: https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-pro-discussions/premiere-pro-24-4-1-keeps-crashing/m-p/14656...

It might just be that your 5 year old Treadrippers are the cause, and that you need to revert to 24.0, as per that post, for now?
@Fergus H , what is your view on this? 

[AndrewDartmouth]

Interestingly the tech last night did that very thing but it didn't solve it. And we've been running versions higher than that with no issues. What people are finding with this latest update (some people) is even when you back down the version the issue remains so its changing something outside the core software on the machine. Registry perhaps? Not sure. Getting outside my expertise.

[AndrewDartmouth]

I should add since there were questions about specs. We also have Intel i9 systems running the Nvidia 4090 that have encountered the exact same issue with the update.

[AndrewDartmouth]

Yes we are trying that on one machine. Unfortunately if we have to go that route it will mean delivery delays. The Adobe tech told us yesterday the Creative Cloud Update (the small app that manages the logins and software) defaulted everyone to automatic updates. So thats what I meant by "switched". Its a shame it may come to this, I would still lay the blame at Adobe. A software update shouldn't do that. I'm seeing more and more comments online with a similar situation as more systems update.

[Artur A.]

Hello. I have the same problem. Please try this solution, it helps me sometimes. Before exporting the movie, just close the PP, open it again and immediately set the export. It is interesting to know the result.