Should I update??? + smart rendering questions

[cre8vimp]

I'm about to finish a large project. I've heard many times "don't update till your current project is finished"... but, I really want to take advantage of the new smart render improvements for this. Torn.

What if I... update... then create a new project and import this one into it... and then try exporting? Then, in my theory, if there's a bug or problem, I could throw away the new project and my original wasn't actually touched, and I could go back to Pr 22.3.1. Am I risking anything if I do that? Good idea/bad idea?

[thatsmauri]

In general, it's true: never change a running system. However, if you do want to update, it's always better to make a backup of your project first. Simply choose File > Save As or File > Save A Copy.

[Ann Bens]

If it were me: NO

Is it worth the risk messing up your project just for smart render.

[Jeff Bugbee]

You recognize the potential issues with upgrading in the middle of a project... Great! Now that you know that, no one else but you can make the decision whether or not to update. Personally, I would never update in the middle of a project. Why risk the completion of my project for slightly better render improvements? Not a worthwhile tradeoff.

That said, if you do go through with it, you have a plan to revert in case of issues. Great! Now you must simply choose whether or not to update. Would you rather finish out your project in relative ease on the current version? Or potentially spend hours of editing time upgrading and downgrading Premiere versions if there's an issue for a slight render gain?

[Peru Bob]

If I had two editing computers, then I might consider doing it if I only updated one of them.

Otherwise, I wouldn't risk it mid-project.

[smrpix]

Smart rendering is only meaningful for clips that are not modified for the final output.  So finish your edit in the Premiere version you are working with, output it, then load up the new version and output again if you believe that will result in improved results.

[cre8vimp]

Thanks for your input, everyone!

The only reason I'm even considering it: I'm running into limitations of my equipment/system. I'm not a pro, just a music teacher who makes educational video. Much of my footage is shot with a phone. I had to do a lot of green screen keying in AE for this project. I've already posted on this forum for workflow suggestions for all that, so I'm pretty much past that part. It was suggested to me that I transcode the footage to ProRes CFR first... so that's what I tried.

Problem: I don't have enough drive space left for ProRes versions of both hour ish long clips I am using. (When I had Puget design my computer, I went big on CPU and GPU, but went not so big on RAM and drive space. Live and learn.) I tried LucidLink, but discovered that my "very fast" (is the way it's marketed, fastest available in my area) internet speed is nowhere near fast enough to use LucidLink practically.

So... I'm pretty much stuck using my original phone clips to edit with. The computer doesn't really struggle much with them while editing, even with effects and dynamic link, which is nice. It does stutter some, but at 1/4 resolution in the program monitor, actually not that much. The problem is that the final export is threatening to take around 36 hours. I tried it once and must have hit some time out wall because it didn't finish. So I feel like the smart rendering workflow is the only saving grace I have left. (I like this better than render and replace because it's easier to make changes as I go if necessary.) I figure hey, if the computer is going to have to spend hours rendering, it may as well do it in between editing sessions as I finish up the project. That way the final export will be a reasonable time... and cherry on top, my editing playback will be super buttery.

So that's why, when I saw that smart rendering was one of the selling points of this update, I really wanted to jump on it. I feel like I need all the help I can get at this point. Most answers here are saying DON'T DO IT. I hear you, and thanks. 🙂 But if I have a backup of the project, then I'm not really risking losing anything permanent, right? Other than time to downgrade back if necessary?

[Jeff Bugbee]

But if I have a backup of the project, then I'm not really risking losing anything permanent, right? Other than time to downgrade back if necessary?

By @cre8vimp

Correct. But as others have said, this Smart Rendering option might not help you much, if it all. 

Side note: do you have enough drive space left for your final render? If you're struggling to maintain transcoded footage of your raw clips, I worry your long render will fail due to low disk space. If you purchased a Puget Sound machine, it should be relatively trivial to throw another 1-2TB SSD in there.

[MarekMularczyk]

Stick to the version you're working on and finish your project.

Then, you can update.

[cre8vimp]

Thanks again, everyone...

Confession: I read all your replies... and then I updated.

First I made sure I had multiple backups of the project in multiple locations. Then I updated all CC apps. Then I created a new Pr project, and imported my old one into it.

I decided to risk it because of the things I detailed above. The only thing I've done is open my sequence in the new project and choose Render In To Out (preview files set to ProRes 422.) At this point, I can say that I'm so glad I did this. Holy smokes. Whatever they did to "smart rendering" is astounding... in version 22.4, it arrived at 10% rendered in roughly the amount of time that it took to get past 1% before.

I was prepared for rendering/exporting to take hours not minutes, because there is a lot of AE green screen keying on VFR footage in this project (see my other posts, already hashed all this out and weighed different options). In 22.3.1, the first time I tried rendering the timeline, I left it rendering overnight (started around 8 pm ish), and when I got up in the morning (not early), it was at 60% ish. It is now at 28% after only an hour and a half, on 22.4. So cool to see the green line move across the timeline like this.

I realize I could still get bit in the butt with some surprise bug, but so far so good. This is quite an improvement. If I end up regretting the upgrade, I will present myself back to this thread for my "I told you so's". Sorry for being the rebellious teenager here.

@Jeff Bugbee, thanks for your concern about the final render. Here's why I'm sure it will fit: the ProRes files I was trying to fit before were my original shots, both around an hour long. The final timeline is both of them edited together, and only around 30 minutes. My drive could hold one ProRes file that was 230 GB and most of the other which was just under 200 GB, but not both of them completely. I got rid of those and went back to editing just the phone footage (no other viable option) so I have all that space back. The total of the preview files plus the final render will be much smaller than those ProRes intermediates were. But you're right, I need to talk to Puget about more space.

[Jeff Bugbee]

I'm glad the Smart Rendering is working better for you! Def keep us updated, I'll be happy to hear your finished project gets rendered out in record time.

[cre8vimp]

Here's my status report... I love the 22.4 update and I am now completely sold on smart rendering. I've only used Pr for about three years and have never tried it before.

My timeline was 31 minutes long. The entire thing was a dynamically linked AE comp, which contained VFR H.264 talking head clips shot on a green screen, keyed with the triple combo effect in AE. It was composited over a background video in Pr, and about a dozen instances of an animated mogrt sprinkled throughout. Also the entire AE comp had Lumetri color adjustments.

I tried several things... for various reasons they didn't work/ weren't practical (see my other thread) : transcoding my original green screen clips, render/ replace, LucidLink, exporting the keyed AE comp, etc. For this project, smart rendering was where the magic was. When I was done editing and it came time to export, the above timeline exported in 47 seconds.

Forty seven freaking seconds. My mind is blown.

Of course, using smart rendering means that my output is ProRes. Since I upload to Vimeo, I took the ProRes export and ran it through AME with the Vimeo 1080HD preset. That export took two and a half minutes.

The entire folder on my drive for this project, that includes all media, previews, cache files, project files, autosaves, as well as the final ProRes and Vimeo exports, is 107 GB. That's less than half the size on disk that only one of the ProRes intermediates for the talking head clip was (that I tried using, but ended up deleting for lack of drive space).

I realize that no one gets away from the hours it takes to render/export a project like that, especially on a machine like mine. But with smart rendering, it's so cool because the bulk of that rendering is done ahead of time. So cool. I just hit Render In To Out on breaks between finishing up the final stages of editing. Also, editing playback was so much smoother.

As far as updating Pr to 22.4, I love it. The smart rendering was WAY faster than before. Granted, I did almost nothing in the app after updating except render and export (minor editing only). So there could be a nasty bug I didn't run in to.

But I was asked to report back and so here I am (tagging @Jeff Bugbee because he asked me to report back and @Phillip Harvey who helped me so much at my other thread... thanks!). 47 seconds... SMH.

[Jeff Bugbee]

Fantastic! Thanks for reporting back. Glad we have at least one positive report of an update!

[Steve Griffiths]

I love the general rule to not update mid-project. But the reality if you have multiple projects on the go ALL the time, sooner or later you probably have to update mid one of those projects 🙂

Of course always keep the previous (whole number) version installed. I never remove an old version just in case.

And avoid rushing into a new version and wait to see if any significant issues are apparent.