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Hi folks
I'm getting dropped frames when playing back a timeline that is mainly 6K Red footage. System is a PC with Threadripper 3970X 32-core, 2080TI GFX, 128GB ram. Using the latest Nvidia Studio Drivers. Attached to a QNAP 10G Raid which gets around 1,100 MB/s. On paper this should be playing like butter. I say this because on my iMac Pro (10 core, Vega 64, 128GB ram, connected to same QNAP), it's playing like butter. No dropped frames. Only thing the iMac has better than the PC is 16GB of video ram vs 11GB. Is that enough to cause the performance difference or is there something else I should be looking at?
Thanks in advance!
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EE,
Sorry. Choose Preferences > Media and disable Hardware Decoding. Restart the computer. Trash preferences when relaunching Premiere Pro. With all projects still closed, choose Preferences > Media Cache and delete all media cache. Make sure Media Cache is on a local drive.
See if you have the same issues after performing these steps.
Thanks,
Kevin
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I think this is related to the Threaddripper system. I'm having problems with Canon R5 8K RAW files, playback is fine on my other PC.
Just look at these:
Premiere Pro 15.0 crash Canon R5 8K RAW - Adobe Support Community - 11886821
ProRes Raw on Windows 10 issue - Adobe Support Community - 11644705
My assumption is that Adobe doesn't have a Threaddripper system to test Premiere. Adobe can you say that you have tested Premiere extensively on a Threaddripper system and all these things are working for you?
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I wonder the same thing. Would be interested to know what the folks at Puget Systems have to say about it. They strongly recommend the Threadripper systems for Adobe and I know they've done a lot of testing.
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Thanks Kevin
I followed these steps. For what it's worth, Hardware Decoding was already off and the Media Cache was already on a local drive. I see a slight improvement but playback is still noticeably smoother on the iMac Pro. Not a major deal to be honest but it just makes no sense to me. Watching the resource monitors on both systems, PC isn't even breaking a sweat. GPU, memory and CPU are all down in the 5%-15% usage range. Mac is definitely working a lot harder but it also appears to be getting better results.
On a side note, Adobe may want to get rid of preferences altogether. It seems like every troubleshooting step begins with "trash the preferences" which leads me to wonder if they aren't the source of most issues 🙂
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Hi Kevin
Any other troubleshooting tips? I'd really love to narrow down what the problem might be.
Thanks
Sean
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...connected to same QNAP...
What about the interface, is it the same? Both are 10GbE, or Thunderbolt on a Mac vs 10GbE on a PC?
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Yes both are connecting via 10GbE. The PC gets slightly faster read/write times.
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try this: select clip > Effects > Master * ... > RED Source Settings > Image Pipeline => switch to Legacy
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Doesn't seem to make a difference and to be honest, this doesn't seem specifically like a RED issue. Happens in pretty much all my timelines. Playback is just smoother on the iMac Pro. Was thinking it might be something like my antivirus software but I'm actually running Malwarebytes on the iMac too.
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You did not mention MB model, what is the speed of LAN port? Not all TRX40 MBs have 10GbE interface. Also, did you use same LAN physical path to connect PC as Mac? Not all cables are good for 10GbE, bad cable can cause unstable/low speed connection
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I have a PCI 10G card installed in the PC and both are connected to a Netgear 10G switch. Had Bob Zelin recommend all gear and he set it up remotely. AJA speed test seems to suggest both PC and iMac are getting a solid connection. I ran the test with settings on 5K RED with a 64GB test file. Performance graphs on both looks very similar. As I mentioned, PC reads a little faster--887MB/s vs iMac at 781MB/s. Neither of them appears to be fluctuating in connection speed as it runs the test for a minute or so. I don't dispute there might be an intermittent problem, but the performance issues I'm seeing on the timeline are consistent and repeatable. Any recommendations for cabling aside from CAT6 rated?
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It seems you have the network part set up well. I just trying to exclude all possible suspects. But let's return to the beginning. How much is the % of dropped frames, like 1%, 5%, or maybe 50%? At what settings there are no dropped frames? Does it depend on the effects applied?
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Thanks Basil. I really appreciate the help. I think these are great questions to help me narrow down the issue. At this point, I don't think it's a hardware issue. Probably a conflict with third party software or a plug in that Premiere doesn't like. The main difference with the iMac Pro is that it doesn't have a lot of extras installed like my PC does. I guess I'll have to start uninstalling things to see if I can zero in on the culprit.
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@Evil Edison Regarding hardware. Threadripper systems have their own quirks. It's recommended to have installed latest BIOS, AMD Chipset drivers/software and related Windows updates. Also, you may want to try custom Windows power plan from this article: 1usmus Power Plan for AMD Ryzen - New Developments | TechPowerUp
As to software, try these 'usual suspects' for starter:
1) go to Preferences > Audio Hardware > Default Input => select "No Input"
2) Reset workspace: Window > Workspaces > Reset to saved layout
3) Make sure that NVidia G-Sync is off in driver control panel
4) If you are working with 2+ monitors, try if a single and most basic display setup (ie FHD/60Hz) has same issue
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Thanks Basil. I'll see if any of these make a difference.
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Any updates EE?
Kevin
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No, getting spun around by multiple projects so can't deal with a BIOS and/or chipset update at the moment. None of my issues are pressing so I'm waiting on some downtime to fully address them. Will post back here if I have any success.
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I'll definitely give this a look. But for the record, I'm not getting dropped frames on my iMac Pro which connects to the same QNAP RAID drive. It's actually connecting at a slightly slower speed than the PC but still gets smoother playback. Thanks for the tip.
On a side note, I have to say that 13K read speeds are just obscene 🙂