VBR DNxHR from Resolve 16 can't be decoded in Premiere Pro

Report · Aug 15, 2019

When rendering out DNxHR LB proxies in an MXF OP1a container out of Resolve 16 for use in Premiere Pro, if "Use Constant Bit Rate" is left unchecked, Premiere Pro won't be able to decode the frames at all, and Premiere Pro will throw nasty errors about not being able to decode consecutive frames.

This was observed with:

DaVinci Resolve Studio 16.0.0.060 on CentOS 7.6 with NVIDIA driver 430.40
DaVinci Resolve Studio 16.0.0.060 on Windows 10 1809; OS Build 17763.678, with 431.70 Studio Driver
Premiere Pro 13.1.4 on Windows 10 1809; OS Build 17763.678, with 431.70 Studio Driver

I'm not sure if:

Either in Resolve 15 and earlier, whether VBR encoding for DNxHR/MXF OP1a just wasn't an option--I can't remember;
Or if something about this particular implementation of VBR in Resolve 16 is newly problematic for Premiere Pro.

I'm also not sure whose responsibility this is--if Blackmagic Design is at fault for a buggy implementation of VBR DNxHR, or if Adobe is at fault for not being able to decode VBR DNxHR.

Is this a bug, and if so, whose responsibility is this? I can report it on the Adobe UserVoice site if need be.

Report · Aug 15, 2019

It would be good to post it on UserVoice.

I saw this discussed on the LGG forum and one response in that thread commented that they thought that format/codec was by definition CBR. And wondered if that was the problem ... Resolve doing something odd.

It would be very useful to get some informed comments.

Neil

Report · Aug 15, 2019

I posted the same on the Resolve forums. To the best of my knowledge, all flavors of DNx are CBR only, so I have to wonder if BMD broke spec by adding that checkbox.

Report · Aug 15, 2019

I saw that claim, and went looking to try to corroborate it, but I couldn't. I even looked in this workflows guide doc: https://resources.avid.com/SupportFiles/attach/HighRes_WorkflowsGuide.pdf

So, I don't know if it's true that DNxHR can't be VBR.

Report · Aug 15, 2019

Yea. I'll try and shake an engineer comment on this later today.

Report · Aug 16, 2019

Seth,

Have a sample clip I can inspect and pass on?

Cheers,
Kevin

Report · Aug 16, 2019

Yup! I'll DM you.

Report · Aug 16, 2019

might be cool to get a mediainfo screenshot of specs for source.

I think I read on avid site or someplace that the new DNx codec is frame rate and ( to some extent) resolution independent,

Maybe there's metadata that is messed up so everyone knows just what it is to begin with ??

I think I was using resolve recently and optimizing stuff as DNx SQ ( standard quality ? ) so maybe there is all sorts of metadata and choices available to make the jump from resolve or avid or FCP to Premiere Pro ?

Report · Aug 16, 2019

Good idea. Here's the output of mediainfo with the -f flag for all info. The video stream is definitely VBR without that CBR box checked in the Resolve GUI. The question is if Resolve is doing something wacky and out of spec.

[redacted ~]$ mediainfo -f redacted.mxf
General
Count                                    : 331
Count of stream of this kind             : 1
Kind of stream                           : General
Kind of stream                           : General
Stream identifier                        : 0
Count of video streams                   : 1
Count of audio streams                   : 4
OtherCount                               : 3
Video_Format_List                        : VC-3
Video_Format_WithHint_List               : VC-3
Codecs Video                             : VC-3
Audio_Format_List                        : PCM / PCM / PCM / PCM
Audio_Format_WithHint_List               : PCM / PCM / PCM / PCM
Audio codecs                             : PCM / PCM / PCM / PCM
Other_Format_List                        : MXF TC / MXF TC / SMPTE TC
Other_Format_WithHint_List               : MXF TC / MXF TC / SMPTE TC
Other_Codec_List                         : MXF TC / MXF TC / SMPTE TC
Complete name                            : redacted.mxf
Folder name                              : redacted
File name extension                      : redacted.mxf
File name                                : redacted
File extension                           : mxf
Format                                   : MXF
Format                                   : MXF
Format/Extensions usually used           : mxf
Commercial name                          : MXF DNxHR LB
Commercial name                          : DNxHR LB
Format version                           : 1.3
Format profile                           : OP-1a
Format settings                          : Closed / Complete
Internet media type                      : application/mxf
File size                                : 3535122196
File size                                : 3.29 GiB
File size                                : 3 GiB
File size                                : 3.3 GiB
File size                                : 3.29 GiB
File size                                : 3.292 GiB
Duration                                 : 190190
Duration                                 : 3 min 10 s
Duration                                 : 3 min 10 s 190 ms
Duration                                 : 3 min 10 s
Duration                                 : 00:03:10.190
Duration                                 : 00:03:10:00
Duration                                 : 00:03:10.190 (00:03:10:00)
Overall bit rate mode                    : VBR
Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable
Overall bit rate                         : 148698552
Overall bit rate                         : 149 Mb/s
Frame rate                               : 23.976
Frame rate                               : 23.976 FPS
Frame count                              : 4560
Stream size                              : 139212
Stream size                              : 136 KiB (0%)
Stream size                              : 136 KiB
Stream size                              : 136 KiB
Stream size                              : 136 KiB
Stream size                              : 135.9 KiB
Stream size                              : 136 KiB (0%)
Proportion of this stream                : 0.00004
FooterSize                               : 1300
Package name                             : redacted
Encoded date                             : 2019-08-16 18:46:45.984
File last modification date              : UTC 2019-08-16 18:48:10
File last modification date (local)      : 2019-08-16 14:48:10
Writing application                      : Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve 16.0
Encoded_Application_CompanyName          : Blackmagic Design
Encoded_Application_Name                 : DaVinci Resolve
Encoded_Application_Version              : 16.0
Writing library                          : DaVinci Resolve
Encoded_Library_Name                     : DaVinci Resolve
Video
Count                                    : 378
Count of stream of this kind             : 1
Kind of stream                           : Video
Kind of stream                           : Video
Stream identifier                        : 0
StreamOrder                              : 0
ID                                       : 1
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : VC-3
Format                                   : VC-3
Commercial name                          : DNxHR LB
Commercial name                          : DNxHR LB
Format version                           : Version 3
Format profile                           : RI@LB
Format settings, wrapping mode           : Frame
Codec ID                                 : 0D01030102110100-0401020271280000
Duration                                 : 190190
Duration                                 : 3 min 10 s
Duration                                 : 3 min 10 s 190 ms
Duration                                 : 3 min 10 s
Duration                                 : 00:03:10.190
Duration                                 : 00:03:10:00
Duration                                 : 00:03:10.190 (00:03:10:00)
Bit rate mode                            : VBR
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Bit rate                                 : 144084552
Bit rate                                 : 144 Mb/s
Width                                    : 3840
Width                                    : 3 840 pixels
Height                                   : 2160
Height                                   : 2 160 pixels
Pixel aspect ratio                       : 1.000
Display aspect ratio                     : 1.778
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Active Format Description                : 15
Active Format Description                : Letterbox 16:9 image, with alternative 4:3 center
Frame rate                               : 23.976
Frame rate                               : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
FrameRate_Num                            : 24000
FrameRate_Den                            : 1001
Frame count                              : 4560
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:2
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:2
Bit depth                                : 8
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.725
Delay                                    : 42435333
Delay                                    : 11 h 47 min
Delay                                    : 11 h 47 min 15 s 333 ms
Delay                                    : 11 h 47 min
Delay                                    : 11:47:15.333
Delay_DropFrame                          : No
Delay, origin                            : Container
Delay, origin                            : Container
Stream size                              : 3425433544
Stream size                              : 3.19 GiB (97%)
Stream size                              : 3 GiB
Stream size                              : 3.2 GiB
Stream size                              : 3.19 GiB
Stream size                              : 3.190 GiB
Stream size                              : 3.19 GiB (97%)
Proportion of this stream                : 0.96897
Title                                    : redacted_v1
Color range                              : Limited
colour_range_Source                      : Container
Color primaries                          : BT.709
colour_primaries_Source                  : Container
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
transfer_characteristics_Source          : Container
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709
matrix_coefficients_Source               : Container
Delay_SDTI                               : 42435333
Audio #1
Count                                    : 283
Count of stream of this kind             : 4
Kind of stream                           : Audio
Kind of stream                           : Audio
Stream identifier                        : 0
Stream identifier                        : 1
StreamOrder                              : 1
ID                                       : 2
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : PCM
Format                                   : PCM
Commercial name                          : PCM
Format settings                          : Little
Format settings, Endianness              : Little
Format settings, wrapping mode           : Frame (AES)
Codec ID                                 : 0D01030102060300
Duration                                 : 190190
Duration                                 : 3 min 10 s
Duration                                 : 3 min 10 s 190 ms
Duration                                 : 3 min 10 s
Duration                                 : 00:03:10.190
Duration                                 : 00:03:10:00
Duration                                 : 00:03:10.190 (00:03:10:00)
Bit rate mode                            : CBR
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 1152000
Bit rate                                 : 1 152 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 1
Channel(s)                               : 1 channel
Samples per frame                        : 2002
Sampling rate                            : 48000
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Samples count                            : 9129120
Frame rate                               : 23.976
Frame rate                               : 23.976 FPS (2002 SPF)
Frame count                              : 4560
Bit depth                                : 24
Bit depth                                : 24 bits
Delay                                    : 42435333
Delay                                    : 11 h 47 min
Delay                                    : 11 h 47 min 15 s 333 ms
Delay                                    : 11 h 47 min
Delay                                    : 11:47:15.333
Delay_DropFrame                          : No
Delay, origin                            : Container
Delay, origin                            : Container
Delay relative to video                  : 0
Delay relative to video                  : 00:00:00.000
Stream size                              : 27387360
Stream size                              : 26.1 MiB (1%)
Stream size                              : 26 MiB
Stream size                              : 26 MiB
Stream size                              : 26.1 MiB
Stream size                              : 26.12 MiB
Stream size                              : 26.1 MiB (1%)
Proportion of this stream                : 0.00775
Title                                    : redacted
Delay_SDTI                               : 42435333
Locked                                   : Yes
BlockAlignment                           : 3
Audio #2
Count                                    : 283
Count of stream of this kind             : 4
Kind of stream                           : Audio
Kind of stream                           : Audio
Stream identifier                        : 1
Stream identifier                        : 2
StreamOrder                              : 2
ID                                       : 3
ID                                       : 3
Format                                   : PCM
Format                                   : PCM
Commercial name                          : PCM
Format settings                          : Little
Format settings, Endianness              : Little
Format settings, wrapping mode           : Frame (AES)
Codec ID                                 : 0D01030102060300
Duration                                 : 190190
Duration                                 : 3 min 10 s
Duration                                 : 3 min 10 s 190 ms
Duration                                 : 3 min 10 s
Duration                                 : 00:03:10.190
Duration                                 : 00:03:10:00
Duration                                 : 00:03:10.190 (00:03:10:00)
Bit rate mode                            : CBR
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 1152000
Bit rate                                 : 1 152 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 1
Channel(s)                               : 1 channel
Samples per frame                        : 2002
Sampling rate                            : 48000
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Samples count                            : 9129120
Frame rate                               : 23.976
Frame rate                               : 23.976 FPS (2002 SPF)
Frame count                              : 4560
Bit depth                                : 24
Bit depth                                : 24 bits
Delay                                    : 42435333
Delay                                    : 11 h 47 min
Delay                                    : 11 h 47 min 15 s 333 ms
Delay                                    : 11 h 47 min
Delay                                    : 11:47:15.333
Delay_DropFrame                          : No
Delay, origin                            : Container
Delay, origin                            : Container
Delay relative to video                  : 0
Delay relative to video                  : 00:00:00.000
Stream size                              : 27387360
Stream size                              : 26.1 MiB (1%)
Stream size                              : 26 MiB
Stream size                              : 26 MiB
Stream size                              : 26.1 MiB
Stream size                              : 26.12 MiB
Stream size                              : 26.1 MiB (1%)
Proportion of this stream                : 0.00775
Title                                    : redacted
Delay_SDTI                               : 42435333
Locked                                   : Yes
BlockAlignment                           : 3
Audio #3
Count                                    : 283
Count of stream of this kind             : 4
Kind of stream                           : Audio
Kind of stream                           : Audio
Stream identifier                        : 2
Stream identifier                        : 3
StreamOrder                              : 3
ID                                       : 4
ID                                       : 4
Format                                   : PCM
Format                                   : PCM
Commercial name                          : PCM
Format settings                          : Little
Format settings, Endianness              : Little
Format settings, wrapping mode           : Frame (AES)
Codec ID                                 : 0D01030102060300
Duration                                 : 190190
Duration                                 : 3 min 10 s
Duration                                 : 3 min 10 s 190 ms
Duration                                 : 3 min 10 s
Duration                                 : 00:03:10.190
Duration                                 : 00:03:10:00
Duration                                 : 00:03:10.190 (00:03:10:00)
Bit rate mode                            : CBR
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 1152000
Bit rate                                 : 1 152 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 1
Channel(s)                               : 1 channel
Samples per frame                        : 2002
Sampling rate                            : 48000
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Samples count                            : 9129120
Frame rate                               : 23.976
Frame rate                               : 23.976 FPS (2002 SPF)
Frame count                              : 4560
Bit depth                                : 24
Bit depth                                : 24 bits
Delay                                    : 42435333
Delay                                    : 11 h 47 min
Delay                                    : 11 h 47 min 15 s 333 ms
Delay                                    : 11 h 47 min
Delay                                    : 11:47:15.333
Delay_DropFrame                          : No
Delay, origin                            : Container
Delay, origin                            : Container
Delay relative to video                  : 0
Delay relative to video                  : 00:00:00.000
Stream size                              : 27387360
Stream size                              : 26.1 MiB (1%)
Stream size                              : 26 MiB
Stream size                              : 26 MiB
Stream size                              : 26.1 MiB
Stream size                              : 26.12 MiB
Stream size                              : 26.1 MiB (1%)
Proportion of this stream                : 0.00775
Title                                    : redacted
Delay_SDTI                               : 42435333
Locked                                   : Yes
BlockAlignment                           : 3
Audio #4
Count                                    : 283
Count of stream of this kind             : 4
Kind of stream                           : Audio
Kind of stream                           : Audio
Stream identifier                        : 3
Stream identifier                        : 4
StreamOrder                              : 4
ID                                       : 5
ID                                       : 5
Format                                   : PCM
Format                                   : PCM
Commercial name                          : PCM
Format settings                          : Little
Format settings, Endianness              : Little
Format settings, wrapping mode           : Frame (AES)
Codec ID                                 : 0D01030102060300
Duration                                 : 190190
Duration                                 : 3 min 10 s
Duration                                 : 3 min 10 s 190 ms
Duration                                 : 3 min 10 s
Duration                                 : 00:03:10.190
Duration                                 : 00:03:10:00
Duration                                 : 00:03:10.190 (00:03:10:00)
Bit rate mode                            : CBR
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 1152000
Bit rate                                 : 1 152 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 1
Channel(s)                               : 1 channel
Samples per frame                        : 2002
Sampling rate                            : 48000
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Samples count                            : 9129120
Frame rate                               : 23.976
Frame rate                               : 23.976 FPS (2002 SPF)
Frame count                              : 4560
Bit depth                                : 24
Bit depth                                : 24 bits
Delay                                    : 42435333
Delay                                    : 11 h 47 min
Delay                                    : 11 h 47 min 15 s 333 ms
Delay                                    : 11 h 47 min
Delay                                    : 11:47:15.333
Delay_DropFrame                          : No
Delay, origin                            : Container
Delay, origin                            : Container
Delay relative to video                  : 0
Delay relative to video                  : 00:00:00.000
Stream size                              : 27387360
Stream size                              : 26.1 MiB (1%)
Stream size                              : 26 MiB
Stream size                              : 26 MiB
Stream size                              : 26.1 MiB
Stream size                              : 26.12 MiB
Stream size                              : 26.1 MiB (1%)
Proportion of this stream                : 0.00775
Title                                    : redacted
Delay_SDTI                               : 42435333
Locked                                   : Yes
BlockAlignment                           : 3
Other #1
Count                                    : 188
Count of stream of this kind             : 3
Kind of stream                           : Other
Kind of stream                           : Other
Stream identifier                        : 0
Stream identifier                        : 1
ID                                       : 901-Material
ID                                       : 901-Material
Type                                     : Time code
Format                                   : MXF TC
Format                                   : MXF TC
Commercial name                          : MXF TC
Frame rate                               : 24.000
Frame rate                               : 24.000 FPS
Time code of first frame                 : 11:47:15:08
Time code settings                       : Material Package
Time code, striped                       : Yes
Time code, striped                       : Yes
Title                                    : TC1
Other #2
Count                                    : 188
Count of stream of this kind             : 3
Kind of stream                           : Other
Kind of stream                           : Other
Stream identifier                        : 1
Stream identifier                        : 2
ID                                       : 901-Source
ID                                       : 901-Source
Type                                     : Time code
Format                                   : MXF TC
Format                                   : MXF TC
Commercial name                          : MXF TC
Frame rate                               : 24.000
Frame rate                               : 24.000 FPS
Time code of first frame                 : 11:47:15:08
Time code settings                       : Source Package
Time code, striped                       : Yes
Time code, striped                       : Yes
Title                                    : TC1
Other #3
Count                                    : 188
Count of stream of this kind             : 3
Kind of stream                           : Other
Kind of stream                           : Other
Stream identifier                        : 2
Stream identifier                        : 3
Type                                     : Time code
Format                                   : SMPTE TC
Format                                   : SMPTE TC
Commercial name                          : SMPTE TC
Muxing mode                              : SDTI
Frame rate                               : 24.000
Frame rate                               : 24.000 FPS
Time code of first frame                 : 11:47:15:08

Report · Aug 16, 2019

oh. I get it.

And if you check the box when you render out proxies for use in PPro, for constant bit rate, then everything works fine ?

It's just when you render without the constant bit rate box checked ( meaning it defaults to VBR) that it doesn't work if I understand right ??

Report · Aug 16, 2019

Yes, that's correct.

Report · Aug 16, 2019

If I remember right.. .the resolve 16 program is still in the 'beta testing' phase … or did they release the final version ?

Report · Aug 16, 2019

16 is a final release, 16.1 is in beta.

Report · Aug 16, 2019

16.0 is now a final release, but there's another beta for 16.1.

Report · Aug 16, 2019

As a way to move forward, I always deliver Cineform YUV 10 bit exports from Resolve, Medium quality.

They look and work great.

Report · Aug 16, 2019

thanks for info re: 16 version

Report · Aug 23, 2020

I just came across this post because I was having the same issue with clips that I encoded in DNxHR LB in Resolve (Adobe, please add "same as source" for audio channels in media encoder!!).

Then I saw the thing about the constant bitrate. Well... I went back and verified this and constant bitrate was checked for my render in Resolve and I can verify this in Media info that my bit rate is constant at 11.8Mb/s.

Then I looked in the resolution... Re-rendered a clip in Resolve in 1080 and it was ok in Premiere. Then, rendered it again in my proxy resolution (960x540) and I get the Error retrieving frame error... So it seems that Premiere have a problem with the resolution of my clips...

Report · Oct 22, 2020

I'm so glad I finally found someone with the same issue! It's been driving me absolutely insane over the past weeks.

Did you ever find a solution for this? Or an explanation?

Is there a difference in quality when exporting DNx CBR?

Adobe Community

VBR DNxHR from Resolve 16 can't be decoded in Premiere Pro