Video rendering and playback option greyed out on 25.2.0

[Iliocrandi]

Hello, I just updated to Premiere Pro 25.2.0 on an HP Z6 G4 with a Nvidia Quadro RTX 4000 running Win 10.
The option to select software Video Rendering and Playback is not available anymore. It was available on the same machine until version 25.1.0.
We keep CUDA disabled on certain machines because of playback issues.

Not sure what the cause of this could be?
Thanks,

[jamieclarke · Accepted solution]

Hi @Iliocrandi - Software Rendering has been removed in version 25.2.0 please see this article. Software rendering option removed

If you need to access software rendering you can hold down "SHIFT" while launching Premiere and check the box "Use Software Rendering only (one-time only)"

[Iliocrandi]

Thank you @jamieclarke for your prompt reply.
I'll see how we get on with the new update!
We did have constant frame dropping while playback, and the only viable solution was to disable CUDA acceleration.
I'll update, thanks

[jamieclarke]

Hi @Iliocrandi - What gpu driver version are you using? Adobe recommends using the "Studio" driver version when working in Premiere Pro.

[Iliocrandi]

Hello @jamieclarke, at the moment we are on 572.16, Studio driver.
In the past we tried every possible solution I could think of!
We also had conversations with Aja and Blackmagic to see if there was an issue with the graphic card but nothing, the only solution seemed to be disabling CUDA.

[jamieclarke]

Hi @Iliocrandi - It looks like the latest version of your gpu driver is 572.83.  Can you try updating and let us know if you are still having issues?

[Iliocrandi]

Surely will do.
thanks,

[Iliocrandi]

Hello @jamieclarke , I am afraid the same issue has started to reappear.

I attached a recording of the glitch we are experiencing, at 00:00:00:23 you can see a duplicate frame. This happens randomly during playback, with different formats (xdcam,h.264,) . Sequence settings are attached.

As I mentioned, disabling CUDA solves the issue. 
Thanks if you can help!

[jamieclarke]

Hi @Iliocrandi - I don't think I have ever seen that editing mode, did you create it?  Can you try one of the HD Sequence Presets and then change your video previews to Quicktime ProRes LT

[Iliocrandi]

Hello @jamieclarke, it's a preset that was already there, I guess it might have come with the installation of our Aja Kona Lhe+ card. 90% of our footage is XDCAM EX.
I'll test your suggestion now (I believe we already tried in the past, but I am happy to give it another go).
Is the inability to select the video renderer a definitive decision by Adobe?

@RjL190365, thank you for your contribution, that's a good insight, I haven't consider before.

[Iliocrandi]

Just un update, same issue using an HD preset sequence.
thanks

[jamieclarke]

Hi @Iliocrandi - What version of Aja software do you have installed?  

[Iliocrandi]

Hello, sorry for the delay, I missed this!
AJA is running v17.5 software.

[jamieclarke]

Hi @Iliocrandi - If you uninstall the AJA Software do you still have the issue? 

In your program monitor in the wrench menu what is your field dominance set to? "Display First Field", "Display Second Field", or "Display Both Fields"

[Iliocrandi]

Hi @jamieclarke ,
Field dominance is set to First Field.
I can't use the AJA card without its bundled driver/software package, so I can't test that.
Thanks

[jamieclarke]

Hi @Iliocrandi -  Thanks for confirming the field dominance setting.  I completely understand that you can’t use the AJA card without the bundled driver and software. The reason I suggested uninstalling it was just to rule out the possibility that the AJA software might be introducing unintended side effects. If we do find evidence of that, we can report it directly to AJA.

Are you seeing this issue in the program monitor or on an external monitor?

Does changing the field dominance help your issue?

[Iliocrandi]

Hello @jamieclarke , completely understand your point. We also see the same issue with an identical machine with a Blackmagic card. However, we did try without external video support but we see no difference, we enabled the dropped frame indicator on the program window and we can see it skipping frames.
The field dominance change didn't work either.

[jamieclarke]

Hi @Iliocrandi - Can you send a sample file and project to jamiec@adobe.com so that we can take a look.  

Confirming that you see this issue in the program monitor and your external TV?

[RjL190365]

That just goes to show the importance of a balanced-performance system – specifically, the balance between the CPU and the GPU. In your case, the GPU is much weaker than the CPU, which can – and does – result in corrupted hardware renders. You really should have had a much more powerful GPU than your current Quadro RTX 4000 (which is, sadly, only equivalent to a GeForce RTX 2060 non-SUPER in overall CUDA performance).

It also proves that your IT department sometimes skimps on the GPU for productivity – too much CPU and not enough GPU. That would be like equipping an AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D CPU-equipped PC with only a GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER GPU in terms of the relative performance balance.