Why is this 3 minute 4K video taking 24 hours to export?

Hello noahthomas,

but even I know that a 3 minute 4K video should not take 24 hours to export.

It might.

First of all, I just created a FAQ for those having the same trouble as you. Please read it and see what you think: FAQ: How do I speed up rendering, exporting, or encoding?

My evaluation for why it might be taking a long time to export your rather short project:

1. Hardware considerations
   1. CPU: encoding is a CPU intensive process.
      1. Consider that your processor might be insufficiently powerful for encoding 4K footage at the rate you expect.
      2. Consider also that you may not have multiple processors as many computers do.
   2. GPU: the GPU can be used to speed up certain processes for export.
      1. Consider that your GPU may not be enabled.
         1. Since you have a GPU which can likely be enabled for GPU acceleration, ensure that it is enabled in Project Settings.
         2. If you are using AME, make sure it is enabled there, as well.
   3. Hard Drive: fast hard drives can assist faster exporting.
      1. Are you using a separate hard drive?
      2. If so, is it internal or external?
      3. How is that drive connected?
         1. Is the hard drive connected via a high speed connection or a slow one?
2. Optimized media
   1. Is your media optimized for encoding?
      1. No scaling going on: good. However, you are encoding for a huge frame size. Take into consideration that actual frame size you are encoding.
      2. You are encoding camera original footage, so the smart rendering process cannot be used for speeding up the encoding process unless it was transcoded.
      3. You are adding Lumetri effects, which can add time in the encoding process.
         1. Technique to avoid that issue: transcode camera originals to an intermediate codec while simultaneously adding the same Lumetri effect via Media Encoder before editing.
      4. You are using third party effects: some third party effects are well-known for greatly increasing export times. Any image denoiser like Neat or Denoiser II are particularly notorious for jacking up your export times. This is the likely culprit of your long export times.
         1. A good way to work around this time intensive process is to transcode the footage to an intermediate codec with the denoiser plug-ins in Adobe Media Encoder.
         2. Do this in an overnight process before you even begin editing. Offloading the processing of effects you know you will be using up front can save loads of encoding time in the end.
   2. Are you using smart rendering?
      1. You are not using smart rendering, therefore, you cannot export the absolute fastest way Premiere Pro is capable of.
      2. You can use smart rendering in future encoding jobs, however, much of the benefits of smart rendering cannot be taken advantage of unless you are allowing for it in the preparatory stages of project planning. Again, see the FAQ for more info on smart rendering and how it can save you time while being a more reliable way of exporting at the same time.

Hope that this helps you for your encoding job and for future encodes. Please return with any questions.

Thanks,

Kevin