Slow thumbnail generation in Premiere Pro

[Itam]

Hi,

I have this problem already for almost 2 years and I cannot seem to find a solution for it. And I am not the only one: https://adobe-video.uservoice.com/forums/911233-premiere-pro/suggestions/33849352-save-thumbnails-ca...

The generating of thumbnails in the project window is annoyingly slow. It really is the only thing in Premiere that slows the whole editing process down. Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbCvkeJvLv4&feature=youtu.be

It is not really the generation of thumbnails itself I believe. The thumbnails can generate quite fast, but Premiere only generates the ones that are visible in the project window at that moment. So the moment I scroll down it has to generate those that become visible...than I have to wait...scroll down...etc. Only this way I can make all the thumbnails instantly available when needed. But once I close Premiere...and start up the project a next time it all starts over again. The thumbnails don't seem to be generated all in one time and also don't seem to be saved or cached in a way.

I already tried a lot, tweaking with cache settings. Using another drive especially for my cache, etc. But more and more am I convinced it is a Premiere problem, or am I (and the other people that voted on Adobe User Voice) doing something wrong here?

The files in the example movie are 1080p, 10-bit, h.264, 4:2:2 .mov files, straight from a GH5 camera. But I get the same problem with 8-bit files and other codecs/container formats.

My system setup is: I7-5930K processor, 32 gb of RAM, Geforce GTX 1060 6gb and I edit from a internal Samsung SSD 970 PRO 1TB M.2 NVMe drive (where also my cache directories are located...not ideal, but should be fast enough). I also tried to put my cache on another internal HDD (7.200rpm), but get the same results. Besides that I have the latest version of Premiere, latest version of windows 10 and I update my hardare drivers regularly.

Also good to mention that my OS and software is installed on a seperate SSD and that the Samsung 970 PRO is only used foor footage, project files and the caching.

The slow thumbnail generation was the reason for me to buy the Samsung SSD 970 PRO 1TB M.2 NVMe hoping it would speed up the process and also to try Davinci Resolve which indeed is much faster with stuff like this...but sadly has its own flaws.

[Leroy Filon]

100% Agreed.

This is such an annoying problem of Premiere which makes me wanna switch. Why the hell does it have to do it EVERY SINGLE TIME when opening the project. No matter how small or big the file, its slow AF. 

No helpful answers to be found from Adobe itself. Like always, the only one ur seeing are the common replies from them. 

I really wonder if they actually test this themselves. I mean, its so frustrating slow. 

Both on my desktop (max ram, geforce 1080gtx) as on my new razer (2070 super Max Q) its mega slow. 

One of the projects im working on has 1500+ clips. Showing thumbnails aint even an option here.  

[dianec82523785]

How this not been addressed? I'm running a 16 core Ryzen 9, 64gb ram, 2080TI, etc, and the thumbnail loading is abysmally slow. Has there been any progress here?

[Indigo Motion]

I don't think so. I occasionally use Premiere Pro per project/agency request. It has always been slow doing this and it still is so slow for me even when loading everything up from the SSD. I am a MacBook Pro 16-inch user.

When I use Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve, I just load up the projects and thumbnails of the clips appear almost instantly. But for Premiere, I am very hesitant and afraid to close the project, because it makes me wait a lot every single time.

[defaulthx5m2ajguycd]

Thumbnail generation in project window and timeline is the single most time killing element when working on any edit. Please address this, allow for some permanent cache or SOMETHING.

[Andy 1968]

I have a demonstration video of my own. 

[jasonk94029011]

WHY IS THIS NOT FIXED!!!!! It's 2022 and we are still having these issues with this. No, Adobe, it's not our machines. I have plenty of horsepower but its YOUR software. You are too busy changing crap that doesn't need to be changed. FIX THIS! 

[Andy 1968]

I doesn't bother me that much because I have altered me editing a little bit but I do wish the thumbnails could be redrawn a little faster. 

[SunnySawrav]

Hi Andy. Kindly explain what you have altered so that I may give it a shot as well.

[Andy 1968]

I only show the head and tail instead of the frames in the sequence when editing H.264. Keep in mind Pro Res images will refresh faster than H.264 as seen in the video I posted. 

[Marcel2195267466vw]

Hi @jasonk94029011  I totally agree! OMG it's driving me crazy..Iv'e been working on a series of mini documentaries and trying to grade them at the moment and it's just so damn annoying and slowing things down so much. Every time I scroll further/earlier to copy a setting etc. I have to wait until the damn thumbnails regenerate, it's causing me serious frustration. I've tried removing the audio, have fattened everything to it's simplest form, render and replaced as much as possible to try and help but noting works.. Really really frustrating especially when clients are on your back.. Please , Please can thin get fixed or improved at least..

[Clement5EA6]

March 2023, always the same issue...

[demidrunk]

is any admin handling this? I'm also getting similar issues on my workstation since 2 months ago. never had any issues with this previously for the last 3-4 years. 

system specs:

RYZEN 2700X

32GB RAM

RTX 2070

4TB HD (rushes go here)

512GB SSD (project file goes here)

[GabrieleLS]

Hello! I have the same issue.

A possible workaround is explained in this video: https://youtu.be/gCQfpimN0PI

Of course, disabling the "H264 hardware accelerated decoding" feature can create other issues, but my tests showed a massive improvement in thumbnails loading times: https://youtu.be/DibqbII1pws

Another option could be creating ProRes proxies and enabling them. Since ProRes is not hardware accelerated on Windows machines, I guess the thumbnail loading times could improve (I haven't tested that).

[Артур3121941918jr]

i have the same problem. Davinci?

[schmoley123]

Still happening and slows us down a ton.  Please figure this one out asap!  Freeform view is unusable if we have to wait so long to even see a bunch of frames of video. 

[Tristan_C]

Over two years since this post and this issue is not fixed. I could almost get over how anoyingly slow thumbnail generation is (a few seconds per clip!), but the fact that they're not cached and have to regenerate everytime you open the project is insane. Slows down the whole system. Davinci does not have this issue. Premiere has more money behind it, why can't they fix basic freaking stuff like this?  They need to remove "Pro" from their name until they get their act together. No wonder people are dropping them left and right.

Alienware M15 R3 i7-10875H CPU @ 2.30GHz, 32GB Ram, RTX2070 , Premiere version 23.4.0

[mertgrkm]

I get demotivated every time because of this problem. It is not possible to understand how this problem cannot be solved for years.

[Matthew Johnson Films]

I'm so glad I'm not the only one. Especially working in 4K video, holy smokes. File sizes are large enough so I am fine with creating cached files that store AFTER you close the program. I spend the first 10 minutes of every work day generating thumbnails. At my rate, that pays for the entire Adobe Suite monthly sub every week. 

[rd010123]

Going on 2024 still not fixed. I'm leaving Premier Pro for Resolve. Bye forever!

[mertgrkm]

It's been a day since I started using Davinci Resolve and I'm trying the free version, the interface is great, the tools are really great. It's working stable for now, let's see.

[jimmyji32]

I'm shocked no one on Adobe has said anything in here yet.....for years I hated this about Premiere and still do.
Davinci is so much better but my workflow is too integrated with Adobe I can't switch.

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hello @Itam, @jimmyji32, @mertgrkm, @rd010123, @Matthew Johnson Films & others on the thread,

I read that the issue is fixed in current builds, but I am still hearing reports that it is not fixed. If not, I apologize for that. I can let the product team know.

Let the community know what's going on by testing with a new project. Sorry for the frustration.

Thanks,
Kevin

[mertgrkm]

Software developers give priority to Mac systems and silicon processors. Windows users are forgotten. Fortunately, there are better and more stable solutions now.