iPhone .mov (HEVC 264 or 265) Playback Issues

[riddlemeright]

There appears to be some sort of compatibility issue between iPhone .mov (HEVC 264 or 265) and Adobe Premiere Rush for Windows.  Whether we record them in the Rush app, in the Camera app, or even if we toggle the iPhone between High Efficiency (HEVC 265) and Most Compatible (HEVC 264), videos synced from the iPhone to the Adobe Cloud do not play back in Adobe Premiere Rush without issues in the Windows-based application.  We have scoured the Internet for options and, outside of converting the files between iPhone and PC, nothing seems to work.  Although Adobe Rush Premiere is our top choice product, converting is unrealistc and timeconsuming for our needs.  

Note - This is not a PC performance issue.  The comptuer has 8GB of RAM, and i5 processor, and SSD HD.  This should be more than sufficient for rending video clips.  Additionally, the video clips play back without issue in the native Windows-based player.  

Please advise ASAP.

[petergaraway]

Hi riddlemeright, 

Thanks for writing in. Sorry, your iPhone files are not playing back correctly on your Windows system. 

Can you provide more details about what the exact issue is? A screen recording would be best! 

In the meantime, you can try this as a temporary fix

1. Open your project 

2. Go to the Sequence menu > Select Prepare for Playback 

3. Once the blue progress spinner is complete, playback your project  

Let us know if that helps. 

Thanks, 

Peter

[riddlemeright]

Thanks for your response, Peter.  I have recorded a screen capture per your request, but the forum does not have a built in video upload feature (only URLs can be posted). 

Unfortunately, the workaround you posted did not help.  The video does not play and, upon attempting to play the video, the program becomes unresponsive.  From my research I do not appear to be alone in having this issue.  There is nothing special about these files. They are natively recorded through the Camera app.  Even using the Rush app itself to record videos on the iPhone produces the same symptom in Rush for Windows.  

We hope to find a working solution to this ASAP so that we can proceed with our work.  Unfortunately, if we continue to have this level of difficulty with something as straightforward as playback, we'll need to utilize another software solution.

We look forward to your reply!

[riddlemeright]

Hi Peter - Have you had a chance to review my previous reply?

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hi Riddlemeright,

Sorry for your performance issue.

Are you working with 4K media or HD media?

Have you tried shooting HD instead if you are shooting with 4K now?

What is the model of your i5 CPU? It would be good if the CPU supported Quick Sync technology. Does it?
What kind of GPU do you have? How much VRAM does it contain?

Have you checked the minimum system requirements?

Personally I would operate above minimum system requirements for any 4K video.

• i7 CPU that is 6th gen or greater—not an i5
• 16 GB RAM—not 8 GB
• GPU with 8 GB VRAM—not sure what your GPU is.
• Media on a 2nd SSD connected via USB 3 or faster—media should ideally not live on your OS HD.

Comparing Premiere Pro performance on highly compressed H.264 or HEVC files with a "player" app like VLC or Windows Media Player is not a good gauge for this. A player app will always have better performance. Rush has a wholly different and more complex environment for processing video clips than a simple player application. Sorry if that threw you off a bit. 

If you are still experiencing performance issues, again, again, I recommend trying a HD workflow instead of a 4K one. You can also try converting your media in Handbrake or similar (sorry if it is inconvenient). Your media is more than likely in a variable frame rate, which makes these files even harder to playback. Transcoding changes them to a constant frame rate, which is better.

Ultimately, shooting on a video camera (camcorder, DSLR) or using an app (Filmic Pro, or the like) that creates video files in a constant frame rate is the key and can prevent this hitch in your workflow.

You can also try more powerful hardware, ideally, one with a CPU that supports Quick Sync, more RAM, more VRAM, and a separate high speed hard drive for your media.

Please return with any questions.

Thanks,
Kevin

[riddlemeright]

Kevin- 

Thank you for your thoughtful reply.  We are recording in 1080P, not 4K.  I can understand that playback and rendering in Rush are quite different, but a true "apples to apples" test is difficult to execute in this scenario.

Although we could use Handbrake to convert or try the $15 app you suggested, this kind of defeats the purpose of the simplicity of Rush.  The beauty of the product from the end-user's perspective is keeping it straightforward.  A very common path would be recording videos on an iPhone, syncing them with the Adobe Cloud, and editting them in Rush.  Adding in other recording devices would bring similar complexities. 

One question I have to pose at this point - If variable framerate is the likey culprit, why would the Rush iPhone app not offer a recording option in constant frame rate?  

At this point, we will likely begin testing with other products that may offer more compatibility.  If Adobe Rush begins offering compatibility with the posted Minimum Requirements, please let us know.  

[riddlemeright]

Just for others who may be looking at this thread.  We attempted to render 720P footage from the iPhone and experienced the same issues.  We are disappointed that Adobe Rush isn't capable of rendering even seconds of low quality footage without additional intervention.