Fix color glitches with Premiere + iMac Pro 5K Retina display?

[Robertote]

Hi, Guys, I've linked a video with the problem I'm having.  I was told by Adobe support that there is a problem between Premiere and the iMac Pro's 5K Retina display.  Or possibly the problem is with the video card, the Radeon Pro Vega 64.  My problem is with the latest version of Permiere (current as of August 24, 2018) Premiere is artificially applying some kind of color treatment to SOME of my clips.  And sometimes even within the same clip this happens.  But then restart and it's gone...but sometimes it's not.  And sometimes you think it's gone but it reappears after you work for a little while, and obviously this is no way for an editor to work.  It's a work computer, and this is essentially a roadblock to me finishing ANY project.

Adobe support said that its a known issue and that Adobe is working on it, but I'd like a little more info about what I can look forward to in terms of solutions.  Currently I've reverted to Premiere version 12.0, and I'm not seeing the issue.  But then that's causing problems with other applications in the CC that I need to use, and obviously I want to be able to have the latest version.  I checked my coworker's older Mac Pro system, and didn't see the issue there either (which is why it feels like I've been taking CRAZY PILLS trying to explain this to my colleagues).  Here's the screen recording of the issue...

https://youtu.be/p-_P8FbzL2Q

I love Adobe products; I really love after effects, Premiere, and I'm delving into Photoshop and Illustrator more.  And I know there are a lot of complaints about Premiere's lack of color management capabilities, which has always been annoying, but at least then the color shifts were CONSISTENT and could be dealt with by applying an adjustment layer with Lumetri on it.  This is the first time I've really questioned whether Adobe is a company that has my back.  Please check out the video, and please contact me with more information about this problem.  Thanks very much for reading, and thanks for the usually awesome line of products! - Jeremy

[Jim_Simon]

I think Jamie LeJeune has it right in the following thread from the Blackmagic forums.  He's specifically talking about Resolve, but the idea holds true for all NLEs.  The upshot is, "The only image you can trust is to run SDI out to an accurately calibrated reference monitor."

http://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=68410

[Robertote]

Thanks, Jim!  Really interesting and helpful read -- I believe every word of it.  I always knew about the overall color issue, and knew there were ways to be more accurate, but I was able to apply a color treatment that satisfied me, since the main outlets for my videos are youtube/vimeo and Quicktime (used by ProPresenter for projection).  Not perfect, but until several more thousand bucks open up, this is what I have to work with.

This new problem is the inconsistency, and I posted the video more to get Adobe's attention -- This glitchy randomness to what I see on my timeline.  It's not that everything on my timeline has the colors shifted a certain way -- it's that now its being applied randomly, unexpectedly, and it shifts hour to hour.  So I can't even adjust for it, because it might change back the next time I open Premiere.

It may be that a broadcast monitor run via SDI would solve that problem as well, but I've never encountered something that disrupts my workflow like this before.  And the problem from my screen recording doesn't exist on my workmate's older Mac Pro, I'm just seeing it on my newer iMac Pro 2017.  Hopefully there's a Premiere update in the works soon.

Thanks for taking the time to reply!

Jeremy

[R Neil Haugen]

In your YouTube, you say that some kind of color grading is going on ... no, that's not any color effect. That's a technical error of some kind. Whether it's in the OS, the video card and/or its drivers, or the app ... well, hard to tell.

What is your video card ... and which Mercury Acceleration option are you using in the project settings? If you go software - only, does it stop doing this? If so ... then it's a video card/driver issue almost assuredly.

If not ... then it's a hardware/OS thing or a PrPro bug.

Neil

[Robertote]

Hey, Neil.

Ha, yes, my terminology is horrible in that video.  Chalk it up to my bewilderment and fatigue at the time.  Radeon Pro Vega 64 is the video card, and its a 2017 iMac Pro with the 5K Retina monitor built in.  You made me doubt myself a little so I upgraded to the latest version of Premiere again, brought the footage in, and tried the three Mercury Acceleration options, closing and opening the project between each one, and the weird random color glitch was there every time.  And tried pulling my monitor window over to the non-5k Thunderbolt Display, same problem happening. 

So yep, seems like a bug/glitch where the video card or driver or display isn't getting along with Premiere.  Weird, but if anybody else encounters this, I rolled back to a few updates ago, Premiere 12.0.0, and I'm not encountering the problem.  Temporary fix, and hopefully there's a permanent fix in the works. 

Thanks for the input, Neil!

Jeremy

[R Neil Haugen]

So, 12.0, no problem ... the later two releases, problem ... and no matter which option in Mercury Acceleration ... interesting data.

PLEASE post this over on the UserVoice system. That feed directly into the QC engineer's system, so they get all those. As do the upper management types that determine budgets & staffing. First this is good useful information nailing a 'location' for a bug. Second, the more filings, the more work justified ... ahem ...

Neil

Adobe UserVoice Bug /Feature form: https://adobe-video.uservoice.com/forums/911233-premiere-pro

[Robertote]

Hey Neil, I realized that in my frenzy of help-seeking last week I actually did post the bug, along with the screen recording, to the User Voice system for adobe.  2 votes already   Done and done. 

As for the version with the bug, I know that the current version of Premiere does have the problem (current as of Aug 24, 2018).  Version 12.0 does not have the problem.  As for the handful of releases in between, I'm not sure, and for now I've got a lot of editing to catch up on and won't be able to test them out.  Thanks again for the help sorting this out!

Jeremy

[R Neil Haugen]

Thanks for the work you've done on this. And posting over on the UserVoice is so important, even though many think not. That is Adobe's internal process to determine problem areas, the scale of the problem, the typed of gear, and even potential budgets.

Neil

[Lachy F]

Hey all,

We too have the issue as described. Unfortunately we have a number of projects we're working on at the moment & can't revert to an old version so we'll just have to put up with it & restart constantly. I would like to add though, as frustrating as this bug is, we are appreciative of all the benefits the new versions have. Fingers crossed the next version will have a fix.

Lach