FAQ: All about Hardware Encoding in Premiere Pro 14.2 With the release of Premiere Pro version 14.2, you can take advantage of dedicated H.264 and H.265 (HEVC) encoders provided by NVIDIA and AMD on Windows-based systems.
A: Premiere Pro CS6 software includes more than 50 powerful new features designed to make switching NLEs easy. Integrate with After Effects and Photoshop software, industry-leading performance, plus broad native tapeless and DSLR camera support, precise editing tools, superior color fidelity, and more, let you handle the most demanding projects with ease.
Premiere Pro provides the ultimate toolset for professional video production. I use free photo and video editing software. Why should I consider Premiere Elements 2021? Most free video editors offer a. First, have a look at our FAQ topic ‘I bought a license but the app is still restricted’ – hopefully that will clear up any questions! Once you have access within the Filmstro Pro app (no padlocks), restart Filmstro Panel in Adobe Premiere Pro. If you have an existing license: Open Filmstro Pro.
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In this walkthrough, we’ll look at how to optimize your editing workflow — and which settings to check if Premiere Pro is running slow.
Laggy playback is probably the most frequent complaint from Premiere Pro users. I recently completed a deep-dive into Adobe’s Premiere Pro troubleshooting pages and their community forums, and I’ve complied a list of solutions that you can try if Premiere Pro is lagging.
It’s important to remain realistic about your computer’s hardware and specs. (Especially when it comes to editing 4K video or videos with lots of effects.) Also, if you’re in the middle of a project, I strongly recommend against updating any Adobe CC apps until you’ve finished. Updating Adobe CC apps in the middle of a project is asking for trouble. (If you do update them, at least don’t uninstall the previous CC versions.)
We’re going to cover settings and general workflow tips that should improve your Premiere Pro experience.
Quickest Solutions for the Most Improvement
If you’re in a hurry to find out why Premiere Pro is running slow, these four solutions typically offer the most dramatic speed improvement.
Turn on GPU Acceleration
Under Project Settings, make sure the Renderer is set to GPU Acceleration. If the GPU Acceleration option is grayed out, you may need to update your graphics card drivers. If you update them, and the option is still grayed out, Premiere Pro may not support your graphics card.
Make certain the Renderer is set to GPU Acceleration.
Lower Playback Resolution
This one seems pretty obvious, but it’ll make a drastic difference if you lower the playback resolution. Adjust the setting to 1/2 or 1/4 in the bottom-right corner of the Preview Window.
You can also make sure High Quality Playback is disabled. Click on the Wrench icon right next to the Resolution setting, and then make sure High Quality Playback is unchecked.
Purge Media Cache Files
Sometimes old cache files can be the culprit. Navigate to Media Cache in Preferences. Then select Delete Unused.
Make sure you delete unused media cache files.
Save Cache Files to a Secondary SSD
Finally, it’s also recommended to save your media cache files and scratch disk files to a secondary drive — preferably an internal SSD — for the best playback performance. In fact, Puget Systems claims this is the number one thing you can do to increase performance with Premiere Pro. If you have to use an external SSD, make sure it’s rated for USB 3.0 and you have it plugged into a USB 3.0 port. (USB 3.0 is usually indicated with the color blue on the port or connector.)
To change the cache file location, navigate to Media Cache in Preferences.
In Preferences, scroll down to Media Cache to change the cache file location.
To change the scratch disk file location, navigate to Scratch Disks under Project Settings. (Note that you will need to set the Scratch Disks settings for every new project you work on. Premiere Pro doesn’t save that Project Setting location like it does for Media Cache files.)
Under Project Settings, navigate to Scratch Disks in order to change the scratch disk’s file location.
Settings to Check
Here’s a list of other settings you may want to change in Premiere Pro for faster playback. Experiment with these, as results will vary depending on your workstation.
Optimize Rendering for Performance
Under Preferences, navigate to Memory and set Optimize Rendering for Performance.
Navigate to Memory, then set Optimize Rendering for Performance.
Disable Auto Save
Frequent auto saves can sometimes slow down your machine. (For me, auto save usually crashes my Adobe apps more than it actually saves them. But try this recommendation at your own risk!) Navigate to Auto Save under Preferences to turn it off.
Disable Mercury Transmit
Mercury Transmit is typically used to send your preview window to external screens. If you aren’t using one, turn this feature off. Navigate to Playback under Preferences to disable it.
Under Playback, disable Mercury Transmit to further quicken the process.
Disable Refresh Growing Files
Automatically Refresh Growing Files is a setting typically used for live broadcast productions. Some Premiere Pro users have reported getting better performance with it turned off. To disable it, navigate to Media under Preferences.
Another trick for a better performance, disable Automatically Refresh Growing Files.
Check for Updates
If your current version of Premiere Pro suddenly becomes laggy, check for updates for your operating system and graphics card. Doing this has frequently helped solve issues for me, as more often than not, there’s an update available. (However, if you’re in the middle of a project and everything is working normal, don’t update anything!)
Checking for updates for both your operating system and graphics card can help with a lagging computer.
Workflow Tips
Here’s a list of practices you can use when editing to optimize your workflow. (And hopefully increase preview speed!)
Don’t Edit Files on a Memory Card
Even though memory cards are flash memory, they’re not ideal for direct editing. In other words, offload files from your memory card to a separate drive, then edit with those files in Premiere Pro.
Use Proxy Files
Using proxy files when you edit is another technique that’s sure to get you better playback in Premiere Pro. Using proxy files is basically substituting a lower-resolution version of your footage in while you edit. It’ll then switch back to your high-resolution footage when it’s time to render. In this quick tip article, Robbie Janney covers how to create proxies in Premiere Pro.
Avoid Editing Files with Compressed Codecs
While compressed codecs are great for recording or uploading, they aren’t ideal for editing. Compressed codecs, such as H.264, take more time to decompress while editing, so they frequently have laggy playback. Codecs like ProRes, Cineform, and DNxHD are more ideal for editing. Again, an easy way to get around this is to just use proxy files.
Render Dynamic Linked Comps
If you have any portion of your video timeline linked to After Effects or another Adobe CC app, you can quickly render and replace those for faster playback. Simply right-click on the Dynamic Linked sections of your edit, then select Render and Replace.
For faster playback, use the Render and Replace option.
Turn Off Video Effects
Multiple video effects can put a heavy strain on previews, as well. You can try turning off individual effects before you preview, or use the Global FX Mute button to turn off all effects.
If you don’t see the Global FX Mute button in your Preview Window, you can add it by selecting the Plus icon, then drag and drop it into the Preview Window tool bar.
Here’s how to add the Global FX Mute button.
Close Lumetri Scopes
If you have the Lumetri Scopes panel open, close it up before trying to play back your footage in the timeline.
Close the Lumetri Scopes Panel before you play back your footage.
Render In to Out
If all else fails, you may just have to set an in-point and an out-point and select Render In and Out under Sequence settings. It’ll take some time to render previews of the footage in your timeline. After which, it should playback in real time, until other changes are made to the edit.
Dropped Frame Indicator
Premiere Pro also has a built-in Dropped Frame Indicator that can signal to you if you’re skipping frames during playback. (You’ll likely already be aware of this if you see visible lag during playback.) Click the wrench icon at the bottom right of the Preview Window, then select Show Dropped Frame Indicator. You’ll see a small green dot that’ll turn yellow or red, if there are dropped frames during playback.
If you seem to be skipping frames during playback, select the Show Dropped Frame Indicator.
Looking for more Premiere Pro tips? Check these out.
Premiere Pro is a powerful, customizable, nonlinear video editor that lets you edit your way. Import and combine virtually any type of media, from video shot on a phone to raw 5K and higher resolution footage, and then edit it in its native format without wasting time transcoding. The app offers a sleek, highly intuitive user interface, a customizable timeline, numerous editing shortcuts, and robust media management options. And because real-time performance is critical for rich, complex sequences, Premiere Pro delivers the fastest solution in the industry. The Adobe Mercury Playback Engine supports most formats, and you can use multiple GPU cards to accelerate render and export times.
Premiere Pro is part of Adobe Creative Cloud, so you can keep your favorite settings, keyboard shortcuts, and workspace layouts in sync, on any machine, in any edit bay in the world. Plus, you get access to all the latest updates and future releases the moment they’re available. Learn more about Creative Cloud.
See the What’s New page for details. Also see these videos for a general overview and a deep-dive walkthrough of the new features.
Yes, Premiere Pro offers HiDPI support for Mac and Windows computers with Retina display.
Yes, the Mercury Playback Engine brings performance gains to all the graphics cards listed in the Premiere Pro system requirements. GPU acceleration makes the creative process more fluid and speeds up rendering for faster output. Adobe continually evaluates new cards for support. Learn more ›
Premiere Pro has a scalable architecture, so performance scales with the speed of your system. The minimum system requirements for your workflow depend on the type of content you plan to work with. With native 64-bit support, Premiere Pro can take advantage of all the available RAM on your system. For multicore systems, Adobe recommends 4GB or more of RAM per core. On any system, you can see substantial performance gains as you add more RAM. 16GB of RAM is a good baseline if you plan to run multiple applications simultaneously. Plus, the Adobe Mercury Transmit plug-in enables tighter integration with third-party I/O hardware.
Premiere Pro supports a broad range of hardware and software for Mac OS and Windows, so you can choose from a range of workstations and capture cards to build the editing system that meets your needs and budget. Enhance your system with more plug-ins, including many from Adobe After Effects. Premiere Pro works with a variety of third-party hardware, including capture cards and decks. Check third-party hardware compatibility for the most current listing of supported hardware.
With comprehensive video format compatibility, you can work with the formats you want, including natively editing files from the latest tapeless formats without transcoding or rewrapping. Edit all standard- or high-definition formats, from DV and HDV to HD and beyond. Some formats could require extra hardware.
With a free Creative Cloud membership, you can download a trial version of Premiere Pro — and other applications in Creative Cloud. When you upgrade to an All Apps plan, you’ll be able to download the full version of every Creative Cloud application.
If you were prompted to enter your payment details before downloading Premiere Pro, the trial automatically converts to a paid plan after the trial period ends. Otherwise, you can purchase a plan directly from the Creative Cloud website.
Yes. If you don't have After Effects installed, you see an error message saying, 'This Motion Graphics template was created in After Effects. To use this template in Premiere Pro, please install After Effects (trial or license) and retry. Learn more at adobe.com/go/mgt.
Using After Effects created Motion Graphics templates in Premiere Pro
Premiere Pro Fade Audio
To use Motion Graphics templates created in After Effects, you need a trial or licensed version of After Effects installed on your computer. If you are a Creative Cloud subscriber, you already have a license of After Effects. Download it from your Creative Cloud application. If you have a Single-App license of Premiere Pro, a paid license of After Effects is not required, you can install the trial version of After Effects. After your trial has expired, your After Effects Motion Graphics template still works as long as you leave the expired trial installed or install a paid version of After Effects. Do not uninstall the expired trial. For more information, see Motion Graphics templates/Common Questions.
Premiere Pro Face Swap
Learn more about purchasing options on the Creative Cloud plans page.
Premiere Pro Face Mask
Check out Premiere Pro Learn & Support to get started, with video and step-by-step-tutorials as well as comprehensive product support from Adobe and our knowledgeable community.
Adobe Premiere Pro Faq
You can find web and PDF versions of the Premiere Pro manual on the Premiere Pro Help page.