Export Time Slow in Newest Version of Premiere

[michelled4946156]

Greetings!

I'm working on a Mac Pro (2013 version) with 64GB ram and the newest OS.  Recently did an erase and OS re-install on the machine.  I downloaded the most recent version of Creative Cloud and need to export something in Premiere.  The sequence is 7 minutes long, no effects or color correction, and is a combination of footage from three different types of cameras.  I am not editing, just exporting, so no proxies made.  For a 2-Pass, High Bit rate export, Encoder is suggesting an export time of 1 hours and 20 minutes.  It is pulling material from a server, but the export is going to my desktop.  The renderer is OpenCL.

Does this seems like an accurate estimate?  Am curious if anyone else has seen things slow down with either their software update or the Mac Pro.

Thanks,

MD

[R Neil Haugen]

Any particular reason for the 2 pass? Especially with no effects added I can't see any need for that. Only help it will probably give us slowing things down.

Neil

[michelled4946156]

I'm considering bringing it back into a sequence (and creating a proxy for it).  I should clarify that these are 4K cameras, no proxies created (but I'm not editing, just exporting).

[R Neil Haugen]

Which format/codec?

And do try without 2nd pass.

Neil

[michelled4946156]

Camera footage is FS5 in the MXF format (For the record, the Mac Pro really does not like the FS5 footage).  Exporting to a mp4 file, H.264, with 40mbps bit rate.

I just noticed that the sequence settings indicated that the Video Previews were set up to be the Animation Codec, which I'm not sure is the correct setting for this.  So I've changed that setting.  The Video Renders are not here, so I'm not sure exporting with previews would make a lot of difference.

I just tried it again and the estimate was 40 minutes, which feels a lot more reasonable.

[R Neil Haugen]

That 2013 rig, even with that generous amount of RAM, is well ... five years minimal past today. It's always interesting when someone's older rig screams and a newer one with more and more modern "oomph" doesn't, but in general, well ... the design & architecture of the subsystems is rather dated. So that's the starting point.

Then ... the FS5. You note that the Mac Pro doesn't really like that, well ... a number of people have posted over the last couple years that it doesn't always seem to be PrPro's fav camera either. But ... using the mxf wrapper seems to make it more palatable.

Now ... you're exporting to an H.264 codec, which is a complex thing to do. It isn't just compressing frames, but choosing which frames to compress into i-frames and which frames to turn into mere data-sets of changed pixels. Then doing so.

I'm not sure how well 'smart previews' work if exporting to H.264 ... if at all. So I wouldn't probably worry about the previews. If you were exporting in intraframe, I'd suggest setting your previews to that codec/size, then use smart previews. But you're not.

I'd say going single-pass 40mbps ... that does sound like a reasonable export time for that machine.

Neil

[michelled4946156]

It's the 2013 configuration but the computer is only 2 years old, technically, because Apple hasn't updated those computers in a while.  And yes, the older Macs were MUCH more reliable and fast... we were in a pinch at the time and this was the best solution for us.  And it was a 7 minute file with a double pass at 40mbps;  it ended up taking 40 minutes.

[R Neil Haugen]

Some colorist friends of mine just couldn't wait any longer to upgrade their gear, and shocked themselves to the core by looking over ... then getting replacements ... for their Macs from PC builders. And found that for the same cost they could get substantially more oomphy machines and externals. That all worked just fine. There is life outside the Macosphere! 

Once upon a time Macs were very 'stable' and powerful. That ain't this time. And ... Apple being Apple ... their path to 'stability' is simply to limit what the user can do and/or change with the machine. For a ton more. They're still in general good computers, but there's no magic there anymore. They're a machine. You're a user. And Apple is more interested in "devices" than desktops these days. Sadly.

For budgetary purposes, look around for the next one. Maybe get quotes from Puget Systems & SafeHarbor computing, who build specifically for video/audio apps like PrPro, Resolve, Audition, AfterEffects, Avid ... all of the major apps. They know their parts. Several people on the forum recently were ticked because they went out and bought a hot new i9 chip and built a computer around it and the thing isn't running as they expected.

Well ... both Puget & Safeharbor have a short list of CPUs that actually work and give good bang-for-buck performance, with many of the CPUs from both AMD & Intel not listed as being suited for the video/audio apps.

Neil

[michelled4946156]

Trust me - If I had to buy a new editing machine right now, it wouldn't be a Mac.