Premiere Pro 2017 is a huge memory hog

Report · Aug 15, 2017

Anytime I try using Premiere Pro 2017 (most recent version) it immediately starts consuming over 2-3 GB of memory, even if no project is open or editing is being done. This is a major bug with v2017 as downgrading to 2015 versions doesn't cause this problem at all.

Troubleshooting steps I've tried with no success

* Clearing premiere pro cache

* Uninstalling and re-installing premiere pro 2017

* Working with smaller file sizes or fewer video files

Laptop Specs

Windows 10 64-bit

Intel I-7 Processor

8 GB Ram

Report · Aug 15, 2017

I don't think it's a "bug" ... it's just the 2017 version takes more RAM for basic operation than previous versions.

Neil

Report · Aug 15, 2017

No it's definitely a bug. It keeps leaching memory until my entire machine crashes or has to be reset. If you study the gauge upon opening it just keeps going until it maxes out everything. The program shouldn't be draining that much memory simply by being opened, and if that is intentional it's a crappy product design and user experience.

Report · Aug 15, 2017

It definitely should not be using that much ram at idle. Do you have many third party plugins installed?

Report · Aug 15, 2017

None.

Report · Aug 15, 2017

Close Premiere, then hold SHIFT+ALT and relaunch Premiere. See if you are still experiencing high RAM usage at idle.

Report · Aug 15, 2017

Tried that - no change.

Report · Aug 15, 2017

Ahh ... you missed that data in your first post, that it keeps taking more RAM.

Although 8GB is the lower limit of usability. So, is it using up your RAM and then freezing the computer, what?

Neil

Report · Aug 15, 2017

Memory and RAM are basically the same thing - that shouldn't be confusing. Read up thread for the other details.

Report · Aug 15, 2017

Hmmm ... not at all confused about memory & RAM. I simply stated that your initial post said it took up X amount of RAM at startup, but that post did not state that it kept increasing the amount of RAM. And by my question in the followup post, I was hoping for a bit more information and should have been more specific.

Startup usage, which can be a stable amount, and constantly increasing usage even while idling (which is what a memory leak does) are two different things. I do not presume one from the other.

And I have read through the entire thread ... which doesn't have a lot of details. Other than you've got a smallish amount of RAM, and an i7 running Win10. And for reference, on my 32GB RAM desktop, PrPro at startup takes 2.7GB of RAM to "load into". Doing almost anything will result in PrPro using quite a bit more for at least a while.

Does it suck RAM until crashing if you don't do anything, or while working in PrPro? If while working, what sort of media are you using ... codecs, frame-size/rate, and effects used?

My laptop has only 8Gb RAM also ... and after a few minutes of work, it's pretty sluggish. I certainly stay away from long-GOP & 4k workflows unless using proxies with it. NOT pleasant with 4k long-GOP, as it will get to a point where I need to let it sit for a minute or two just to process any little step.

Neil

Report · Aug 15, 2017

You can also try going into Preferences - Memory - Optimize performance for Memory and see if that helps.

Report · Aug 16, 2017

Hi taylort,

Anytime I try using Premiere Pro 2017 (most recent version) it immediately starts consuming over 2-3 GB of memory, even if no project is open or editing is being done. This is a major bug with v2017 as downgrading to 2015 versions doesn't cause this problem at all.

I can't replicate your issue. My system stays around 239MB for the Premiere Pro process and does not leak memory. I'll continue to test around various on the machines I have available to me: Mac and PC. I have notified our product team, but please file a bug as soon as you can here.

Please also open a case with Adobe Customer Care and ask for the "video queue": Contact Customer Care

Customer "OlegS" solved his memory leak situation by updating Premiere Pro.
- Ensure that you are running version 11.1.2.
- FAQ: How to find the exact version of Premiere Pro you're using?
- More info here: Re: Premiere Pro CC 2017 Memory Leak
Customer "Benpipa09" on Reddit also solved a memory leak issue by updating Premiere Pro.
- https://www.reddit.com/r/editors/comments/6ga8nl/premiere_pro_relink_media_unusable/dipp1l7/

Let us know how it goes after checking your version and ensuring that you've updated to the current version, which is the thing that solved the issue for two users.

Sometimes you need to check the Creative Cloud app for updates or restart the app from time to time to make sure that your updates are coming in regularly. It is a common occurrence, actually. I've experienced it.

Regards,
Kevin

Report · Aug 17, 2017

Hi Kevin - the problem is your most current version IS the problem. I'm currently at the most recent 2015 version because it still functions just fine. I've tried updating back to 2017 twice and every time it creates all the problems above.

Report · Aug 17, 2017

taylort,Have

Have you verified that you are on 11.1.2 by inspecting the "About" screen? No one has reported this issue on the current version, only the previous version.

We do not respond to bug reports, in general, sorry. You need to open a case with our support agents for any Adobe interaction. Also, these are user to user forums, so do not expect Adobe employees to respond to every thread. Most are product team members volunteering their time.

Thanks,
Kevin

Report · Aug 17, 2017

Yes, this issue includes 11.1.2.

Also, these are user to user forums, so do not expect Adobe employees to respond to every thread. Most are product team members volunteering their time.

This isn't a useful statement as I was told to post here by your twitter team. They specifically said someone from Adobe would be in touch here.

Report · Aug 17, 2017

Hi taylort,

Yes, this issue includes 11.1.2.

Great. Thanks for verifying that. We do not have any memory leak bugs filed internally for this version that I could locate, sorry.

Back to your issue, I have heard from the product team who made the following remarks:

Do you have any additional codecs or "codec packs" installed?
Any external audio/video devices connected that have drivers that may be leaking memory?
- Try removing any external devices if connected
Is RAM released after quitting the application?
The recommended amount of RAM is 16GB.
- Can you see if the issue occurs with the recommended amount of RAM?
- System requirements: Adobe Premiere Pro System Requirements

Also, these are user to user forums, so do not expect Adobe employees to respond to every thread. Most are product team members volunteering their time.
This isn't a useful statement as I was told to post here by your twitter team. They specifically said someone from Adobe would be in touch here.

Sorry for the confusion and thank you for pointing out a notable flaw in our communication with you. You either heard from me (^KM) or one of my colleagues over Twitter. We usually follow up on our Twitter escalations when sending customers to forums, but we can't always—apologies. We also rely on the community and community experts (badged as MVPs, or ACPs) to help us out answering questions as our social support staff is so small. When we say "we" can help you in forums, we are also referring to our MVPs and ACPs who are not paid Adobe staff.

The further confusing thing is that our forums are user to user based and are not an official place to get support from Adobe. You need to contact us here for that: Contact Customer Care (BTW, have you done so yet?). Adobe Customer Care has a large number of trained agents that can assist you on a 1-1 basis.

We have a FAQ which describes how to navigate support. I hope it is helpful in the future: FAQ: How do I contact Adobe Support? Any feedback you can give towards improving this FAQ or the overall support experience would be helpful.

I realize now that we should create a paragraph in that FAQ about being routed through support from social networks, as it can be confusing. Thanks again for your feedback.

That aside, I really hope we can help you solve this issue.

Regards,
Kevin

Report · Aug 17, 2017

Great. Thanks for verifying that. We do not have any memory leak bugs filed internally for this version that I could locate, sorry.

Ok - so when are you going to log one or accept the bug report I filed this AM?

Back to your issue, I have heard from the product team who made the following remarks:

Do you have any additional codecs or "codec packs" installed? No
Any external audio/video devices connected that have drivers that may be leaking memory? No
Is RAM released after quitting the application? Yes
The recommended amount of RAM is 16GB. I have 8 which has been more than enough for every version up until this one. The problem isn't with my machine - it's specifically with the program. No app should have runaway memory leakage like this.

Report · Aug 17, 2017

Hello taylort,

Have you contacted Adobe Customer Care yet? Please do so to open a case with us.

when are you going to log one or accept the bug report I filed this AM?

The product team already has the report you filed. Thanks for that. I just logged a bug on your behalf, as well. I linked this discussion to the report.

Do you have any additional codecs or "codec packs" installed? No
Any external audio/video devices connected that have drivers that may be leaking memory? No
Is RAM released after quitting the application? Yes

Thanks for the info.

The recommended amount of RAM is 16GB. I have 8 which has been more than enough for every version up until this one.

I do understand your frustration and I do apologize, however, I am reporting on remarks the product team made. They indicate that the current version will work better with 16 GB. The last two versions of Premiere Pro have this recommendation. That said, it doesn't seem to explain the memory leak.

Please let me know if there are any other details you can give regarding your system, media, etc. that you have already not given out yet. I will continue to investigate the problem.

Thank You,

Kevin

Report · Aug 17, 2017

For what it's worth, I'm running the same specs as Taylor on my home machine - Win 10 64bit, Core i7, 8GB ram (on a desktop though, not a laptop) and I have not experienced this issue.

Unfortunately, this issue is very likely specific to his machine.

Taylor, have you tried running the CC cleaner tool?

Use the Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool to solve installation problems

Report · Aug 17, 2017

Thanks for verifying your setup, JeffB.

Regards,
Kevin

Report · Aug 17, 2017

And as noted, my Win7Pro i5 with 8GB is not having memory issues particularly. It's just slower than molasses period with PrPro, but then, on this old thing, I don't expect more.

Be nice to get a clue what's happening in Taylor's machine of course.

Neil

Report · Aug 20, 2017

While I appreciate the feedback, this is largely anecdotal. I saw several support forum requests back when previous versions of PP did the same thing, only I was on the other side (with no issue).

This is definitely something with the program itself and NOT my machine. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to run After Effects without any issue.

Report · Aug 20, 2017

No engineer here, of course ... but this is something that apparently is happening on very few machines at the moment. Else there'd be more posts here, and probably one of the ACP/MVP crowd and the other "regulars" could duplicate it. As has been the case many times.

So ... while your machine may not be causing the leak, it or something in/on it clearly has to be at least part of the scenario that results in the leak. And there's been some bizarre cross-over problems recently. As in the whole Microsoft OneDrive app issue.

There's a .dll file for that 'service' that when installed as per normal, caused ... trying to remember ... something real odd to happen with PrPro on a number of machines (but not nearly all PC's). A user who had whatever that issue was had tried everything "normal" to get running clean without success. So he was going through the process of stripping his machine of every flipping app and OS utility he could strip off the computer and leave the machine operable, and when he uninstalled OneDrive, suddenly PrPro was fine, thank you.

He re-installed OneDrive, glitch-ville. So one by one he remove the files of that app ... and the onedrive.dll (if I recall correctly) was "it". What it it? Apparently that .dll seeks permissions all across the computer, and dorks up some things. Best computer geek I can use to describe it.

Dang near impossible to always find all cross-glitching issues. And I do most sincerely hope this gets fixed for you somehow.

Neil

Report · Aug 21, 2017

check your premiere crash report with windows's event viewer- Windows Logs > Application.

Photoshop Elements Editor Help | How to Find Crash Logs on Windows (yes, i know it says photoshop, same concept)

https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop-elements-editor/using/find-crashlogs.html

Premiere Pro self crash log: FAQ: How to find Premiere Pro crash logs on Windows?

Unhide hidden folders by following these instructions:

ttps://support.microsoft.com/en-in/help/14201/windows-show-hidden-files

Navigate to the following folder to collect the crash log

OS:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Premiere Pro\11.0\logs

[NOTE: <username> is your Windows user name]

2. try renderer software render only or update video driver

3. try changing preferences from performance to memory.

4. change memory allocation to 80% of RAM for premiere

5. shrink PNG image sequences in photoshop to sequence size before importing into premiere

22. disable h.264 acceleration

25. update bios for memory leaks

27. set audio hardware to none or update audio drivers

x. as last resort, use adobe Creative Suite Cleaner Tool

Report · Aug 21, 2017

This won't work as I'm no longer using 2017 (see above where I mentioned I downgraded). I don't have the time or bandwidth to spend a whole additional week running crash reports, etc on a version of the program that I can't use in the meantime - especially if an actual Adobe engineer or team member won't be looking at it (not that users like yourself aren't helpful, but if we're going to go that deep I need to know someone higher up is actually going to be looking at it).

Adobe Community

Premiere Pro 2017 is a huge memory hog