7 Replies Latest reply: Jun 1, 2011 1:34 PM by CWoB Branched from an earlier discussion. RSS

    slow down issue with Premiere CS4 on a Mac pro

    CWoB Community Member

      I am having a similar slow down issue with Premiere CS4 on a Mac pro, but I don't have bloated prproj file size.

       

      Here is what I am working with:

      Mac Pro intel quad core 2.8ghz

      OSX 10.6.7 Snow Leopard

      6Gigs RAM

      3TB storage between 4 drives, each drive with about 50% free space

       

      I am editing a 10 minute HD video from avchd files.  The edited video is very heavy in photoshop files with a variety of different fx including green screen.  The system has slowed down to almost a standstill.  Anytime I move the playcurser, or try to do any action, it displays the spinning top "thinking" icon and takes 15 seconds to several minutes to unfreeze.  I am often forced to force quit and I have gotten unexpected quits several times.   The program also freezes on startup frequently.

       

      No other programs are running.  When I export with media encoder, it took about 4 hours to complete.  The last 4 or so photoshop images I added seemed to tip the program over the edge.  It had been slowing down some, but those last few really dropped the processing speed.  Before those additions, export took 30 min to 1hr.

       

      I did delete the render files (did not check if the file size was bloated beforehand, oops) but it has not significantly affected my performance.

       

        • 1. Re: slow down issue with Premiere CS4 on a Mac pro
          Bill Hunt CommunityMVP

          The edited video is very heavy in photoshop files...

           

          Let's get this question out of the way early. What are the pixel x pixel dimensions of the PS files, and what is their format? Resolution (DPI/PPI) is meaningless in Video.

           

          Good luck,

           

          Hunt

           

          PS - I am PC-only, so if there is some Mac-specific issue, then I'll bow out quickly, but want to hit some "usual suspects," before I do.

          • 2. Re: slow down issue with Premiere CS4 on a Mac pro
            Stephen Eckelberry Community Member

            Have you tried copying the timeline and pasting it in a new project?

             

            Also, are you previewing on full, half or quarter res?

            • 3. Re: slow down issue with Premiere CS4 on a Mac pro
              CWoB Community Member

              My photoshop Images are in standard Photoshop format optimized for compatibility.  Image resolutions are 4976x2800.  I have several zoom in fx to the images so keeping the resolution high is important.

               

              I am in the process of trying to copy and paste the timeline into a new project.  So far PrPro is not liking having to think that hard and it freezing when I try to copy the timeline.  I had the preview setting at "high" because I need to see if the photoshop images are coming out clear enough.  I did just switch it over to "automatic" and it did not make a difference.  I will try "draft" next just to see what happens but the quality will be too low for what I need.  I did not find a place where it had "full, half, or quarter res" options, only high, draft and auto.  Is there another place where these settings can be changed?

              • 4. Re: slow down issue with Premiere CS4 on a Mac pro
                CWoB Community Member

                Okay, Just got it to past into a new project.  Seems to have done the trick.  Only problem is that all my transitions are gone.  I had well over a hundred transitions that were all custom lengths (both audio and video) and they did not paste with the timeline.  Any way to fix this?

                • 5. Re: slow down issue with Premiere CS4 on a Mac pro
                  Bill Hunt CommunityMVP

                  Do you need all of those extra pixels in the stills? Are you panning the full 4976?

                   

                  Two things to consider are that if you using, say a 1920 x 1080 Sequence Frame Size, you can only see that at any time, regardless of how large the images are in pixels. If there are extra pixels, i.e. the Pan is not using all 4976 pxls., I would Scale to just what you need in PS, prior to Import.

                   

                  If you are doing any Scale in PrPro, its Scaling algorithms are not as efficient, as those in PS. [Note: CS5 and 5.5 are a major improvement on that statement.]

                   

                  With many large stills (the max for CS4 is 4096 x 4096, if there ARE extra pixels, pushing those around will use up resources, and quickly. As a test, some years back, I was working on a "photo wall," and was using 4000 x 4000 images. The workstation had no issues with slowness, until I got to the 5th large still. By the 8th, the Project was too slow to edit. I had to wait for everything. Luckily, I have AE, and it handles large stills much more efficiently, and much differently, than PrPro. I just moved to an AE Comp, and completed the Project, finishing up n PrPro, after I Exported from AE.

                   

                  Just something to think about. With Scaling in PrPro, this is one time, where bigger is not necessarily better.

                   

                  Good luck,

                   

                  Hunt

                  • 6. Re: slow down issue with Premiere CS4 on a Mac pro
                    Stephen Eckelberry Community Member

                    No idea how the paste didn't bring with it the transitions.  try exporting the EDL or for that matter a FCP XML and re-importing in the new project.  What a pain.

                    BTW here is a screen shot of playback resolution.  Click on the icon you usually use to unlock a panel.

                    PPR_ playback resolution.jpg

                    • 7. Re: slow down issue with Premiere CS4 on a Mac pro
                      CWoB Community Member

                      Thanks guys for all the help.  I was able to get the final pieces for this project finished and exported.  I'll use your tips and suggestions for my future projects.

                       

                      Thanks again!

                      Jeremy