GoPro Hero 6 H.265 (HEVC) Choppy Playback in Premiere Pro

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GoPro Hero 6 H.265 (HEVC) Choppy Playback in Premiere Pro

Posted by Carlen Cyphers on March 9, 2018 at 3:34 pm

Hey guys,

I have about an hour worth of Hero 6 footage from my Maui trip. It was shot in 4K 60 FPS, which uses the H.265 (HEVC) codec. The playback seems to be somewhat choppy, even though I have the Preview window set to 1/8 resolution. My computer is no slouch either (although it was primarily built as a gaming computer about 2 1/2 years ago, which was before I got into editing). In case it may be helpful – here is a list of my computer hardware: https://pcpartpicker.com/b/bcnnTW

What should I be doing to make the playback smoother? Should I just use Handbrake to convert all the footage to the H.264 codec before I begin editing the footage?

Thanks.

Shane Ross replied 8 years, 2 months ago 5 Members · 32 Replies
32 Replies

Ole Kristiansen
March 9, 2018 at 4:21 pm

“My computer is no slouch either….”

Do you use an Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core CPU for GoPro 4K 60 FPS H.265 (HEVC)?

Good luck !
Greg Janza
March 9, 2018 at 4:22 pm

Don’t convert to H264 because it too is a format that requires heavy lifting by your CPU. Before starting an edit, convert all h265 and h264 to an edit friendly codec like pro-res or DNxHD and that’ll eliminate the laggy playback issue.

Windows 10 Pro
i7-5820k CPU
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
Adobe CC 2018
Renders/cache: Samsung SSD 950 Pro x2 in Raid 0
Media: Samsung SSD 960 PRO PCIe NVMe M.2 2280
Media: OWC Thunderbay 4 x 2 Raid 0 mirrored with FreeFileSync
Carlen Cyphers
March 9, 2018 at 4:58 pm

Thanks for the helpful advice bud.
Carlen Cyphers
March 9, 2018 at 5:03 pm

Thanks – did some research and I am going to use proxys – seems to be the easiest way to go about it.
Greg Janza
March 9, 2018 at 5:12 pm

Proxies aren’t appropriate in this instance. Your originating files aren’t worth going back to for mastering.

Transcode all of the H265 and H264 to pro-res or DNxHD and then use those as your master files.

Windows 10 Pro
i7-5820k CPU
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
Adobe CC 2018
Renders/cache: Samsung SSD 950 Pro x2 in Raid 0
Media: Samsung SSD 960 PRO PCIe NVMe M.2 2280
Media: OWC Thunderbay 4 x 2 Raid 0 mirrored with FreeFileSync
Carlen Cyphers
March 9, 2018 at 5:21 pm

Ahh okay I see what your saying. Any links to an article, video, etc on how to transcode the original media?
Carlen Cyphers
March 9, 2018 at 5:25 pm

ProRes would be for Mac, so I should likely use DNxHD for PC right?
Carlen Cyphers
March 9, 2018 at 5:53 pm

What are your thoughts on Cineform vs. DNxHD? I guess the only downside of transcoding vs. using the proxies is that the transcoded files will be BIG and take up a lot of storage space.
Greg Janza
March 9, 2018 at 5:53 pm

correct, dnxhd is the equivalent of pro res on pc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuQ3hr71qtE

Windows 10 Pro
i7-5820k CPU
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
Adobe CC 2018
Renders/cache: Samsung SSD 950 Pro x2 in Raid 0
Media: Samsung SSD 960 PRO PCIe NVMe M.2 2280
Media: OWC Thunderbay 4 x 2 Raid 0 mirrored with FreeFileSync

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Greg Janza
March 9, 2018 at 7:00 pm

Others here on this forum speak highly of Cineform so i kjnow that’s an option as well.

Storage space shouldn’t be an issue since the cost of storage these days is cheap. Buy more storage if you’re short on it.

Windows 10 Pro
i7-5820k CPU
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970
Adobe CC 2018
Renders/cache: Samsung SSD 950 Pro x2 in Raid 0
Media: Samsung SSD 960 PRO PCIe NVMe M.2 2280
Media: OWC Thunderbay 4 x 2 Raid 0 mirrored with FreeFileSync

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