Premiere slow, makes it nearly impossible to edit

[SQ]

My main problem is when editing with lossy codecs. I know you're not supposed to do that, but hear me out.

There was a time when I could edit well enough, and I'm not sure what happened (it's not a virus), but now I cannot even play through a rendered timeline in premiere without it lagging like fuck. I have basically employed the 'guess and check' system where I guess at what cuts I should make, export, and watch the export to see if it looks okay. This is pretty shitty.

What's worse is that my computer should be able to handle playing UNRENDERED timelines, so it's doubly ridiculous.
This problem is the worst when editing lossy footage (obviously), but it also occurs when editing lossless footage. So whatever is going on, it's affecting everything (in Premiere).


I'm using Adobe Premiere CS5 (5.03).
These are my specs:


I'd like to know if something is wrong with my settings in premiere, or if I am misunderstood on my hardware specs. Or anything really.

[halex1316]

Only thing that even looks remotely like it's holding you back is your processor, and even that's pretty good. . . not sure, sorry

[SQ]

Do you think there would be a performance gain if I downgraded to CS4 or CS3?

The only problem I envision is that I'm running the x64 Win7 and I'm not sure if the lower versions would support that.
Though to be honest, I'm not even sure Premiere CS5 supports that properly. Or if it even could be an issue.

[l33tmeatwad]

Only thing that even looks remotely like it's holding you back is your processor, and even that's pretty good. . . not sure, sorry

What? An i7 is not what I would call "holding someone back"....that said, if you are going to point out ANYTHING holding his system back then it would be the graphics card which is a crappy Intel graphics. Intel graphics do not work as well with the hardware acceleration features in Adobe software.

Do you think there would be a performance gain if I downgraded to CS4 or CS3?

You shouldn't need to do that, could you try and list all the changes in the process? What "lossy" codecs are you using? Are you working with HD?

[SQ]

cs5 allows direct import of mp4. I was using HD mp4s when I first noticed the problem. Now I'm working with xvid encoded AVIs, but they're low resolution and I'm having the same problem.

The only lossless footage I've used on this setup is lagarith avi, and it won't play unrendered. Rendered works ok, until you make a few cuts.
The problem gets worse as more cuts are made on the timeline for all file types. Nesting things seems to help, but not by much.

Now that I think about this, if my footage is 29.97fps, but my workspace is 24 fps, is that a problem?

But, I also have dragged video clips right onto the new comp icon to get the exact same specs, and it still lags.
Just recently, I exported something from After Effects as a lagarith, imported it into Premiere, and as soon as I made 2-3 cuts to it... Bam. Guess and check. =/

[SQ]

Can't edit posts.

You mentioned the graphics card. I don't know much about customizing laptops post-purchase. Is it possible to update my graphics card in a thinkpad? And if so, what should I get?

This would be separate to the other questions, since I was thinking about upgrading anyway, but would like to avoid buying a whole new laptop, since this one is pretty awesome.

[l33tmeatwad]

Unfortunately there is no way to upgrade the graphics cards on (most) laptops. As for XviD, BAD! Do not do that to your poor footage

You may want to try "turning down" or disabling the graphics acceleration features to see if putting more load on your CPU helps. I have had graphics cards that caused issues with graphics acceleration on Adobe products. It's not ideal, but may work...

[BasharOfTheAges]

When you say play without rendering, do you mean you're doing playbacks in premiere without rendering your timeline? AFAIK, that never works out well, no matter what your specs are.

[SQ]

You may want to try "turning down" or disabling the graphics acceleration features to see if putting more load on your CPU helps. I have had graphics cards that caused issues with graphics acceleration on Adobe products. It's not ideal, but may work...

Is this in Premiere? If not, how do I do this?

@Bashar
Yes that is what I mean. But it should be able to (and has in the past) be able to play an unrendered lagarith that has no cuts in it.

[l33tmeatwad]

You may want to try "turning down" or disabling the graphics acceleration features to see if putting more load on your CPU helps. I have had graphics cards that caused issues with graphics acceleration on Adobe products. It's not ideal, but may work...

Is this in Premiere? If not, how do I do this?

@Bashar
Yes that is what I mean. But it should be able to (and has in the past) be able to play an unrendered lagarith that has no cuts in it.

Actually, now that you mention it...I don't think Premiere lets you, because I had a low end computer I couldn't run it on because of the graphics card...and Bashar is right, most stuff will play back choppy without rendering, especially if you are stacking more than 2 lines. In reference to it "working before", I would assume you weren't working with HD footage before, which taxes the system MUCH more than SD footage. Lowering versions will not help you if you are working with HD footage.