Canon XF 705 Codec still has issues
Having consistent problems with HEVC footage recorded with the Canon XF 705. This is not related to one individual computer and has been tested on many different systems to find the same issues consistently.
Bug description:
First of all the footage is incredibly laggy, it's impossible to edit from as it just freezes up after about 1 second of playback. We've tested this on even higher spec systems and the best we can get is some semi-smooth playback at 1/4 resolution with 1080p footage. If there is a way to improve playback of this footage that would solve the problem.
As a result, we have tried to implement a Proxy workflow. When attempting to create proxies we run into the same error every time on every machine which is as follows:
Frame substitution recursion attempt aborting after multiple attempts on file: FILENAME.MXF
Inserting black for frame number 0
This happens with ProRes, Cineform and DNxHR codecs. This causes media encoder to fail the export, on less powerful computers it actually causes media encoder to crash altogether. When trying to create proxies manually through media encoder rather than through premiere pro we run into the exact same issue.
We are able to create H.264 proxies, however, we then receive the error that the audio tracks do not match because our source footage Is often 4 track audio and we can only create 2 track H.264 files.
This makes it impossible to edit with the original footage and also impossible to create working proxies for the footage we are required to edit.
An example system that it has been tested on:
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7820HK CPU @ 2.90GHz (8 CPUs)
Memory: 32MB RAM
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080
All with the latest drivers and HEVC codecs from windows and Canon. We have been having these problems for the last few months and hoping it will be fixed with every Premiere Pro Update.
We have no issues working with HEVC/H.265 footage from other cameras but Canon says the issue lies in the NLE, not the codec. Please fix XF 705 HEVC footage in premiere pro.
Thank you.

3 comments
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Harry Long commented
Purchased an XF705 this year, all I heard about was how great and wonderful the H.265 encoding was. Revolutionary.
And now that I'm on this side of the purchase, all I see is all the trouble everyone is having editing. And the XF705 doesn't allow me to film 4K with the AVC encoding - even though all the lower priced models do. Very frustrating.
And I'm having the same issues as you all. Premiere can't handle the file, so the editing is a disaster. Proxies can't be depended on because either a frame drop fails the proxy render or if you try a workaround, the audio files don't sync. It's garbage to deal with.
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Scott Moore commented
I'm having the same issues but i suspect it is something to do with the Canon implementation of the HEVC codec.
HEVC files from the Panasonic GH5 and the DJI MAVIC Pro2 both play fine even at 4K full quality.
I can't get any usable playback with the XF-705 files... hopefully Adobe can make this better? -
Jessica Vecchione commented
Just got mine and having similar problems. Just can't get it to playback smoothly on any drive, ssd, etc. Beefed up system...