Improve scrubbing/fast forwarding performance with these 3 ideas!
Scrubbing and Fast Forwarding performance is often painfully slow.
Here's an example by Jayme Cowley Media Co. of scrubbing performance in Pr vs Resolve: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilPUc22itSA. The associated FR he posted mentions the problem but doesn't offer any specific solutions.
Here are 3 ideas that could greatly enhance scrubbing and fast forwarding in Pr:
SCRUBBING/FF RESOLUTION: In addition to being able to set the Payback and Paused Resolution in the Source/Program Monitor's wrench menus, it would be great to also be able to specify the resolution that's used when scrubbing or Fast Forwarding in the Timeline or Source Monitor. This setting would be variable, meaning that setting it to 1/4 resolution, for example, would scrub/play the footage at a variable resolution between Full all the way down to 1/4, depending on how well one's computer can keep up. (see Image 1)
DYNAMICALLY IGNORE EFFECTS: A new setting in the Timeline's wrench menu could allow Pr to dynamically disregard computationally heavy effects while scrubbing/Fast Forwarding in the Timeline whenever necessary in order to provide a fluid viewing experience. Essential effects such as crop and Motion settings would always be shown, but certain effects such as Lumetri Color, sharpen, blur, Warp Stabilizer, etc. could be ignored depending on how well the computer can keep up with the Timeline to guarantee a fluid viewing experience. Of course, the moment the user stops scrubbing or resumes normal playback speed, all effects would be displayed again (see Image 2). Optionally, to visually inform users that effects are being omitted, the playhead could turn a different color whenever this happens, returning to its normal blue color as soon as conditions allow all effects to be rendered once again.
ONLY SHOW I-FRAMES: TaranVH posted a brilliant FR suggesting that Pr only show the nearest I-frames while scrubbing Long GOP footage, quickly updating to the actual frame under the playhead when pausing. I'd like to add that this great idea should also be used when fast forwarding. Make sure to take a look and vote here: https://adobe-video.uservoice.com/forums/911233-premiere-pro/suggestions/42186322--i-frame-first-fast-seeking-for-inter-frame-compr?tracking_code=ccac1cc695840488e461c4e3fa2399bb
Hopefully some or all of these suggestions can be implemented to help guarantee smooth scrubbing and fast forwarding. Even though computers are getting faster, the ever increasing demands put on them with 6K and 8K footage means new tools are needed in order to give editors a great editing experience. This is especially true for laptop editors!
As always, thank you for listening!
