Multicam playback "Rendering Required Files"
 

Just noticed an interesting behavior not present in CS3. When I'm editing a multicam sequence, if I stop and go back to fine tune, or even just stop and resume later, when I hit Play I get a box that says "Rendering Required Files" that sits there for anywhere from five to ten minutes, with the progress bar stuck at zero. Then it goes to 100% and playback begins.

It only does this once; subsequent playbacks get the box for a fraction of a second then playback begins.

I don't think it has anything to do with video; based on my reading of the help files my guess is it's audio, as while Premiere conforms imported audio on import, it doesn't by default do this for a nested timeline and must re-render to conform (cam audio is 16-bit but project is 24-bit, Zoom audio is 96kHz but project setting default is 48kHz, etc.). Or is this a red herring? I'm also guessing it really has nothing to do with multicam per se, but that's all I do these days and I haven't had a chance to test this out with a more normal timeline. I'm going to try an experiment with all the audio at the same settings as well but until I do....

Anyone else experienced this and have a theory as to what this is?

I guess I should mention that I'm still on 5.0.2 as I don't generally update in the middle of a project. This isn't really a huge issue; more of a minor annoyance that I work around by selecting "Render entire Work Area" and then go get a cup of coffee before I go back to fine tune my edits. Gives me an excuse to get up and walk around a bit.

Adam,

This is a new "feature" in CS5.

A year ago, I did a long mulicam edit in CS4 and couldn't figure out why it took over ten seconds to even move the CTI or do any kind of editing. Consequently, that edit took much longer than it should have and I was beginning to pull my hair out. As it turns out, after a multicam edit the audio needs to be rendered to ensure smooth playback. After I found the solution and rendered the audio manually, it cut like butter.

I'm glad that Adobe addressed the issue in CS5. I'm sure it will save some editors from going bald at a early age. :)

Adam....

Are you saying, that when you go to the layered sequence, (where the multicameras reside) and manipulate the clips, then rendering happens in the main sequence where you're cutting the footage???

If the answer is yes, then that's perfectly normal....
It's Premiere's way of re-syncing the main timline...

I think both of you are on to something. While I would never touch the original clips in Sequence 1 once they are synced, we had some students in here last week editing and they did, in fact, mess around with the originals in the first sequence and I had to fix it, which could easily have freaked Premiere out.

And on tonight's project, I mixed down the sound first and created a new file which conformed to Premiere's presets, and added that to Audio 2 in Sequence 2, into which I had nested Sequence 1. And then before I even began cutting, I rendered the audio in Sequence 2.

Bingo. Instant smooth playback. So the answer, I suspect, is somewhere in there.