Impossible Smooth Playback with ProRes

[Vasto]

Hi there,

I'm sorry for opening the nth thread about this, but I'm really going crazy with that issue and I've really tried anything written here and on the wiki.

Basically it seems impossible for me to make Reaper play smoothly any video file except low bitrate h264.

I'd need to work with ProRes files so here's the basic things I've done:

- changed container from .mov to .mkv: unsuccessful
- scaling from 2160 to 1080, but still: unsuccessful
- deleted the FFMPEG.dll, moved the latest ffmpeg shared into /plugins: unsuccessful
- substituted VLC with MPC-H: unsuccessful
- VLC setup to use openGL and/or DirectX (restarted after changin): unsuccessful

ProRes files are generate with FFMPEG itself (prores_ks 422 HQ)

My configuration is:
CPU: i9-9900K (liquid cooling)
RAM: 32gb 3000mhz
GPU: RTX2080
SSD: Samsung EVO

OS: Windows 10
SW: Reaper (latest)

Should I just give up and convert everything in low bitrate h264 to achieve a smooth playback in Reaper?

Best

[bjohn]

I'm able to view 1080p ProRes HQ files just fine in Reaper, smooth playback. I don't use 4k files so maybe that's the issue; also I'm on a Mac but with pretty similar specs--32 gigs of RAM although you didn't say how much GPU memory you have (I have a dual GPU with 6 gigs).

[EpicSounds]

did you try any of the options when you rt-click the video window?

are you playing back audio from the file as well?

[Vasto]

I've this problem with both ProRes 422 @4k/60 and FHD/30-60

Originally Posted by EpicSounds

did you try any of the options when you rt-click the video window?

Yes, I've tried almost everything "on sight" that's why I can't understand the issue

Originally Posted by EpicSounds

are you playing back audio from the file as well?

Nope, video is without audio track, I have this issue even with the sole video inside of the project

[bjohn]

Can you play those files smoothly on your computer outside of Reaper, e.g., with Windows movie player or VLC media player?

I just tested and can play Prores HQ files smoothly in VLC media player on a Microsoft Surface tablet with integrated Intel graphics, but the same video does not appear in Reaper at all -- the audio plays, but when I open the video window it's black.

[Vasto]

Originally Posted by bjohn

Can you play those files smoothly on your computer outside of Reaper, e.g., with Windows movie player or VLC media player?

Of course I can play my ProRes 422 HQ - 4K/60fps with both VLC (even if I have dropouts) and MPC-H (perfect) players:
I'm on an i9-9900k + RTX2080, I can play two instances of MPC-H simultaneosly with 4K/60fps ProRes, without any frame dropping,
that's why I'm sure the problem concern something inside of Reaper and VLC.

When using VLC I need to enable openGL in video settings, otherwise it doesn't play.

Originally Posted by bjohn

I just tested and can play Prores HQ files smoothly in VLC media player on a Microsoft Surface tablet with integrated Intel graphics, but the same video does not appear in Reaper at all -- the audio plays, but when I open the video window it's black.

Same here: I can play the video in Reaper but it's like 1 frame every 4 seconds

In another post I read some users solved everything by changing ProRes container from .mov to .mkv using MKVtoolnix: I've tried both MKVtoolnix and FFMPEG to change the container but nothing solved my issue.

[EpicSounds]

I just did a test of a short prores 422 file and it seems fine on my macbook pro.

2560x1440 @30fps
decoding with VLC
video load is ~10%
disk read is ~30B/s

audio buffer size at 256

how big of a file should I test?

[Vasto]

Thanks EpicSounds,

I actually know that it MUST work properly,
what I can't figure out is why it fails on my specific case and only inside of Reaper+VLC.

[bjohn]

Originally Posted by EpicSounds

I just did a test of a short prores 422 file and it seems fine on my macbook pro.

Okay, I just tested a 3 gigabyte Prores HQ file on my Mac Mini in Reaper and it plays back fine.

So I think we're isolating this to a problem with Reaper in Windows. Seems to work fine on the Mac.

[Vasto]

Originally Posted by bjohn

So I think we're isolating this to a problem with Reaper in Windows. Seems to work fine on the Mac.

more specifically I think it's a VLC/FFMPEG inside Reaper problem.