Persistent Video Engine Errors

[Alex H.]

EDIT: Resolved, I do believe. Seems that a very naughty iLok USB was to blame. See my comment at the end of the thread.

Hi, all.

New here, and I’m pretty much dead in the water at the moment with a problem that seems to have no solution.

Mac Studio M2 Max
Sonoma 14.7.1
Pro Tools Studio 24.10.2
Focusrite 18i20 (2nd gen)

Everything has been smooth sailing on this system since December… until yesterday. The video engine started crapping out. I can open a session and play, and skip around, but after a few minutes it hangs and gives the “AVID video engine unable to stop” error.

Then, it takes forever to close down the session and quit Pro Tools, “Waiting for video operation to complete”.

About half the time, when trying to open a session, it is unable to load the video track “due to a missing codec, or a codec that is unsupported”. If I try to delete the video track and re-import the video, same error. But then, half the time, the same session will open with the video… but then the engine fails to stop. This happens with DNxHD, ProRes, and .mp4. I typically request DNxHD or ProRes since h.264/h.264 can have issues in PT.

So far, I have (not listed in order):
- Trashed prefs
- Ensured that Playback Engine system cache was set higher (40GB) and buffer maxed at 1024.
- Ensured that the SSD is formatted APFS.
- Tried multiple sessions across multiple drives, same issues.
- Moved the session to my desktop and launched from there, same issues.
- Uninstalled and reinstalled iLok License Manager (took care of the iLok errors I was encountering, but the video engine problem persists).
- Uninstalled and reinstalled Pro Tools.
- Created a new session and imported all tracks from one of the other sessions, just in case that session was corrupted. Same issues.
- Gone into HD>Library>Application Support>AVID>AVX2_Plug-ins and renamed both that folder and the empty AMA folder inside it.
- Run Disk Utility First Aid on the Mac’s HD while trying sessions opened direct from that drive (no issues found).
- Downloaded and installed AVID codecs, just to be sure.
- Moved all of my Waveshell files out of >AVID>Audio>Plug-Ins and into a temporary folder on my desktop.
- Spent 2 hours on a call with Sweetwater support, during which we tried many of the things listed above.

Nothing has solved the issue, and now I’m pretty much stuck until I can resolve this. Any thoughts? I’d avoided upgrading to Sequoia when I got the Mac Studio last year, but hear that PT is now stable on there.

No, I do not have Media Composer installed.

Any advice appreciated.

- Alex

[Alex H.]

One more thought:

This machine was migrated from a 2017 iMac Retina 5K (Intel) running Catalina, which brought its own issues right out of the gate. I had to update a few things, including Pro Tools, in order to keep them running.

Even though everything ran fine from December until now, is it possible that some issues related to that just hung out in the shadows until now? Seems like a very drastic measure, but… factory reset the Mac Studio and do a clean install on everything?

[its2loud]

What are you using to convert your videos?

Where are the videos located on your system?

Migration could be culprit here. It’s generally a good idea to always start with a clean system. Especially if a previous system you’re migrating from had issues.

Co-install PT 2024.10.1 and see what happens.

[Alex H.]

Originally Posted by its2loud

What are you using to convert your videos?

Where are the videos located on your system?

I generally don’t convert the videos, but ask the editor to send me 1080p ProResLT or DNxHD. If I do need to do any conversion, I use either FCPX or Compressor.

I make a top-level folder for any new project, and inside there is a folder of picture lock assets (.aaf and .mov), along with the PT project folder. So it’s all running off the same T7 SSD.

Originally Posted by its2loud

Migration could be culprit here. It’s generally a good idea to always start with a clean system. Especially if a previous system you’re migrating from had issues.

Co-install PT 2024.10.1 and see what happens.

The previous system didn’t have any issues; it was just time (past time) to upgrade the computer. Figured migration would save me some setup time, though in hindsight probably not the best move since I was changing from Intel to Silicon. It’s just weird that everything was pretty smooth for months, now plagued with issues.

I’ll go back to 2024.10.1 and see if anything changes. Thanks.

[its2loud]

Run a test by putting the video file only on the internal drive. The PT session can live on the T7 drive.

Since video requires more data bandwidth, this might be an issue with your T7 that you’re not recognizing just with audio playing.

Are you using any kind of video hardware device ie Blackmagic, Aja?

[Alex H.]

Originally Posted by its2loud

Run a test by putting the video file only on the internal drive. The PT session can live on the T7 drive.

I’ve tried running the entire session from the internal. I can try this as well, however, not sure this explains the issues with “missing codec or codec that is no longer supported” when trying to import a video file.

Originally Posted by its2loud

Since video requires more data bandwidth, this might be an issue with your T7 that you’re not recognizing just with audio playing.

Are you using any kind of video hardware device ie Blackmagic, Aja?

No video hardware of any kind. I have a 3-monitor setup straight out of the Mac Studio. Edit window, mix window, video window. Again, weird that it hasn’t been an issue for so long, and I used T5 and T7 drives on the iMac as well with zero video engine errors and zero “missing codec” warnings.

[Alex H.]

So, the forum stopped responding, and now I my last reply is awaiting admin approval. Weird.

Long story short: no video hardware.
Video files running from internal: same issue. It’s not just the engine error but also the missing codec error when I try to import a new video.

[its2loud]

Originally Posted by Alex H.

So, the forum stopped responding, and now I my last reply is awaiting admin approval. Weird.

Long story short: no video hardware.
Video files running from internal: same issue. It’s not just the engine error but also the missing codec error when I try to import a new video.

The missing codec error is generally caused by a video file that was poorly encoded.

Download Shutter Encoder (free application) and us that to encode you videos to the proper codec.

[audiobob]

I'll say this. I have an M2 Ultra Studio running Sequoia...which for the last two years I've just upgraded the OS on top of the old one with no issues so far. I use Shutter Encoder to convert ALL video received to DNxHD 36. Used PT Prefs 2 to back up PT preferences from a moment in time when everything was working perfectly. When I have these reoccurring video issues every now and then, I delete ALL PT preferences and restore those prefs that I backed up from a working system. Works great every time. You may not have this option now, but when you get it all working, which you will, back up prefs with PT Prefs 2 and restore them when it happens again....which it will.

IMO, until Avid gets the video engine working natively under M-x....I think we'll still have these issues. Just my thoughts.

[Alex H.]

Originally Posted by its2loud

The missing codec error is generally caused by a video file that was poorly encoded.

Download Shutter Encoder (free application) and us that to encode you videos to the proper codec.

Thanks for this. I’ll give it a try. Could this also be why the video engine fails to stop sometimes?