Does it happen with you also? Sometimes, while working on the most important projects, the error “This effect requires GPU Acceleration” crops up suddenly and makes you frustrated. Therefore, editing videos is an amazing and thrilling job for editors. But it becomes tricky and annoying when you encounter common errors while trying some new effects or speeding up workflow. Well, nothing to worry about; keep scrolling down to speed up your flow to fix this error.
CONTENTS
What is GPU Acceleration in Premiere Pro?
The best thing is to start with a brief introduction to GPU acceleration to make it easier for you to understand how to solve this error. Graphics Processing Unit or GPU is the process of using a Graphics Processing Unit to perform some of the video editing tasks. The main function of this is to speed up processes and improve graphics quality by using computer hardware. However, Adobe Premiere Pro offers two types of GPU acceleration:
- Mercury Playback Engine CPU optimization
- Mercury Playback Engine GPU Acceleration (OpenCL/CUDA)
The first one uses the CPU to render audio and video tracks, while the second utilizes both CPU and GPU for processing.
Why This Error Might Happen?
One of Adobe video editor’s most common errors is “This effect requires GPU Acceleration.” It usually happens when you try to apply certain effects or work with 4K footage. There are certain reasons for this error to pop up. It might be due to the unsupported graphics card, driver problem, or outdated Premiere Pro version. Mercury Playback Engine GPU Acceleration (OpenCL) might also happen when it is set to Software Only.
Whatever the reason is, this error can be fixed. So, let’s fix it without further ado with the best and most simple methods!
Method 1: Turn GPU Acceleration ON
First, you must check whether the GPU Acceleration is turned ON or not. If it’s not, this might be the reason for this error to show up. Here are the steps to follow:
Step 1: Launch Adobe Premiere Pro on your computer.
Step 2: Navigate to “Files” > then scroll down to “Project settings” > and click the”General.”
Step 3: In the new window, you must select the “General” tab and check the “Renderer:” option.
Step 4: From the drop-down menu, you need to select “Mercury Playback Engine GPU Acceleration (OpenCL).”
Step 5: At the end, tap on the “OK” button to save the changes you made.
Note: If it is unavailable in your system, your graphics card doesn’t support OpenCL. In this case, you need to select “Mercury Playback Engine Software Only.”
Method 2: Update Graphics Driver
If the error “this effect requires GPU acceleration” still exists, then it might be possible that there is an issue with your graphics driver. To fix this, you need to update your graphics driver. It’s also quite easy to update the graphics driver. You can either do it automatically or manually.
Step 1: First, check your graphics card. To do this, follow the below instructions:
For PC: Start>Run>Type “dxdiag”>Display
For Mac: Apple>About This Mac>Graphics
Step 2: Afterward, go to your graphics card manufacturer’s website and download the latest driver for your card. I’m using Intel, so I’m downloading from the Intel website.
Step 3: Install the driver on your computer and restart your system.
Note: Don’t forget about clean installation while updating your graphics driver. Because it will clear all the previous drivers and settings from your system, which might cause some other issues.
Method 3: Uninstall Outdated Third-Party Extensions
Another reason this error might occur is because of outdated third-party extensions. If you have any outdated extensions, it’s time to uninstall them from your system. Doing this is quite simple.
Step 1: Go to this location on your system: C:\Users\Your_Username\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Common.
Step 2: Find the “Extensions” folder and delete it.
Method 4: Run the Software in Compatibility Mode
This error might also occur because your system is incompatible with Adobe Premiere Pro. In this situation, you need to run the software in compatibility mode. Here are the steps to follow:
Step 1: Select “Properties” after pressing the Right-click on the Adobe Premiere Pro shortcut icon.
Step 2: A new window will appear on your screen. Here, you need to go to the “Compatibility” tab and check the “Run this program in compatibility mode For.”
Step 3: From the drop-down options, select your current operating system.
Step 4: Lastly, click on the “OK” button to save the changes.
However, you can also avail the option of “Run compatibility troubleshooter” to check whether this method will work or not.
Method 5: Adjust Virtual Memory Settings
It may also be possible that your system doesn’t have enough virtual memory to run Adobe Premiere Pro. In this scenario, you need to increase the virtual memory settings of your system. Scroll down to know how to do this.
Step 1: Go to this location on your system: My Computer>Properties>Advanced System Settings.
Step 2: A new window will appear on your screen. Here, you need to click on the “Advanced” button under “Performance”.
Step 3: Then, go to the “Advanced” tab and click on the “Change” button under “Virtual Memory.”
Step 4: In the new window, you should uncheck the “Automatically manage paging file size for all drives” option.
Step 5: Now, select the drive where Windows is installed (C:\ drive). After that, check the “Custom size” option and enter the initial and maximum sizes for your virtual memory. You can enter any value between 1.5 to 2 times your system’s RAM. For example, if your system has 4GB RAM, you can enter the Initial size as 6144 and the Maximum size as 12288.
Step 6: Lastly, click on the “Set” button and then hit the “OK” button to save the changes.
Method 6: Turn off Hardware Acceleration
This method will surely work if nothing has worked for you. All you need to do is turn off the hardware acceleration feature from the settings. You can simply do this with a few clicks:
Step 1: In Windows 10 right click on Windows desktop and select “display settings”.
Step 2: Once your settings window pops up, scroll down and select “Graphics settings”.
Step 3: Now you can turn off “Hardware Acceleration GPU scheduling”.
Pro Tip: If this doesn’t work for you, try this method with the “Mercury Playback Engine GPU Acceleration (OpenCL)” option.
I hope this writing will be helpful for you, and you can easily fix this error with any of the above methods.
Conclusion
Dealing with technology can be a pain sometimes, as you never know when an error might pop up and disrupt your work. However, the best way to deal with such errors is to have patience and try to find a solution. The methods mentioned above are some of the most effective ways to help you fix the error, “This effect requires GPU acceleration.” Just try these tricks if you are also facing this error.
Plus, don’t forget to let us know if you have any queries.
