is a solid choice if you are maintaining a legacy project or using an older Mac that cannot run newer Creative Cloud versions. However, if your hardware supports it, upgrading to newer versions (v26.0+) is recommended for modern GPU acceleration and support for current RAW camera formats.
: Occasional "hanging" on older hardware; lacks the advanced AI-driven encoding features found in 2024–2026 versions. Adobe Media Encoder CC 2018 New Features adobe-media-encoder-cc-2018-12-1-2-69-macosx-1-6gb-2022
“Prior to updating the software I had no issues... [with CC 2018] I frequently get 'Cannot read from source' errors, or Media Encoder just hangs.” Adobe · 8 years ago is a solid choice if you are maintaining
: Version 12.1.2 introduced critical updates, including Variable Frame Rate (VFR) support for H.264 and H.265 containers, which is vital for footage from smartphones or DJI drones. Adobe Media Encoder CC 2018 New Features “Prior
Adobe Media Encoder CC 2018 is a reliable, high-performance background processing engine designed to handle video and audio encoding for the Adobe ecosystem. By v12.1.2, the 2018 cycle had matured into a stable release that fixed many early bugs from its initial October 2017 launch.