Final Cut Pro X Proxy Mode Explained

[@BillyPerry]

Thank you for these tips man, perfect explanation and video!

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Glad it was helpful!

[@EricAlanMedia]

Best video on youtube on Proxy media. My 2014 MacBook Pro and I thank you sir!

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Glad it helped!

[@CreativeVideoTips]

00:00 | How to Edit 4k or 8k video 01:09 | ProRes Proxy or H264 Proxy Files 02:13 | How to make Proxies in FCPX 04:55 | Proxy Preferred Playback 07:19 | Link to Proxy Files

[@theherbiebrown]

🗣THANK YOU! I have been trying to find a video that describes the use and need for proxies. This video has done that wonderfully! You have NO IDEA how much you have demystify proxies for me! 🗣THANK YOU!

[@CreativeVideoTips]

You’re welcome Herbert! I’m so glad this video helped you figure proxies out. It’s pretty exciting and cost saving to realize you don’t need the latest and greatest Mac to edit the new larger resolution footage. All you need is a little bit of time to make them. Cheers!

[@annatsoibeauty]

This is a masterclass! For awhile I didn't see such in depth tutorial. I was gathering bits and peaces, lol. Very clear explanation, thank you.

[@CreativeVideoTips]

So glad this was helpful! Final Cut Pro really helps simplify this process and makes the most out of any computer.

[@Retipster]

Oh man, you just saved me countless hours of needless waiting on all my future video edits. Thanks for explaining this so clearly!

[@CreativeVideoTips]

You're very welcome!

[@MyAudioAcademy]

Lifesaver. Thanks for this tip! After years of trying to figure out how to prevent the lag when editing, this fixed it! 🙌🏼

[@soundaidrelaxingmusic8125]

That's brilliant. My mackbook lagged painfully. This solution helped a lot. Thanks for sharing and stay safe!

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Glad it helped! Thanks for watching. :)

[@flashlightstudio5399]

This saved me with my money as i was about to buy a new computer, but now i can edit any file with no problem

[@making-in-action]

This is just what I needed! Thanks for the knowledge bomb my dude!! Keep coming out with the good tips and content!

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Great to hear this helped! Thanks for watching.

[@seanodeli7031]

Here’s what I loved about the Final Cut Pro community in general everyone shares what they know Thank you I learned a lot

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Great to hear. Thanks so much for watching Sean.

[@AndreiTheVampire]

hey dude, really like your overall style, you have a great eye.. one of my favorite looking videos aesthetically (the scenes shot in the office look great).. hope your subscriber count goes up, you deserve it. best of luck.

[@CreativeVideoTips]

You rock Andrei - thanks so much for the encouragement. You’re very kind.

[@AndreiTheVampire]

@@CreativeVideoTips just honesty brother, keep on truckin!

[@coastalblueadventuresltd.1750]

Perfect pace, well explained and easy to understand. Just made me a subscriber. Thank you.

[@theseventh2609]

Love your vibes bro, chill and easy

[@nrlcdmedia]

This was very helpful. Hit all the points needed. Thank you! You

[@PeoplesTaste]

Thanks for sharing 🌷, recently we are shooting videos in 4K, hope to edit them faster and smoother without dropping frames. 👍👍👍

[@theycallmenobody]

Man, thanks so much for this. Easily made the whole proxy thing understandable. I can edit 422 10 bit video no problem on my iMac but those files will barely play on my 2013 MacBook Pro. After I converted to proxy, I can now edit that footage no problem on my laptop and fast. Even more fascinating is that the ProRes proxy files are created at 45mbps bit rate which is so lite compared to the footage that I shot at 200mbps on my Lumix S5. I converted the ProRes at 50% size so 1080. I can now edit 4k 422 10 bit shot video........at the park on my laptop!

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Sick! So great to hear. Thanks so much for watching. It makes me excited to hear when anyone is able to make better use out of the tools they have already available to them and make editing easier. Cheers!

[@robinmetzler]

This video really helped. Thank you Chadwick :)

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Glad to hear it! You're very welcome Robin.

[@tinglysiri]

Love Ur Tutorials… because ur explanations r really good and u can learn a lot by watching :)

[@ashleyt126]

You absolute legend! Brilliant video

[@CreativeVideoTips]

So glad this helped you Ashley :)

[@RocketshotProductions]

Thanks man, great! Been wondering about this for a while. Top info.

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Glad it’s helpful! Thanks for watching 🙏

[@jondeanedits]

Really clear - useful video - many thanks - useful hearing the industry terms explained too. :)

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Great to hear this helped! I really appreciate the comment and you watching!

[@jondeanedits]

@@CreativeVideoTips keep up the great work mate. :)

[@TheFinalCutBro]

Super helpful video! Keep em coming!

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Thanks so much Final Cut Bro!

[@TaylorBell]

Super helpful, thank you!

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Thanks for watching!

[@PeteDavisPhotography]

If you create Proxies from your media and then save those proxies on an external drive or cloud etc..Then delete the original large media files. Then say at sometime in the future get your proxies back into FCP, Can you then output those proxies to create a high quality 4K or HD video ????

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Hi Pete - yes you could do this. But no, I would never suggest it. Your output would be based on your proxy files' resolution, which would not be as good as your original media. I would make an effort to hold onto original footage until you are satisfied you won't need to output and export anymore.

[@menachemkashanian]

You’re the man. Thanks for talking to us.

[@CreativeVideoTips]

No you're the man, thank you for taking the time to watch!

[@camefornication]

Just brilliant, thanks, mate! :)

[@CreativeVideoTips]

You're welcome!

[@nidhikmth]

This was amazing ! Saved a lot of render time for me. Thank you :)

[@TrfwooofooMotionPictures]

I will give it a try, thanks. Well done. Not too fast and I can read your screen!

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Awesome! Glad it’s helpful.

[@davef4163]

Very useful and extreamly helpful thank you.

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Glad it was helpful!

[@tmoss9376]

Thank you! Very clear. AND useful.

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Thanks for watching! Great to hear it’s helpful.

[@damondominique]

Ok but say you just shot an entire French course in h264 and are now trying to edit, and the edit process is rather smooth, but the export takes for-ev-er due to “transcoding media” - but if the footage was shot in h264, and im exporting to h264....what is transcoding exactly? can u tell im lost?

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Hi Damon, you are in good shape if the edit process has been smooth. I wouldn’t bother with making proxy files. However since h264 is a codec that relies on the previous frames to decode the current frame - this means it needs to get re-encoded when you export. Long story short - the only way to speed up your export would be a more powerful computer. I would just plan for that export time. You are fortunate that you have a smooth editing experience with the native original files.

[@Hetsy]

Thank u so much😭 my editing has nvr been dis smooth

[@oodoo_wrld]

Awesome Content Buddy! This helps me a lot👍🏼👍🏼

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Thanks so much! Glad it’s helpful.

[@minioneuy2387]

Nice tips bro 😎✌🏻

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Glad they are helpful for 'ya. Cheers!

[@FrancisJockymusic]

Thanks Man, this really helps, just subscribed...🙏

[@CreativeVideoTips]

So cool! Great to hear it helped and welcome to the channel - lots of final cut and resolve tips coming each week.

[@IceeMatty]

I edit fast too I totally connect to this 🙌🏽 proxy for life love the old computers too haha

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Awesome! Yeah it’s amazing what you can work with if you can just transcode. Prores is a wonderful codec

[@odiatoka]

How did you get the timeline show so big images of the sequence ?

[@CreativeVideoTips]

On the right side of the interface just above the timeline there is a button to change clip appearance. In that section you can change the size of the clips and how much of video thumbnail vs waveform you see. Great question.

[@GertjanVanVooren]

Thanks for the tips man!

[@CreativeVideoTips]

You bet!

[@roopeshkumaar]

Big thanks to you mate for making and sharing this video ,I have just switched to fcpx and It helped me to work more easier. I want to know how will the proxy files behave if I do colour correction on them will it give the same result on my optimized file or it differs. Waiting for your reply and Thanks

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Glad this is helpful. Your proxy files will just look more blocky from being more compressed but it should not effect the color at all. When you toggle back to original or optimized your color corrections automatically apply to the higher quality clips and this is how you will want to do you final export.

[@GatorMcKluskyRules]

Great video! Really the best I've seen to understand this. Any thoughts about multi-Camera? Still ok to use the H264 over Prores? Also, is it better to keep all your proxies the same size? or 50%... As far as speed of editing. Thanks!

[@GeraldLizardo_m]

Amazing dude.. thx for share this

[@darrenkelley5436]

Thank you for the helpful video and explanation. I had a question about exporting. I shot on 4k, imported on optimized and proxy on codec prores, but when I export with view set to optimized my file res is still 1080? Have I missed some crucial step? Any suggestion would be welcome.

[@PatrickMarahay]

Good Info bro! Helpful!!

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Glad it was helpful! 👍🏻

[@sweapee5244]

Nice video. I'm sorry if this question was already asked. If you import footage only as a proxy, when it's time to export, FCP will find the original raw on the hard drive and use the original to create the exported file? So, you do NOT need to import or transcode optimized media? My second question, can I edit mxf and mp4 files from my hard drive, choosing not to import and transcode? Or is that only possible with MOV files?

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Thanks! 1 - yes that’s correct, you will need to turn off the proxy checkmark in the viewer to export full quality though. That’s it. 2 - yes…. But this is kind of ill advised, they need to be removed from the camera card structure and left as leave in place. You will lose some metadata but sometimes that’s ok.

[@CleaningHowTo]

Thanks for this! I'm a little confused by a few things, I wonder if you could help! So I import and create the proxies, but I need to specifically select the clips I want to proxy or does 'import all' do it automatically? I then change the viewer settings to show proxy preferred - does that mean the viewer and the time line are pulling from two different file locations? Then when I'm exporting, what do I need to do to change everything back to normal as in not the proxy files - I think I'm getting it but I feel like I'm missing something (dont get me started on the libraries and project options - it hurts my fragile little mind:P). When I export is the file going to remain in H264 if I've imported under that setting but still have the 4k quality but a vastly reduced file size? I like to import 4k footage but export in 1080 if that makes sense. Sorry for all the questions; I'm not the most computer literate!

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Thank you! - if you use the media import window there is an option to transcode - create proxy media. This would do it as part of the import process so you wouldn't need to do it again. Proxy preferred means if FCP knows there is a proxy file that it will play from that file instead of the original. Whatever is shown on the viewer is the same file on the timeline. So yes it could be pulling from different locations on different clips if one has a proxy and the next clip doesn't have a proxy. For export - just disable proxy preferred playback - change this setting to - media playback - optimized/original. Your export settings are independent of your import settings - to simplify this I would suggest you export at your full 4k that you imported with "master file" setting and set that to h264 if you are uploading to the web. This will give you great results.

[@CleaningHowTo]

@@CreativeVideoTips awesome, thanks so much. Subbed, looking forward to more fcpx tutorials.

[@CreativeVideoTips]

@@CleaningHowTo thanks for joining :).I look forward to teaching a lot more final cut and resolve this year :). I've had a lot of interest in a Final Cut basics type series (free of course) - is that something that would interest you?

[@CleaningHowTo]

@@CreativeVideoTips I’m getting ok using fc but stuff like mini tutorials on how to use it to do KZbin shorts etc would be awesome. The very basics I’ve got covered but I’d definitely do a intermediate and/or advanced course. There’s not many of them on KZbin.

[@mraz1017]

🔥🔥🔥🔥very clear!! Thank you

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Glad it was helpful!

[@rulgargo.]

Great video! 🙌🏻🙏

[@TheMessers]

Helpful vid, Thanks.

[@CreativeVideoTips]

You bet! Thanks for watching.

[@mattycreative]

This was great! Thanks for the tip! So...dumb question: I'm assuming FCP creates the proxy as an 'additional' file. So, when I import, I'm importing 2 files? Do I 'drag in' to my Timeline the 'proxy'? How do I know which is which? Thanks...

[@Tanasaith.Ponyeam]

Hi, Should we do the color correcting with the original file like 4:2:2 10 bit or we can do color correct with proxy files directly? is the output going to be same?

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Your proxy files should be a very close representation of your original file so you can color correct with those proxies visible and it will carry over when you output with proxy turned off. In other words it doesn’t matter. The one thing that would matter is when you are picking a specific color to do secondary corrections to it within a clip (qualifying or keying it). In this instance it’s a good idea to work with the original because your selection will be more accurate.

[@Tanasaith.Ponyeam]

@@CreativeVideoTips Ohhhh, Okay thanks a lot for your clarifying bro

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Anytime

[@nuvisionmedia-3dcreativeco722]

I always ran under the rule of grading in ordinal only. This is good advice! I’ll def grade with proxies now.!

[@AndrewMacdonaldPhotography]

Very Helpful man. Can I ask, Does the transcoding retain the 4k detail?? and do you still keep the original larger file for future use?

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Thanks Andrew - glad it helped. No, and Yes. So transcoding to a proxy file will be smaller and have less detail - but this is only used to make your performance better while editing. Then when you go to export - you turn off the proxy mode and Final Cut Automagically relinks to the original files to give you highest quality export possible.

[@AndrewMacdonaldPhotography]

@@CreativeVideoTips Got ya, I thought so. When you have finished your project and exported do you then delete your Proxy Files to free up space again?

[@CreativeVideoTips]

@@AndrewMacdonaldPhotography you certainly can - there is an option to do that under file - delete generated files.

[@austenphoto]

Thanks for a really useful guide to using proxies, should be really useful when I'm editing H.265 footage from an R5. Am I right in thinking that the original footage still needs to be transcoded at the export stage and that this is likely to take a long time?

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Great to hear this is helpful Michael, During export - yes the computer still chugs through your H265 files to convert it into a new video which will taking processing and time. The exception would be if you set your render files to something like ProRes, rendered on the timeline and exported at ProRes - then it would be fast. But either way you are waiting for computer to do work. No need to do any extra transcoding step though or create optimized media, just make sure the proxy drop down is off when you do a final export.

[@BassPlayerAvailable]

Good video. Can I just add how to Delete Proxy Media. In FCP select the Library > File > Delete Generated Library Files > Tick "Delete Proxy Media" (Or whatever you want to get rid of)

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Thank you! Very useful to free up space after done editing.

[@natpicking]

New subscriber here. Thanks for this vid - it's super helpful. I am editing in Australia for a company that shoots in New Zealand. They upload the footage (100s of gbs) to frame.io which takes days sometimes. Then I download proxy versions of this footage, edit the video and send the .xml file back for them to create final file. Is there a better (faster) way for the New Zealand team to be uploading footage?

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Awesome! Thanks for joining dude. Great to hear this is helpful. The answer is absolutely yes - but it can get complicated without knowing the specifics of the footage. It sounds like they are not uploading proxies to frame.io, but instead the full source clips and you are downloading the proxy versions of them that frame.io made? If that is the case - I would suggest the team in New Zealand create proxies instead of having frame.io do it. In other words they should create them themselves first in Final Cut, Resolve, etc... or even shoot them in camera if that is an option for the team and only upload the proxy files. Without fiber connections - uploading is always the bottleneck so if you can make them small before uploading that helps a lot.

[@natpicking]

@@CreativeVideoTips oh man this is SO helpful. Thank you, thank you 🙏

[@rayrapphaelbisnar]

Thank you for this fam!

[@CreativeVideoTips]

absolutely! glad it's helpful!

[@co_jones]

Dude I found you and this video absolutely awesome! - thanks for explaining this so well. -------------- A bit of background: i knew about proxies etc however, i also happen to be using a late 2015 imac and even using proxies it was not as "buttery" as I wanted it. So, I am going to try those extra steps of lowering the % of the proxies to test out the smoothness. I can totally relate, when there's lag, my creativity gets out of wack cause the system cant keep up with my creative madness.. lol. Again thank you and I shall keep you updated! SUBBED!

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Yes! gotta love the youtube algorithm some days. Thanks so much for sharing this. I think you best bet will always be to use the ProRes Proxy format in the lowest resolution 960x540 should be low enough to get good playback. Cheers to still making our 5-6 year old computers crank out good work!

[@co_jones]

@@CreativeVideoTips hey just a little update on using prores proxies. so far it's been GREAT! like butter. question: I was editing using proxies then noticed a slight slow down when i stacked 4 cips together - then i rendered that portion of the timeline (the stack) and boom , like butter again. Im having a hard time understanding how rendering did the trick if all 4 files where proxied. Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!🧡

[@CreativeVideoTips]

@@co_jones 🔥

[@RacersUnited]

Great video!

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Thanks!

[@WHITNEYMADUEKE.]

THANK YOU SO MUCH 🖤

[@JunaidKureshi]

Thank man awesome video, one question, so what happens when we color grade, are these proxy files 10 bit and color grading is on actual as original files, cant find anything related to these

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Thanks for watching. It depends on the codec you choose. ProRes is always 10 bit even the proxy version, it's just how the codec is. But the proxy mode turned on is just for preview. Your exported color corrections and effects will be applied to you original clips as long as they're linked and you change the preview setting prior to exporting.

[@Guyver11688]

Love your Informative Videos!! Quick Question: If you have a cinema camera that creates two files (One full res:2nd Proxy) onto two different cards. Can you edit straight away on the proxy files & then link them to the Full Res Files just before export? If so is a different work flow needed or is there any easier way to link them? Thank you in advance

[@Guyver11688]

Live Example: My C300 Miii makes two file types (with the same file name but different file types) 1. Full Res file ( Example Clip Name - A101.CRM ) 2. Proxy file ( Example Clip Name - A101.MXF ) On Davinci Resolve I click on Reconform from Media Storage & Click the option to conform by Timecode to switch the entire timeline from Full Res Raw (CRM) to Proxy (MXF). Is there a similar workflow on FCPX I cant seem to Find the work around. Please Help =)

[@CreativeVideoTips]

@@Guyver11688 Really good question! And actually, in Resolve 17, they have given us the option to link proxy files to make your workflow in there easier - In Resolve, only import your raw clip - Right click on it in the media pool and choose "Link Proxy Media". Then find your proxy mxf file. It links up in the background and lets you use the "playback - use proxy media if available option" in the playback drop down menu. For Final Cut Pro 10.5 - It's very similar. Just import your raw file - Then go to files - relink files - proxy media. This should let you use the "view proxy preferred" option in the viewer which makes Final Cut play your mxf files to make it easier on your computer. Note - I have not tested this yet with the .crm and .mxf proxy files, but it "should" work. I can maybe test at some point with a C200 I have access to. Please let me and everyone that might read this know if this workflow works with the C300 files. Cheers, Happy new year!

[@bencarson801]

Great lesson. Thank you. I'm curious: If you were working with a remote editor and wanted to post a project for them to work on, could you just post the project in it's own library with only the proxy files? Seems like that could be a cool way to work.

[@bencarson801]

Also, I'm curious what you think about the a7s3's generated proxies? worth it? no?

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Yep absolutely - that is a great way to work. Just make sure to turn on the proxy checkmark on the new library you send over to "see" those proxy files.

[@GraphicMill]

That was great! It helped a lot. I assume, I now make proxies (which I did already) and then I change the ‘view’ to Proxies and start editing. But here is where I’m confused. If I’m pulling in full resolution clips into a 4K time line, I assume the previews are all referenced from the proxy files. But if the proxy is created at 50%, is that going to show the clip in the timeline smaller that the original file, or is the full resolution file still the file that is used in the project, but only the skimming and playback are referencing the proxies. And if that’s the case, how do you work offline with ‘only’ proxies? I’m missing something here...

[@CreativeVideoTips]

I would suggesting viewing with “proxy preferred” this let’s you have a mixed timeline with some clips having proxies and maybe some new clips don’t yet. Even with a 50% proxy it will show full Frame when editing (like a 1080 proxy in a 4K project). It’s all behind the scenes and includes your timeline. You just want to change your view back to original for exporting.

[@Bobby_Hall]

Thank you for this! I have a question. When you import media and check the option to create proxies, is there any reason to also check the option to optimize media? Why would someone want to optimize the media when you can just create small proxy files and then relink the project back to the original media?

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Such a good question Bobby. I personally don't because I don't want to waste the time to transcode or the storage space. However there is a good use case for that. It can make color correction a little more accurate to see what changes you are making and also a faster. I don't usually suggest working with optimized media in Final Cut though.

[@Bobby_Hall]

@@CreativeVideoTips Thanks!

[@utah62]

Thanks for sharing and great tip. Will try it on my Mac Pro 5.1. After export you use Compressor to upload to KZbin? If so which settings?

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Hey thanks for watching! You know, actually my favorite setting for youtube out of final cut is just export as master file and pick H264. This gives you a bigger file in most cases then the other presets but the quality is great on youtube and gives me a good compressed final video that I save on my hard drive.

[@utah62]

@@CreativeVideoTips thanks. So as .mov file and not mp4?

[@patricksanderson3062]

That was a really good video. Really clear. One quick question. When I import a 100fps (uk) clip into FCPX it seems to show as 60p in the inspector. Do you know why that is?? Thanks for the video.

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Awesome! Glad it helped. I’m not sure why It is interpreting the FPS wrong but if you want to make it slow mo and see every frame - drop it on your timeline and choose speed - automatic and that should expand it out to the slowest slow mo for the FPS you shot.

[@patricksanderson3062]

@@CreativeVideoTips Thanks so much. Automatic slows it down to 25%, so it must know the clip is in 100fps, but saying 60fps for some reason. Cheers, that helped a lot!

[@87andsmith]

im running into a problem where my proxy's live on my hard drive and I'm trying to link them to the original that I've imported in FCP. FCP will allow me to relink the generated proxy one by one but won't recognize the whole 60 clip bunch which as you can imagine isn't very efficient. Can't figure out why thats the case

[@MostlyDrones]

Thank you. Very usefull. I wish you had spend 5 sec. more to explain how to turn the proxy of again before export ( yes i am a beginner in fcp)

[@CreativeVideoTips]

I'm sorry about that - it is basically just going back the view drop down menu and changing the media playback back to optimized/original.

[@co_jones]

Great video! - one question: do you keep background rendering on or off? i see you have no white dots at the top of your timeline - Thanks for all the great info bro!

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Sometimes - If it is a longer video then I typically won't let it make render files because of filling up so much drive space. Do you tend to let the system render out in the background or do you prefer to save the space and just live with worse playback? I appreciate you watching and asking.

[@co_jones]

@@CreativeVideoTips First of all, I so appreciate you answering- it really does mean a lot! Thank you!! -- I have been keeping background rendering off b/c other videos recommend this to _prevent_ lag. However, what I don’t get, is that sometimes manually *rendering out* a portion of the timeline *fixes* any lag that happens. All this while using lower res proxies (the perplexing thing is the lag can happen when i stack clips or even sometimes using just 1 clip). I notice it right away when i see the play head move like a clock marking the seconds instead of a nice smooth glide along the timeline. Cheers! :)

[@jarrettbruno3184]

Awesome video! I’ve been using proxies upon import to work smoother on my 2015 MacBook Pro. I’m a little confused with exporting though. When you export you go back to optimized view (which I didn’t do last time) and then do you export it from there as h.264, or do you export the native file?

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Thanks Jarret, so you go back to optimized view to export so final cut pulls from your original best quality media. Then you can choose do you want a master export in h264 to save file space or make prores for best quality but bigger files. Both are good but those are the trade offs. If it’s getting uploaded for anything online choose h264.

[@jarrettbruno3184]

@@CreativeVideoTips Awesome, thanks so much!

[@MisterHighRisk]

i am confused about what to choose there is an option create optimized media ( i think it is prores codec?) or create proxy media and i can choose between 2 options: x264 and ProRes Proxy. So what does Prores Proxy mean? when i can choose that proxy? is it the same as a prores codec (optimized media)?

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Good question prores proxy is actually a codec. It’s the smallest easiest to playback of all the flavors of pro res. H264 will be smaller but harder to playback with lots of streams.

[@tzachikraus]

Thank you! you help me a lots

[@CreativeVideoTips]

So cool! I’m glad it was helpful - thanks for watching.

[@EEFCEDM]

How do you manage your original footage? I struggle with keep in place etc? When you say leave in place and then your media is copied as original and proxy do you still need to be connected to the original stored media drive?

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Great question. I think this could make for a video on its own that I might do. The short answer is final cut will use whatever footage is plugged in and available. If only proxy is there it can link to just the proxy. If only original it will link to that. “Leave files in place” gives you the advantage of having a smaller easier to backup a project file. “Copy” into the library makes for a very simple and full proof method of not loosing media or needing to relink footage.

[@EEFCEDM]

​@@CreativeVideoTips i think that would be a great topic. so to be clear if proxy and original are in the library and and original source media is not connected you can work within that library? Thanks for the quick reply I have subscribed to your site

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Yep that sounds correct, this is how a lot of people send a low res project to other editors and then relink later to the original files. Thanks for the sub 👍🏻

[@biesasuk]

Having issues even with 1080p video right from my DJI Pocket 2.. Will proxy fix this issue? It's soooo slow to edit and my mac is not 2000's, was top built in 2015, so something like basic medium built now days..

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Absolutely the proxies should help big time. My main home computer is a 2015 and I can work with any footage with proxies. Give it a try and let me know if you have questions. Let me know how it works for ya!

[@siddharth_r1]

How long will the proxy conversion process take? For eg., 4K Shots from Sony a6300 for a 30 min film on a MacBook pro 2015 model i7, 16 gb ram

[@CreativeVideoTips]

This is really hard to say but a good rough guess is 1 minute per 1 minute of source footage. So if your 30 minute film has 3 or 4 hours of media then expect 3-4 hours to make proxies. Hope this helps.

[@siddharth_r1]

@@CreativeVideoTips Thanks a ton 👍🏼☺️

[@EricCheung]

Hi, great video, maybe i missed it but before you render do you need to untick anything or turn off proxy to get the highest quality render?

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Thanks Eric, yeah I wasn't super clear on this. In the viewer you do need to turn off the proxy playback option. Then it will look at the original media to make the export.

[@EricCheung]

@@CreativeVideoTips ahh got ya! That’s where im going wrong! Thank you so much man 👌

[@nidlerproductions7572]

If I had 4K footage and choose "Optimised Media" would that make the file even bigger than the original file or make a bit smaller but more suitable for editing? Or should You always go with proxy when editing 4K footage? Thank you :)

[@CreativeVideoTips]

In general optimized Media is going to be much larger than your original media. It will create prores files at the size of your full 4K source. I suggest not using optimized media. Only use the proxy because it gives you even better performance for your playback but also makes smaller files. But be sure to always keep your original so when you export the final video it is using those and is the highest quality possible. Great question, hope this helps!

[@nidlerproductions7572]

@@CreativeVideoTips Thanks alot!!

[@kanerifilms]

Hi, I created proxies in prores 25%. My originals (4TB) are on an external HDD. My project library is on the internal 1TB MBP SSD. The problem I run into is when I quit FCP, unmount the eternal drive containing my originals, then open FCP again without reconnecting the external drive, all of my files within the browser say they are missing proxies. I then either have to relink proxies or shut down FCP, reconnect the external drive, and reopen FCP. Any ideas on a solution to this issue?

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Hi there - it sounds like you have created proxies that live on your external drive. You are able to have Final Cut create the proxies and point them to your internal 1TB SSD with using the Storage locations for media over in the inspector. Hope this helps!

[@kanerifilms]

@@CreativeVideoTips Thank you for the reply. I looked in the external drive and didn't see any proxy files in there. I just ended up reimporting and recreating the proxies. All good now but not sure where I went wrong the first time around.

[@LOVERGEIST777]

Have I met you lol. I’m from Colorado too and you look familiar af lol. Cool KRKs

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Haha maybe - have you spent much time in the advertising world in the Denver/Boulder/ or LA area?

[@firanchisolm4317]

Great tutorial. Question. Should proxy media only be used on files 4K or larger? If I used it for 1080 files would it be a waste of time?

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Glad this is helpful. The 2 benefits of proxy media are speed and passing around to another editor. If you don’t experience any playback problems with 1080 files then it isn’t really necessary. However all 1080 isn’t created equal, some files like those from a GoPro can still be pretty taxing on a computer. So basically if you feel like you ever wait on your computer, try making proxies. If it’s smooth, then it’s just extra time and storage you don’t need to ease.

[@hellohogo]

Can you still generate proxies for clips you’ve already added effects to?

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Good Question Ramon, Absolutely you can - you'll right-click the clip in your browser, transcode to proxy. Then when you change the viewer option to "proxy preferred" it will utilize this faster performing clip under the hood.

[@chiefgrowler]

Chadwick hi - Thanks for this. When I import media, I 'leave in place'. Can I create proxys from this? Also, do you use Shuttle Pro V2 or do you prefer keyboard? Thanks, Ivan

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Hi Ivan, merry Christmas. You certainly can still make proxy's with leave in place originals and I would in a heart beat if the playback isn't great. They can live in your project file or in your storage location and easily deleted from the file menu after your project wraps so it won't waste disk space. I haven't used a shuttle pro v2 yet, but curious about them. Currently I use a keyboard, with number pad. Logitech MX 3 master, wacom intuos, and resolve speed editor (in resolve).

[@chiefgrowler]

​@@CreativeVideoTips Thanks Chadwick. Merry xmas and NY to you too! Thanks so much for getting back so fast. Ok, I have transcoded the media and it went into a different folder elsewhere under the project file - odd. Thought it would live in the same folder as the media. Does that matter? Also, do you have a workflow for outputting from the proxy files? Do I have to render? Not too sure about the process here. Thanks.

[@arsalaankhan4336]

hey I have done the proxy process the old fashioned way where I manually created proxy files and now im struggling to link them to the raw footage I don't want to edit again plz helpppp

[@4KOutdoorVibes]

Hi man, good to hear you are using a7s3 as well, I have been thinking if that’s possible to film in two cards, one in 4K and one in proxy and how to link the proxy and 4K in fcp, cheers

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Absolutely although I think they always need to record to the same card. Mark Spencer at Ripple Training did a really great explanation of this with this tutorial here - Hope it helps ya - kzbin.info/www/bejne/bnyZpJ2Yo8qMi7c

[@4KOutdoorVibes]

@@CreativeVideoTips Great!! Thanks a lot, all the best there!!!

[@PeterMossUkulele]

Hi - Great video and thanks for the valuable info. I am a music teacher, currently shooting in 1080p. Whilst 70% of the time this is great, I like to also zoom in on my hands when editing with FCPx. As you can imagine the quality drops, not significantly but I notice it. So using logic, if there is more detail in the original footage ie. 4K - the quality should remain pretty good, even on a zoom. I experimented with 4k and my 2015 MacBook Pro didn't like it when editing even with 16GB RAM on board. I had never heard about Proxy until now!!! - I'm going to try this tomorrow for a 10 minute trial and see what happens. One question please. If I want to upload something to KZbin in 4K - do I use .264 res? and should I create an MP4 or .mov ?? - sorry 2 questions. Peter.

[@nicks9763]

I am in such a jam right now. I just finished editing a 4 minute video in fcpx 10.4.8. it was shot on a red 6k camera and the DP gave me proxy files to edit. now that the cut is approved I need to refer back to the original R3D files and export for a post house to do the color work....I have no idea how to do this. someone else was supposed to handle this but they arent available anymore. do you have any videos that could help me figure this out? thank you!

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Absolutely Nick. This is a common workflow. Check this video out here - kzbin.info/www/bejne/n3amhpJ3Z9SWi6M If the proxies files were created correctly by the DIT all you really need to send the colorist is your FCPXML, and a picture reference movie - just and h264 1080 version would usually be good. Then they can link to the original R3D in the their resolve or final color system.

[@nicks9763]

@@CreativeVideoTips thank you! im so stressed over this. the color house sent me the specs for what they want and it might as well have been written in another language. I will check out your video and hopefully it'll help.

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Is it company 3 by chance? Some will ask for EDL instead of fcp xml.

[@nicks9763]

@@CreativeVideoTips is there a way I can DM you on here?

[@mylogram]

Life changer! Ty

[@CreativeVideoTips]

It sure is! Thanks for commenting.

[@JarrettHolmes]

4K/60P videos- I switched back to Optimized media and better quality but when I export it looks slightly blurry. I am re-rendering all the files now to try and fix this. Any ideas?

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Hmmm - that is odd. Have you checked a source file and compared it against the edited exported file? I'm curious if maybe there is an effect applied that could be causing it to look blurry?

[@annatsoibeauty]

I do have a question, what if I select proxy prefer before creating proxy file? Should I go back to optimized and then create a proxy file then go to proxy prefer? Or there is a way around so it wouldn't go to render again? Thank you.

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Proxy preferred is just tells the software to play a proxy file if it has one linked (one that it created or you linked from creating in an outside application or camera). It doesn't matter if you had created proxy files before or after turning that view mode on. If you have a proxy file created and that proxy preferred checkbox turned on then it will make use of them.

[@annatsoibeauty]

@@CreativeVideoTips I got you, thank you!

[@deanakasquidly]

Thanks for this video. This is super cool Thanks Apple

[@CreativeVideoTips]

No problem!

[@tycooper7780]

Chad, this is my first time utilizing proxy files. I got my c70 a month ago and now I'm using CLog FX-AVC 4K so it is taxing on my 2018 Mac Book Pro. The C70 can record simultaneously to two cards. So my 4K FX-AVC file is on one card and the proxy files are on the other. Your tutorial shows how to convert the higher res to proxy but if I already have the proxy and the larger one, how do I upload both so that when working with proxy file which has no corresponding larger file since it was not converted in Final Cut?

[@tycooper7780]

and have the original media to export the edited file

[@CreativeVideoTips]

I haven't tested this with that specific camera but, you would would only import the big source file into Final Cut. then you can "link proxy files" to that imported file (you don't actually import the proxy files) and choose the proxy preferred playback option. If the names match this should work. One alternative to proxies that I will make a video about is actually to try editing your 4k footage in a 1080 timeline. Then before you export - change your timeline back to 4k. This gives you much better performance without needing to use a proxy at all.

[@juzan9999]

how do you convert it back before finalizing project? I don't think you showed it. I've subscribed

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Good question. You just change your view back to original/optimized media in the upper right section of the viewer. Your footage might just flash real quick depending how fast your hard drive is and then it will be the full resolution. Make sure to go change this view setting before exporting a final video.

[@justinmoskblake7249]

Hey, can one grade and edit RAW proxies and then export the same color grading effects on the final RAW file?

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Absolutely, when they are linked as proxy files - Final Cut just treats them as the same clip. You just turn off the proxy preferred view option when you export. In some cases it might be helpful to turn it to original/optimized to see better how you are color grading at times.

[@Slantedvids]

For some reason when I put it on proxies, as I put a clip on the timeline it's still plays back really choppy, is it because the footage is on an external hd?

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Hmm, I think its more likely that the files you made are not small enough. You will have the most success with prores proxy at 960x540 - I think any drive or computer from the past 20 years can play that back.

[@Lechefkarim]

Thx very help 👍👍👍

[@adamjohnzon]

Good stuff

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Glad you enjoyed

[@outofthebiz]

Is there a way to transcode animated plug-ins?

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Good question. The only way this would be possible is if it was rendered out as a video file and used in that manner.

[@outofthebiz]

@@CreativeVideoTips that's the problem with the new 4k plug-ins they take forever to render.

[@CreativeVideoTips]

The best thing you can probably do is make sure you’re using the fastest hard drive to render to that you have available.

[@beartactical458]

Brilliant and ty so much..

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Great to hear this was helpful!

[@joshuatimmins2681]

Hey man what’s the difference between ProRes and H.264 proxy’s?

[@CreativeVideoTips]

File size, and performance. H264 will be smaller files, but harder to playback. ProRes Proxy is easier to playback, but larger files.

[@joshuatimmins2681]

@@CreativeVideoTips thank you so much!!

[@thiessyboyyy]

thanks man!

[@CreativeVideoTips]

Glad it was helpful!