Blackmagic Proxy Generator, How, Why, When? - Davinci Resolve TUTORIAL

00:00 Intro
00:58 Generating Proxies
02:30 Using Proxies
02:58 Colour Grading
03:29 File Management
04:01 Conclusion
Why do you need to use proxies, how do you make them and when should you used them. Learn how to use Blackmagic's Proxy Generator and how to use those proxies in Davinci Resolve.
Created by Team 2 Films.
#filmmaking #videoediting #videoeditor #davinciresolve #tutorial #howto #certifiedtrainer

[@Deep-Travel]

These are simply the BEST Davinci Resolve (or any NLE) tutorials. Period. You guys address things that are really important for editors. I look forward to each tutorial. THANKS!!!! and being selfish myself, keep them coming!

[@team2films]

Thanks so much David. That's really kind of you to say.

[@0volts157]

A superb overview of what proxies are and how to use them. Thank you so much.

[@team2films]

You are welcome :)

[@Thingwithlegs]

Finally, someone on-point and no Hellofresh or Crypto inside commercials AAAHH! Love it.

[@team2films]

Thanks so much. We hope you enjoy the rest of our content too. I hope we can keep the channel free of irrelevant sponsorship.

[@kapturelab]

Your delivery is very clear and to the point. No babbling. Very concise and digestible. Thank you.

[@team2films]

Thanks. Appreciate your comment. You've nailed what we are going for!

[@lemosakatoy]

Wonderful tutorial, thanks

[@johns_creative_media]

I have so many great things I want to mention here. I just recently discovered your channel and I'm a huge fan of your content. You were very informative and straight to the point. I find these short segments of DaVinci Resolve tutorials and demonstrations insightful. Also please make more of your cinematic hiking videos in the near future. Much love from your new fan 🤟🏽

[@team2films]

Thank-you Johnny, what a compliment! We're so glad you are enjoying the tutorials. We're aiming to continue releasing bi-weekly. Glad you like the format too. We're trying to keep them short and concise so viewers can get back to editing and colour grading as quickly as possible.

[@OliKember]

So helpful, thanks very much Team 2! Brilliant overview. Hoping for more flavours of ProRes in the Proxy app in the future, like ProRes Proxy itself.

[@team2films]

Yeah, we're hoping for more codec options in there too. Other resolution options would be great as well. Thanks for watching Oliver :)

[@anilaboutme]

Best tutorials! Easy to understand and unpretentious! 👍

[@team2films]

Thank-you so much.

[@larryFWD]

Beautifully done! Great video. Thanks

[@team2films]

You are welcome. Thank-you.

[@normanlang1]

Great video. I also enjoyed Jim Robinson’s commentary. I haven’t used proxies. I edit BRaw and Prores out of the camera. But now, because you showed me how stupid simple it is and how much smaller the files are, I’m going to try it.

[@team2films]

Thanks Norman. And thanks to Jim for his message too. Please post back and let us know how it's gone for you.

[@williamekblad1753]

This is so good! Thank you so much.

[@team2films]

Thanks William! Glad you are enjoying the tutorials.

[@abas1r]

Brilliant tutorial, thank you 🙏🏽

[@team2films]

Thanks so much. Glad it was helpful.

[@danielsibaja8422]

Thank you !!!

[@laner4195]

Incredible quality of the tutorial. The beautiful lady makes it even better to watch. Thank you!

[@team2films]

Thanks for watching

[@SpencerHeaphy]

Love it!!

[@team2films]

Thanks Spencer, great to have you here.

[@markrobinson8254]

slow (so easy to understand) no comedy (I didn't come here for the laughs, I rely on comedians for that) Suscribed

[@team2films]

Thanks Mark. Great to have you here.

[@movietrailer4113]

Specifically and to the point. Everything's fine 👌

[@team2films]

Thanks so much!

[@nathanabrahams5305]

this is good! Subbed!!

[@team2films]

Thanks Nathan, glad to have you onboard!

[@Anonymous-ft7ut]

Absolutely loving each and every video from both of you. Very informative. Can you please make a video of how to make such text animations or where to buy them? They add more value to the engagement. Please do reply. 😃

[@team2films]

Thanks so much for watching and your kind comment. Do you mean the text animations in our videos? We'll do some videos on them in the future.

[@JimRobinson-colors]

The proxy generator is soi far designed to be used in conjunction with BMD cloud and not for desktop usage. The files of choice in the proxy app are pretty much all long GOP and long GOP are generally delivery files, like one would render to upload to the internet or send to someone over the Internet to work with on a project. Long GOP ( h.264 or h.265 ) are one of the reasons people tend to make proxies in the first place. The highly compressed files require that your system unpacks that compression on every frame for playback. And because the playback needs to be continuous - the caching and decompression needs to be calculated ahead of the playhead in order to play smoothly when the playhead hits the frame. So making long GOP for proxies on a desktop using the proxy app has only one benefit, and that's the building of the proxies in background. The alternative is the way we were making them before, which is to set up te codec in the project manager and then in the Media bins - right click and choose "Generate Proxy Media". then go have lunch or take a break and when you come back the proxies are made. Choosing a codec for use in editing : The files need to be of a less compressed type ( intermediate codecs - like ProRes or DnXHR etc.) In an editing program - we shouldn't be having to decompress each frame to playback the footage- this is kind of a waste of resources for your CPU and your GPU, to perform, before even starting to make edits. And then consider to do the decompression and even appear responsive that the system has to perform this operation many frames ahead so when the playhead gets there it's ready to play. Almost all of us have noticed that sometimes it seems like that it starts playing fine then all of a sudden it starts to stutter - this is because the playhead while playing - caught up to the cache and then you are witnessing it caching as it goes. So the cache location is another consideration to speed up everything. So until Blackmagic Design adds the appropriate codecs ( intermediate ) for use in the Proxy application, we should continue using the conventional proxy method for smooth playback. If your only concern is storage, than the "Delivery" files can work, but it is at the sacrifice of using precious system resources - just to play the video.

[@team2films]

Hello Jim! Thanks for watching and we appreciate you taking the time to write this message. A couple of considerations: 1. Firstly, your comment ignores the fact that ProRes 422 is included as a proxy format. This is an excellent intermediate high quality intra-frame codec renowned for its low CPU load during playback. 2. You might be confusing the purpose of Proxy files with Optimised files. Optimised files prioritise playback performance and quality. Proxy files prioritise file size... so gop codecs are appropriate. 2. Playback of gop compressed files isn't really an issue with modern computers, especially not 1080 files. Many computers have dedicated hardware for decoding h.264 and h.265 removing the load almost entirely from the CPU and GPU. 3. Yes, we agree with you that it would be great to see more codec and resolution options in the Proxy Generator - just like the options in Resolve itself. But it's still a great solution in the interim. 4. It's a great companion for the cloud store, but I'm not sure that it's designed exclusively with the cloud store in mind. We'd love to know what you think of the points above.

[@JimRobinson-colors]

​@@team2films 1 -The prores option is good but for right now it's only available on the Mac version. And I can assure you I know the difference between optimized and proxy files - And no that is incorrect analogy of what proxies are for - they have always been to make the edits smoother - any person that has had a stuttering playback and a non responsive playhead made proxies for stability. Storage is cheap, but fightin files just to edit is a waste of time. Optimized media is being deprecated in Resolve and is only there still for legacy projects. Up until version 16 - Optimized media could be deleted from any project - now it can not. In fact if you right click the headers in the media page - it's not even on the list anymore- so you can no longer even see if you have optimized media generated. 2-"Playback of gop compressed files isn't really an issue with modern computers" I run the largest facebook forum for Davinci Resolve ( Davinci Resolve User Group ) with 130k members and over a thousand posts per week. There are lots of people with modern computers but there are good number pf people that daily complain that they can't get smooth playback - and it is always long GOP. files - when they create intermediate proxies - they report that is the issue. 3: Yes - I will bet that they are adding them as we speak. It is a seperate app so licensing is still underway with third party codec rights ( i.e. Avid ). 4.We are in touch almost daily with people from BMD and the app was launched with the BMD cloud at the same time to be an part of the cloud process. It provides a simple use for making proxies to upload to dropbox ( and future cloud storage ) in conjunction with working online.

[@team2films]

@@JimRobinson-colors Those are some good points. Thanks Jim. And that’s so cool that you run the DaVinci Resolve User Group! We use it as well. Ah, I forgot that Windows doesn’t have ProRes. Yes it will be great to see something line DNx introduced. Thanks for all your work helping users and contributing towards Resolve. And thanks again for watching the video and conversing in the comments. You've made good points in your comments. We appreciate you watching the video and taking the time to share knowledge. Hope to see you in the comments on future videos.

[@SCVisualArt]

The most professional and easy to the point tutorials. Thank you for your time and work. Can I ask, when using depthmap or power windows (magic mask) is it better to work on proxy mode or original video. Do I have better masking for example when using original clip, or it does not mater? Thanks

[@team2films]

Heya, thanks so much. It's generally better to work with originals in the colour page as you can preview your final image. Setting up a qualifier or magic mask on a proxy image is difficult. I'd switch to originals. However as the effect is not cache and the render page is set by default to work from originals, there's no issue leaving proxy mode on. If performance is an issue, you just might want to switch back and forth as you work so you can preview your final image. Hope that helps, please feel free to ask more questions.

[@mishukx]

Great

[@team2films]

Thanks so much for watching.

[@PibePepon]

do you recommend do this for stock media storage? It will applies to all projects if i have my media in PowerBins? 🙏

[@team2films]

Hello! Proxies generated by the proxy generator will work in any project that the media is added to. Doesn’t need to be in a power bin. Thanks for watching.

[@Hazardteam]

This woman has a lovely voice

[@team2films]

Thanks

[@scizzryo]

GOAT mouse.

[@team2films]

Love the MX Master :)

[@Easy_Forex_Strategy]

Hello. Can you plz make a tutorial on how you made that list like thing in the beginning of the video.

[@team2films]

Yeah gladly! We love Fusion and will put out more Fusion tutorials.

[@UdegbunamChuks]

Thanks for this guide but isn't DNxHR LB format better than H264 for smoother editing and playback?

[@team2films]

Yes it is better for playback. Generally the less compression (higher file sizes) that a codec employs, the easier it is to playback. There’s a slight caveat, nowadays pretty much all computers have hardware h264 decoding, meaning the performance gap has almost entirely disappeared making it a moot point, especially with 1080 h264 proxies. Hope that helps.

[@UdegbunamChuks]

@@team2films thanks a lot ❤️. Will definitely try out h264 proxies in my next project 👌🏾😁

[@tryganderson9620]

very helpful. While tis not hard to switch between "prefer proxies" and "prefer camera originals" is there a setting that allows you to select only use camera ordinals on Color Page?

[@team2films]

Ah sorry, not as far as I know. That’s a great idea though. Unfortunately you just need to switch back and forth.

[@jfbmusic]

@@team2films If you like using automation utilities, like Keyboard Maestro for instance (Mac only), you could create a macro that switches to the Color page and at the same time selects the option to use the original media. When going to other pages, you can then switch back to proxies with the same technique. The nice thing is that this macro can use the familiar Shift-6 shortcut, but under the hood it also switches to using camera originals. :-) Big (new) fan of your channel, thanks for the thorough and informative tutorials, Natalie.

[@iy-239]

Where is the generator (I used studio 18.6) ? And do you start making them before one imports to timeline?

[@team2films]

The generator is a separate app. You can use it at any time.

[@RealNowTruth]

Helpful video. Here's my situation. Shot in ProResRaw but have Davinci Resolve. So converted to Cinema DNG Raw. I want my final output to be stellar 4K (3140x2160 or whatever that resolution is). But, in editing I tend to find rendering takes several passes and forever. Clips run fine once rendered but any change and it dogs out. So, please advise on a workflow, if you would. Wonder what my project and output and RAW setting should be, given all that. Thanks!

[@team2films]

Hello, thanks so much for watching. Sorry it’s really hard to give specific recommendations on workflow without seeing your exact problems.

[@RealNowTruth]

@@team2films Understood. I found if I turned off "HDR 10+", my speed problems mostly went away. With that on, nothing was happening, very slow rendering. I also downgraded to 1080p resolution but ONLY for editing. I intend to crank it back up to 4K for rendering. The colorspaces are so curious, because any seem to work but some are off (probably because of my initial white balance setting). And RAW wants to set to ARRI but I shot in ProResRaw converted to DNG, so I think it should be DNG. But again, either works! Going to Rec 709A seems to have correct colors but it's 709, a pretty limited space. I guess there are so many choices, but almost nowhere on the internet to see what is truly standard. I'd think "Sony FX30 + ProRes RAW + convert to DNG then dump into Davinci" has got to be a common scenario and have a single optimum setting for someone who wants to crank out a feature film. Do you have any idea what settings you might choose with that kind of setup?

[@orknobe]

Hi, I have generated the proxies and then extracted them in a separate SSD. Then I tried to work with those files, unplugging my source hard drive where the original file is. However, on Davinci resolve media page I can see the folder but can not see the extracted files. I browsed in finder. It is there. I can drag and drop them into the edit page and work with them. Kindly help. why this is happening? is it a different coding? where I need to have the original files along with the proxies?

[@team2films]

Try right-clicking on the clips in your Media Pool and selecting 'Relink Proxy Media'. If you move your proxy media, those clips will need re-linking before you can use them, but once re-linked they will continue to work normal. Hope that helps.

[@prateekbhanushali1956]

Hey, what if I need to change the output location of proxies?

[@team2films]

Extract the proxies after they have been created. Then you can move them wherever you want.

[@livestreamsuk6004]

Have to agree options are a little limited

[@team2films]

Yes they are. Would love to see UHD proxies added.

[@RewDowns]

will this work if my editor uses adobe premier?

[@team2films]

It’s possible to use the proxy files but you would have to manually link them in Premiere. It would probably be easier to use Premiere’s proxy functionality.

[@The_Idea_of_Dream_Vision]

Os the prores available on windows?

[@team2films]

Sorry, it's not.

[@zhlin6870]

It would be even better if you could simply put a LOG on it

[@team2films]

Thanks for watching. What do you mean?

[@iy-239]

Where is the generator (I use studio 18.6) ? And do you start making them before one imports them to timeline?

[@team2films]

You can do it before or after. It doesn’t matter. The proxy generator is a separate app. Look for it in your applications folder or start menu.