Quick Tip: Working with Proxies in Final Cut Pro

by Florian GintenreiterJanuary 13^th, 2021

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Proxies are smaller, low-resolution versions that serve as a substitute for the original camera media when your computer is not powerful enough to smoothly handle high-resolution material or demanding codecs. Since the Final Cut Pro 10.4.9 update, a few things have changed regarding proxies. I’ll show you a few new ways to work with proxies in Final Cut Pro in this Quick Tip video.

You have terabytes worth of footage, but don’t want to schlepp your RAID to the home office to edit? Got 8K Red RAW files and your 2016 MacBookPro plays them back like a slideshow? Do not despair! Watch this Quick Tip on how to work with proxies in Final Cut Pro.

Working with proxies still seems to be a bit of a can of worms for most semi-pro editors and/or one-man-band filmmakers. I hope the above video could clarify a few things, as using a decent proxy workflow can really simplify the whole process, especially in times of gigantic media files.

Proxies in Final Cut Pro

So how to deal with proxies, anyway? And how Final Cut Pro has changed the way to work with them? The list below shows a few key aspects concerning proxies:

• It’s super-easy now to make a copy of your FCP library that only contains Proxies. This library can then be easily edited on the go or shared with a collaborator across the internet. This was possible before but involved some “hacking”.
• In previous versions of Final Cut Pro (X) you could use either proxies OR optimised/original media. With the new Proxy Workflow you can mix both media representations. Very useful, when working with mixed codec, where some need transcoding and some not.
• FCP can now accept proxies rendered by external asset management applications like Kyno.
• Create a Proxy-only library to take on the road with a few clicks.

In summary, this new workflow has greatly simplified the somewhat tedious process of working with proxies. This way you can focus on the creative part without having to deal with technical aspects more than necessary, which is always welcome!

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