Make Proxies
Premiere Pro Quick Tip: How to Create Proxies – PremiumBeat
Is your computer having a hard time handling high-res video files? Let’s take a look at how you can work with proxies in Premiere Pro.
You may have heard about editors working with a “Proxy Workflow. ” This is something that editors do to downgrade their footage if they’re working with extremely heavy file sizes (such as RAW and 6K footage) so it’s easier to edit. If you have a computer — such as an older laptop or an aging desktop — proxies could save you loads of render time and get your project out to market faster. As confusing as a proxy workflow may sound, Premiere has recently made it extremely simple to use with their proxy ingesting settings through Media Encoder.
Let’s take a look.
What Are Proxies?
In short, proxies are low-resolution video files that can take the place of larger-resolution video files in your timeline. This is important because low-res files render faster in your video editing app — which is especially useful for RAW and uncompressed video. Editors use proxy workflows when working on large-scale feature projects, just so the computer they’re working on can handle the load.
In the past, creating proxies was kind of a nightmare. You had to take all of your footage and downgrade it through Media Encoder. Then, once imported and edited in Premiere, you had to go through this whole “offline” process to get the full-res files to replace the proxies. Now, thanks to some updates in recent Premiere redesigns, it’s just a few simple clicks, and you’ve got an entire proxy workflow ready to go.
1. Open Media Browser Within Premiere
Open Premiere, go to the bottom-right window, and select the Media Browser Panel. Go into your local drives, and select the folder containing your high-res videos. Right above the video previews will be a check-box labeled Ingest that you’re going to click.
2. Adjust the Settings and Importing
Click the Open Ingest Settings wrench tool to the right of the Ingest check-box. Before you start creating the proxies, go to the Scratch Disks tab and select where you want to export your proxies after they go through Media Encoder.
From the dropdown menu, select Create Proxies. Below that, you’ll have a long list of presets to choose from.
The preset totally depends on your workflow. If you’re working with Pro Res files, you may want to select Pro Res proxies to use as your chosen format. My go-to when working on my laptop is either the 1024×540 Apple Pro Res 422 Proxy or the 1024×540 H. 264.
After inputting your desired settings, it’s time to import. Select all of the clips you want to ingest, and right-click on them. Select Import from the dropdown menu.
Premiere will automatically send your clips to Media Encoder and create proxies that’ll automatically attach to the clips inside your project window.
3. Editing with the Proxies
To access the proxy files, simply go to your project window and drag your clip into your timeline. In the program window, select the plus button in the bottom right of the window. You’re going to drag a button called Toggle Proxies that looks like two windows with arrows concurrent with each other.
This button will allow you to access your proxy clips when selected, and will dramatically speed up your playback time, if you’re having trouble with rendering or frame skipping. If you want to see your original-sized clip, simply de-select the Toggle Proxy button. Now, just edit like you’d normally edit.
This post was originally published in October 2014. It has been updated to reflect changes in the software.
Looking for more on Adobe Premiere Pro? Check out these articles.
Create a Glitch Effect in Premiere Pro in 3 Steps
Video Editing 101: How to Add Titles and Subtitles in Premiere Pro
How to Zoom in Premiere Pro for Simple Transitions
The 7 Best Premiere Pro Free Transition Template Packs for Video Editors
How to Create Text Effects and Animations in Premiere Pro
Premiere Pro Quick Tip: How to Create Proxies – PremiumBeat
Is your computer having a hard time handling high-res video files? Let’s take a look at how you can work with proxies in Premiere Pro.
You may have heard about editors working with a “Proxy Workflow. ” This is something that editors do to downgrade their footage if they’re working with extremely heavy file sizes (such as RAW and 6K footage) so it’s easier to edit. If you have a computer — such as an older laptop or an aging desktop — proxies could save you loads of render time and get your project out to market faster. As confusing as a proxy workflow may sound, Premiere has recently made it extremely simple to use with their proxy ingesting settings through Media Encoder.
Let’s take a look.
What Are Proxies?
In short, proxies are low-resolution video files that can take the place of larger-resolution video files in your timeline. This is important because low-res files render faster in your video editing app — which is especially useful for RAW and uncompressed video. Editors use proxy workflows when working on large-scale feature projects, just so the computer they’re working on can handle the load.
In the past, creating proxies was kind of a nightmare. You had to take all of your footage and downgrade it through Media Encoder. Then, once imported and edited in Premiere, you had to go through this whole “offline” process to get the full-res files to replace the proxies. Now, thanks to some updates in recent Premiere redesigns, it’s just a few simple clicks, and you’ve got an entire proxy workflow ready to go.
1. Open Media Browser Within Premiere
Open Premiere, go to the bottom-right window, and select the Media Browser Panel. Go into your local drives, and select the folder containing your high-res videos. Right above the video previews will be a check-box labeled Ingest that you’re going to click.
2. Adjust the Settings and Importing
Click the Open Ingest Settings wrench tool to the right of the Ingest check-box. Before you start creating the proxies, go to the Scratch Disks tab and select where you want to export your proxies after they go through Media Encoder.
From the dropdown menu, select Create Proxies. Below that, you’ll have a long list of presets to choose from.
The preset totally depends on your workflow. If you’re working with Pro Res files, you may want to select Pro Res proxies to use as your chosen format. My go-to when working on my laptop is either the 1024×540 Apple Pro Res 422 Proxy or the 1024×540 H. 264.
After inputting your desired settings, it’s time to import. Select all of the clips you want to ingest, and right-click on them. Select Import from the dropdown menu.
Premiere will automatically send your clips to Media Encoder and create proxies that’ll automatically attach to the clips inside your project window.
3. Editing with the Proxies
To access the proxy files, simply go to your project window and drag your clip into your timeline. In the program window, select the plus button in the bottom right of the window. You’re going to drag a button called Toggle Proxies that looks like two windows with arrows concurrent with each other.
This button will allow you to access your proxy clips when selected, and will dramatically speed up your playback time, if you’re having trouble with rendering or frame skipping. If you want to see your original-sized clip, simply de-select the Toggle Proxy button. Now, just edit like you’d normally edit.
This post was originally published in October 2014. It has been updated to reflect changes in the software.
Looking for more on Adobe Premiere Pro? Check out these articles.
Create a Glitch Effect in Premiere Pro in 3 Steps
Video Editing 101: How to Add Titles and Subtitles in Premiere Pro
How to Zoom in Premiere Pro for Simple Transitions
The 7 Best Premiere Pro Free Transition Template Packs for Video Editors
How to Create Text Effects and Animations in Premiere Pro
Ingest and Proxy Workflow in Adobe Premiere Pro
These two options are used for manual attachment of Proxy or Full Res media. These options are useful if you create proxy media outside of the Create Proxies workflow (for example, media created via third party software, hardware, or a combination of both) or you want to reattach Proxy or Full Res media to Offline clips. The supported workflow allows attachment of Proxies with other frame sizes & PAR (pixel aspect ratio) combinations that are divisible by the Full Res clip (for example, 1920×1080 1. 0 PAR Full Res and 960×540 1. 0 PAR Proxy or 1440×1080 1. 33 PAR Proxy), but other parameters such as fielding, frame rate, duration, and audio channels must match. Mismatched audio channels results in warning dialogs and are not allowed, but other mismatched video parameters are not blocked and results in issues.
Media support: Attach Proxies and Full Resolution Media options are available for video-only, A/V, and Offline clips in the Project panel. Other file types (for example, audio-only, stills, image sequences) are not supported. Right-click (WIN) or Ctrl-click (Mac OS) your clips in the Project panel and choose Proxy > Attach Proxies or Reconnect Full Resolution Media. You can also assign shortcuts for each option in the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box.
Attach Proxies launches the Attach Proxies dialog box that is similar to the Link Media dialog box. You can choose between Media Browser or OS dialog boxes to attach your Proxy clip to your Full Res clips in the Project panel. Attach Proxies also has an Undo command.
Reconnect Full Resolution Media launches the Reconnect Full Resolution Media dialog box, which is identical to the Attach Proxies dialog, except that it attaches Full Res clips. When using this option, the selected clip moves into the Proxy position and the clip you select in the Reconnect Full Resolution dialog becomes the new Full Res clip. If a Proxy was already attached to your clip, then it keeps the Proxy clip and only the Full Res portion is replaced. Reconnect Full Resolution cannot be undone, but you can use Reconnect Full Resolution Media to attach another clip.
Note: Attach Proxies and Reconnect Full Res Media options is always be enabled for supported clips. If you decide you want to change the Full Res or Proxy of a clip, you can choose either option again and attach a different clip.
Enable/Toggle Proxies: To view Proxy or Full Res, simply use the Toggle Proxies button in the Source Monitor or Program Monitor. This button is available in the Button Editor (the plus sign (+) in the lower right of either Monitor), that you can add in the transport controls area. This setting is a global machine Preference, so it can also be set via Preferences > Media > Enable proxies. These buttons and Preference are linked, so setting it one place sets it in the others. The Toggle/Enable Proxies preference applies to all Projects created on that system. If you move the Project to another system, the preference is determined by what was set on that system, not the Project. When set, the button turns blue which indicates that you are viewing Proxy in the Source and Program Monitors. You can also set a shortcut for Toggle Proxies in Keyboard Shortcuts.
Note: Other panels do not automatically update thumbnails based upon the Toggle/Enable Proxies state. This can result in thumbnails not following the Toggle/Enable Proxies setting, but that does alleviate certain performance issues.
Proxy column: In the Project and Metadata Panels, there is an option in Metadata Display > Premiere Pro Project Metadata for Proxy column. Click the check box and a Proxy column is added to the panel in List View. The column is blank if no Proxy is attached, it lists as Attached if a Proxy is attached to a clip, and it lists as Offline for an attached Proxy that is missing or Offline.
Note: The Metadata panel and Project panel columns only reports information for the Full Res clip. There are two places where you can view information of the Proxy clip: Properties and Info Panel.
Properties: When you get Properties on a clip with Proxy attached, the top portion contains information for the Full Res clip and below that lists information for the Proxy clip.
Info Panel: When Proxy is attached to an A/V clip, the Info panel lists the basic video and audio information below the Full Res clip info. The info panel does not report Proxy information for video only clips, though.
Note: All other areas of Premiere Pro only reports Full Res information.
Offline and relink/reattach: The Link Media dialog has not been updated to restrict functionality for Proxy. In the Link Media dialog, make sure to only relink to same files and avoid unsupported formats, and so on (the Attach dialog box restricts your choices to only supported formats). Depending on if Full Res or Proxy are Offline, you have slightly different options to relink or reattach.
Full Res: (clips went Offline while Project was closed) In process of opening the Project, you automatically receive the Link Media dialog which you use for relinking to Full Res clips. If you prefer to use the Reconnect Full Resolution Media dialog or keep Full Res Offline, you may click Offline All or Cancel. Once the Project is opened, you have options for Link Media and Reconnect Full Resolution Media in the context menu. If the Full Res clip goes offline while you are working in a Project, you are presented with the Link Media dialog box.
Proxy: (clips went Offline while Project was closed) In process of opening the Project, you automatically receive the Link Media dialog which you can use to relink your Proxy clips. If you prefer to use the Attach Proxies dialog or keep Proxies Offline, click Offline All or Cancel. If you want the option to Link Media upon opening the Project again, use the Cancel button. This is important because if you choose Offline or Offline All and Save your Project, the Link Media dialog box does not appear upon closing and reopening the Project. Once the Project is opened, you have an option for Attach Proxies only in a context menu (Link Media is dimmed for clips with only Proxies Offline). If a Proxy clip goes Offline while you are working in a Project, you are Link Media dialog box does not open. If you close and then reopen the Project, the Link Media dialog box launches. Note that the Link Media dialog box only presents the File Name and File Path column information for Proxies.
Note: If Proxies and Full Res are both Offline, when you are presented with the automatic Link Media dialog in process of opening a Project and you want to only relink certain clips, you can Shift or Command/Control click the desired clips in the Link Media dialog.
Known items & tips
• To easily monitor the Offline/Online status of clips, set the Project panel to List View and enable the Proxy column, moving it next to the existing Status column (reports status of Full Res). See screenshot below for an example.
• When you render Previews, Export Media or use certain Analysis effects (Warp Stabilizer, Rolling Shutter Repair, Morph Cut), Premiere Pro always uses and displays Full Res, regardless of the Toggle/Enable Proxies setting. The only exception is when you have Offline Full Res, but Proxy is Online, then Proxy is used.
• Note that certain combinations of resolutions and codecs may be of good enough quality to make it difficult to discern any visual differences between Proxy and Full Res clips. One tip is to create a custom preset with a watermark or some other visual indication. When you create your Adobe Media Encoder preset, choose the Effects tab and select from options such as Lumetri Look/LUT, Image Overlay or Name Overlay. This has an added benefit of helping protect your media.
• If you encounter any issues with Toggle/Enable Proxies not working or tool tips do not work, quit Premiere Pro and delete Preferences. You can also delete Preferences by pressing Shift + Option/Alt keys while launching Premiere Pro.
• The recommended Proxy workflow includes appending “_Proxy” to the name of your Proxy clips (for example, ) and placing Proxy clips (on disk) in a folder named “Proxies” that is placed right next to the Full Res clips. This helps with reattachment of clips. The Create Proxies dialog’s default destination setting takes care of both of these conditions. If you happen to set a custom destination, then you should add the Proxies folder to the destination. By default, any Create Proxies action automatically appends “_Proxies” to the clip name.
• Full Res or Proxy clips with the same name (for example,,, ) or multiple versions of same name with appended number (for example,,, ) can cause some confusion with the Attach and Link Media dialogs when they are set to Relink others automatically. This can result in automatic attach or relink to the wrong clips. To avoid issues, you can deselect this option and attach or relink the affected clips one by one.
• The Proxy workflow is not supported for interchange options such as Project Manager, Render and Replace, AAF, Final Cut Pro XML, EDL, OMF, and so on. You lose Proxy attachment for these functions. After Effects and Audition interoperability functions are also not currently supported with the Proxy workflow.
• Modify > Audio Channels and Interpret Footage are also not supported for Proxy Workflows.
• Formats with Master Clip Effects Source Settings (for example, R3D, ARRI, DPX, and so on) are supported for Full Res clips. Master Clip Effects Source Settings formats are not supported to be used as Proxy clips, however. for example: R3D Full Res and H. 264 Proxy is supported. R3D Full Res and DPX Proxy is not supported.
Frequently Asked Questions about make proxies
Can you create proxies?
Before you start creating the proxies, go to the Scratch Disks tab and select where you want to export your proxies after they go through Media Encoder. From the dropdown menu, select Create Proxies. Below that, you’ll have a long list of presets to choose from. The preset totally depends on your workflow.Oct 8, 2019
