The Complete Guide to Premiere Pro Proxies and Proxy Workflows

If you didn’t already know, proxy video workflows in Adobe Premiere Pro can help you edit high-resolution footage extra effectively and easily. Proxies are normally low-resolution copies of the unique video which can be simpler to deal with to your laptop. They’re non permanent information that you just use in your edit earlier than reverting to the unique media for ending.

Their largest benefit is offering clean playback on a system that can’t play the full-resolution media, so your system can work as quick as you do.

I typically hear folks say “I don’t need proxies. My system handles my long-GOP 4k footage with ease”. I are inclined to disagree. Even with a beefy system, you’ll drop frames on compressed high-res footage whereas scrubbing and trimming within the timeline.

For instance, my Dell Precision 7680 system performs nearly all the things I throw at it, however Premiere Pro struggles with 12-bit 8K cRAW footage from a Canon EOS R5 on that system. So I make proxies. On the identical machine, 4k h.265 performs properly, however scrubbing and trimming isn’t completely clean. Dropping frames when looking for the precise proper body means I spend extra time discovering it. So, once more, I make proxies. It’s simply quicker.

“I’ve seen cynics whose jaws drop when they try using proxies for the first time.”

I’ve seen cynics whose jaws drop once they strive utilizing proxies for the primary time. They thought that they had clean scrubbing till they really had it—and felt the distinction. Yes, it’s extra a sense than one thing you possibly can measure. The timeline response is instant and silky clean, and discovering that actual body to chop on is a breeze.

Apart from the time it takes to make proxies (you possibly can proceed modifying whereas they’re being made) and the additional storage wanted for these further information, there are not any actual downsides to utilizing them. In Premiere Pro, you possibly can change between the proxy and the unique video file at any time in the course of the modifying course of with only one click on.

Premiere Pro could make the proxies for you utilizing its built-in presets, or you possibly can create your individual Proxy presets you probably have particular wants.

The conventional proxy workflow in movie modifying is to edit with proxies solely—you don’t contact the digicam originals till conform/grading/on-line. This workflow is used continuously with function movie and narrative TV, significantly the place turnovers are going to be a part of the workflow, and the proxies are sometimes made exterior of Premiere Pro.

Premiere Pro’s built-in proxy workflow is extra generally utilized in shorter-form tasks and the place turnovers aren’t wanted. Working with proxies is normally a seamless expertise. However, some customers could encounter issues—and we’ll take a look at some widespread conditions the place hiccups can happen.

What we gained’t be protecting

Not coated on this article: “I want to make full-res, high-quality proxies that I use for final output.” This isn’t a proxy workflow. It’s a transcode workflow. While it’s potential to make the digicam originals offline on this workflow, it might create some challenges throughout turnovers, or with Dynamic Linking to After Effects. It’s additionally very depending on pulling metadata from the originals.

A transcode workflow might be nice, however that’s not what this text is about.

Premiere Pro has a number of methods of letting you realize when you’re utilizing proxies, and whether or not they’re connected or offline. The useful Enable Proxies button within the Program Monitor and the Source Monitor helps you to toggle between proxies and unique video information with only one click on.

If this button is lacking, add it utilizing the Button Editor (the “+” signal within the decrease proper nook of the screens). Just drag it to the place you need it. Note that Show Transport Controls have to be enabled within the Program Monitor Settings menu (the wrench icon within the decrease proper of the panel) to indicate the buttons.

If, like me, you like to cover Transport Controls, there’s no indication within the Program Monitor aside from a proxy watermark—assuming you’ve chosen so as to add one. This is completely high quality, as you can too get the identical information from the timeline proxy badges.

In the Timeline, Premiere Pro helps you to see the standing of the proxies, supplied Show Proxy Badges is enabled within the Timeline Display Settings menu (the wrench icon within the prime left nook of the timeline panel).

• Blue proxy badge means proxies are enabled, and the proxy file is connected
• Red proxy badge means there was once a proxy file, but it surely’s not discovered
• Grey proxy badge means proxies are disabled
• No proxy badge means there isn’t any proxy for the file, or it’s indifferent

The proxies icon can also be proven on clips within the Project panel and bins in Icon View and Freeform View, however not in List View, even with thumbnails enabled.

The Project panel and the bins can even provide you with some information on proxies for particular person clips. Right-click on an current column header and select Metadata Display. Search for proxy so as to add the columns you need and transfer them to the left facet of the panel. It’s a good suggestion to save lots of this as a brand new View Preset (within the panel menu) so it’s simple to get it again.

The Enable Proxies possibility can also be accessible in Preferences: Preferences->Media->Enable Proxies.

The state of the Enable Proxies button is linked between the Program Monitor, the Source Monitor, and the Preferences, so wherever you allow or disable it, it can accomplish that globally.

My favourite technique to toggle proxies is with a keyboard shortcut, as a result of it can work with any panel lively. I exploit the F12 key, because it’s simply discovered on my keyboard. You can even assign keyboard shortcuts to the Create, Attach and Detach Proxies instructions.

When you present properties for a clip with a proxy connected, you’ll see information concerning the unique clip on the prime, and for the proxy clip under.

If you select so as to add a watermark when creating proxies, it’ll be burnt into the proxy video file. The Add Watermark checkbox is discovered within the Create Proxies dialog. The default proxy watermark seems identical to the proxy icon in all different locations in Premiere Pro.

Changing the default proxy watermark

The precise file that’s used because the proxy watermark is situated in Program FilesAdobeAdobe Premiere Pro 2023PNG and is just named ProxyWatermark.png. It’s 150x150px in measurement. You might simply swap that out with one other picture of your selection by naming the brand new picture the identical and changing it. (Note that you just’ll have to exchange it each time you replace Premiere Pro.) In this screenshot I’ve used a magenta watermark made in Photoshop.

Watermarks and customized proxy presets

The built-in watermark will work with customized presets, so you possibly can simply verify the Add Watermark field and the built-in watermark will likely be added. You can even add an Image Overlay impact (or some other impact within the Export mode) to the preset, which is kind of what’s being finished behind the scenes with the built-in watermark.

If you’ve got added an Image Overlay within the customized preset and verify the Add Watermark field, the 2 will cancel one another out and there will likely be no watermark. So if you would like a customized watermark, go away the Add Watermark field unchecked.

The path to the picture overlay is an absolute path, which suggests when you transfer the preset to a different laptop, the trail is probably not the identical and the preset will fail to seek out the watermark. In this case you’ll should both modify the trail within the .epr file or recreate the preset.

More on making bespoke proxy presets later.

Say you’ve been working with proxies for some time, and you then get the originals. How do you make the markers from the proxies transfer over to the unique footage?

If you utilize “Reconnect Full Resolution Media” to re-attach the unique footage, at the least inside Premiere, the markers ought to proceed to indicate up on the clips that now have each originals and proxies connected. However, these markers don’t get written to the precise supply information you probably have Write Clip Markers to XMP enabled. The tedious technique to repair it will be this:

• Be certain Write Clip Markers to XMP is enabled
• Be certain your unique media is linked
• For every clip:
  • • Open the clip within the supply monitor
    • Create a brand new clip marker
    • Delete that clip marker

That ought to write all of the markers on that clip to the unique clip’s XMP. Unfortunately, this have to be finished clip by clip. It needs to be simple to automate this with scripting, although.

Proxies aren’t used when rendering previews within the timeline. (And please don’t confuse Rendering with Exporting.)

Not many customers are conscious of this, however if you render results, Premiere Pro makes use of the originals if they’re accessible—even when proxies are connected and Enable Proxies is ready. That’s why it might take some time.

This additionally means you should utilize the previews if you export when you use an honest preview codec, so the export is way quicker—particularly when you export to the identical codec as your previews. If the unique clip is offline however the proxy is on-line, then the proxy will likely be used.

Also, when you apply Warp Stabilizer or some other evaluation results—like Rolling Shutter Repair or Morph Cut—to the clip it switches again to the unique file even you probably have a proxy connected. You could make the unique file offline in order that it’s compelled to make use of the proxy.

If your unique information have proxies connected, and you utilize Render and Replace on a clip, the clip within the timeline is changed, as anticipated, and a brand new video file is made within the folder you selected when initializing Render and Replace, additionally as anticipated.

But instantly after the brand new file has completed rendering, the present proxy file for the unique can also be copied over to the Render and Replace vacation spot folder, and that’s not effectively documented wherever—and a little bit of a shock. The proxy file is simply copied, not connected.

This is almost certainly a precaution in case the originals are later faraway from the challenge. You can in fact manually connect the proxy copy do you have to need to.

When you export your masterpiece, Premiere Pro at all times makes use of the unique, even you probably have enabled proxies. The solely exception for that is when the unique media is offline however the proxy is on-line. In this case, a warning will get displayed that the export makes use of proxies.

You can override this and select Use Proxies underneath General in Export mode.

If you choose Use Previews along with Use Proxies, the rendered previews will likely be used if a bit of the timeline has each a rendered preview and proxy video, making the export quicker.

A number of codecs aren’t supported in Premiere Pro proxy workflows. See Adobe online help for a list of supported formats.

The body price of the unique clip and the proxy clip should match, in addition to fielding, period, and audio channels.

Premiere Pro will permit proxies with different body sizes and mixtures if they’re divisible by the unique clip measurement. For instance—1920 x 1080 1.0 unique can have 960 x 540 1.0 PAR proxy or 1440 x 1080 1.33 PAR proxy.

Other parameters akin to fields, body price, period, and audio channels should match.

Note that mismatched audio channels will throw a warning dialog, so that you’ll know if one thing’s flawed there. But different mismatched video parameters, together with body measurement that’s not divisible by the unique clip measurement, aren’t blocked and can lead to points later.

Audio channels should match

In most circumstances, it is possible for you to to make use of Modify->Audio Channels possibility if the proxies are made in Premiere Pro, although.

If you import video information with, say, eight channels of audio after which attempt to create H.264 proxies, you’ll get a warning, and no proxies will likely be made. This is to be anticipated, as H.264 in an MP4 wrapper in Adobe Media Encoder doesn’t help multichannel audio.

The commonest drawback when attaching or relinking proxy information is that audio channels don’t match the unique file. In these circumstances, you gained’t be capable to connect or relink the proxy file.

If you create ProRes proxies, all the things will work as anticipated supplied you haven’t modified the audio channels. If you’ve modified the audio channels to solely two channels, the proxy creation will work, however the proxies is not going to be robotically connected.

You can nonetheless manually connect them, nonetheless, so there’s no want for a brand new proxy era course of.

The Modify->Audio Channels possibility and Interpret Footage choices aren’t absolutely supported for proxy workflows, so when you’ve interpreted the audio channels of the supply clip in Premiere earlier than creating the proxy, that will result in issues.

For the identical purpose, go away the settings for Default Audio Tracks in Preferences->Timeline on the default (Use File) if you plan on making proxies.

When there’s an audio channel mismatch, Premiere Pro reveals an “Attach Failure” dialog. If you dismiss this dialog, it takes you again to the Attach dialog to decide on a clip with matching audio channels. If you don’t have one, you’ll be caught in a loop.

Variable or non-standard body price could cause issues

Smartphones will typically create VFR (variable body price) footage. Even if you lock the body price, some frames could have a unique period. Screen recordings can even create VFR video, and a few cameras can report non-standard body charges, like 29.97008985 as an alternative of the NTSC commonplace 29.97002997… The distinction is very small, however sufficient to be non-standard.

In the extensively used smartphone digicam app Filmic Pro, I can set a continuing body price. A fast look within the bin when the HEVC footage is imported in Premiere Pro reveals it’s 25 fps, so all the things seems good, proper? Well, after I right-click a clip and select Properties, it says Variable Frame Rate Detected. That’s a nasty signal if I’m planning on making proxies.

When I right-click a clip and select Modify->Interpret Footage->Frame Rate it reveals extra decimals. For this clip, it’s 25.0041 fps, so not precisely 25. Another clip is 25.0042 fps. MediaInfo says that the minimal body price within the clip is 24.972 fps, whereas the utmost body price is 25.028 fps.

So it’s clearly VFR footage, however why is that this an issue? Premiere Pro can play VFR footage. So so long as you’re not making proxies, all the things ought to simply work, proper?

But neither Premiere Pro nor Adobe Media Encoder can create FastTime VFR footage or non-standard body charges, so if you make a FastTime proxy from a VFR or non-standard clip, the proxy is created at a normal, fixed body price, which ends up in a body price mismatch between the supply media and the proxy. This can impression proxy playback as Premiere Pro retains making an attempt to fetch proxy frames that don’t exist.

So, FastTime proxies created from supply materials that both has a variable body price (VFR) or a non-standard body price could cause very sluggish playback and scrubbing. Sometimes so much worse than the originals, which isn’t precisely what you’d count on from proxies.

Luckily, there are some workarounds for this till the code warriors at Adobe discover a resolution.

• Transcode the file to ProRes 422, so it has a continuing body price.
• Interpret the footage to match the body price of the proxy.
• Use H.264 as an alternative of FastTime for proxies.

When transcoding or decoding lengthy clips, look out for audio sync issues near the tip of the clips. For shorter clips, this is not going to be an issue. H.264 proxies shouldn’t want any interpretation, as the problem solely impacts FastTime proxies. But in case your footage has a number of audio tracks, H.264 is a no-go, so we in all probability need to use FastTime ProRes proxies.

Setting the footage body price (Modify->Interpret Footage) to the identical body price because the proxies will repair the problem. It might be finished each earlier than and after the proxy has been created and connected, and you are able to do it to a number of chosen clips in a single go. A great way to seek out all of the clips in query, from completely different bins, is to make use of a Search Bin.

If you’re solely utilizing a couple of seconds from an extended interview, you in all probability don’t need to create a proxy for the entire recording. You can use Render and Replace to create a continuing body price ProRes 422 (HQ) file for simply the quick clip within the timeline. If your system nonetheless struggles with playback, discover the brand new clip within the bin and make a proxy for that quick clip.

No proxies for information with embedded captions

Another identified gotcha that’s not talked about by Adobe above: you possibly can’t connect proxies to media with embedded captions. Proxy creation can also be disabled for footage with embedded captions.

Transforms and Time Remapping are okay

Some customers appear to suppose that Transforms can’t be used when the proxy information have a unique body measurement. This just isn’t the case. You can use Transforms as a lot as you want, identical to regular. This means you possibly can nonetheless “punch in” in your 4k footage in an HD timeline with out disabling proxies.

Speed ramps (Time Remapping) additionally works very effectively with proxy workflows, regardless of what some folks could say.

Interpret Footage is now not a no-go

Some enhancements have been made in model 22.6 of Premiere Pro, so a lot of the warnings towards this are outdated. Specifically, the Modify->Interpret Footage->Frame Rate possibility is now supported for proxy workflows within Premiere Pro. But when you’re planning to round-trip to different functions, don’t use Interpret Footage for gradual movement. Use Speed/Duration and Time Remapping as an alternative.

When you create a proxy from a supply clip with an interpreted body price, the proxy file will likely be created with that interpreted body price and all the things will work inside Premiere. So, for instance, you import a 120fps clip in Premiere, interpret it to 24fps, and create a proxy.

The proxy will likely be created at 24fps, however toggling between full-res and proxy in Premiere ought to work seamlessly, other than the audio playback of the proxy, which will likely be out of sync. If you’re planning to make use of the audio, don’t use the Interpret Footage technique to vary the velocity.

Just a little hack

There is another workaround, but it surely’s in all probability exploiting a bug in Premiere, so there’s no assure that it’ll work in future variations. It principally tips Premiere into decoding the body price of the proxy earlier than the unique supply clip is connected.

This have to be the very very first thing you do after importing a clip. If you’ve already edited with the clip, it gained’t work. Let’s say you’ve got a 120 fps clip you need to interpret to 24 fps.

• Import the 120 fps clip,
• Create a proxy, thus making a 120 fps proxy file,
• Delete the clip (now a supply clip paired with a proxy) from the challenge,
• Import the proxy file instantly into the challenge,
• Interpret that clip to 24 fps,
• Right click on the clip and go to Proxy->Reconnect Full Resolution Media,
• Select your full-res clip from the dialog that seems.

The commonplace habits if you use Reconnect Full Resolution Media is that the earlier clip is now connected as a proxy as an alternative—if no proxy is connected. Consequently, the tactic described right here makes the unique clip right into a proxy and attaches the brand new full-resolution clip.

Both have the body price interpretation utilized to them, so each will play again on the interpreted body price.

Unfortunately, the Reconnect Full Resolution Media step have to be finished one clip at a time, so it’s not tremendous sensible. That mentioned, you probably have a bit little bit of scripting expertise you must be capable to automate this workflow, making it a one-click process.

LUTs and shade areas are additionally now taken care of correctly in proxies. If you add a LUT or override the colour area, the proxy will likely be interpreted with the LUT or shade area conversion versus the LUT being baked into the proxy file, which was finished in earlier variations.

Unsupported options

There are nonetheless a couple of unsupported options. For instance, don’t use proxies for clips with modified timecodes. Here’s a bit extra information from Premiere Pro on-line assist.

“The proxy workflow just isn’t supported for interchange choices akin to Project Manager, Render and Replace, AAF, Final Cut Pro XML, EDL, OMF, and so forth. You lose proxy attachment for these features. After Effects and Audition interoperability features are additionally not at present supported with the proxy workflow.

Modify->Audio Channels and Modify->Timecode are additionally not supported for proxy workflow, though we’ve already seen that there are workarounds for utilizing Modify->Audio Channels.

Formats with Source Clip Effects Source Settings (for instance, R3D, ARRI, DPX, and so forth) are supported for Full Res clips. Source Clip Effects Source Settings codecs aren’t supported for use as proxy clips, nonetheless. for instance: R3D Full Res and H.264 proxy is supported. R3D Full Res and DPX proxy just isn’t supported.”

If you do need proxy help for a few of these unsupported options, head over to the Feature Request page.

If you’re working in a Production, it’s finest to create your proxies earlier than you begin modifying. You can use the Create Proxy technique as typical, which is what I like to recommend anyway.

Ingest settings, nonetheless, are disabled within the Production Settings dialog. To use Ingest Settings, shut the Production and create a standalone challenge that’s saved exterior of the Production folder. Set your required Ingest Settings and import the media. After the Ingest is completed, save your challenge and shut it. Open the Production and use the Add Project command to deliver the Ingest challenge into your Production.

Proxies is probably not accessible in a Sequences challenge

If you add footage to a Media challenge in a Production, then add the footage to a sequence in a Sequences challenge, and you then create proxies for the footage, the Sequences challenge is not going to present the proxies. There are two workarounds, although. Either create your proxies earlier than you begin modifying, or you possibly can offline the unique media then relink it and the proxies will present up.

If all of the group members will use proxies, have one particular person make them and sync them to Creative Cloud or another shared storage, and share that folder out to the group. This approach, just one particular person has to make the proxies. Also think about using Frame.io to share proxies.

If you progress the Project to a different system, the Enable Proxies desire will get decided by what was set on that system, and never within the Project.

You can create proxies at any time limit. The best technique to make proxies– additionally the most secure one–is to let Premiere Pro make them semi-automatically. Just select the clips you need to make proxies for, then inform Premiere Pro what preset you need to use, and the job is shipped to Adobe Media Encoder. This will do the encoding within the background when you proceed to edit in Premiere Pro.

Just be sure to haven’t made any Modify->Audio Channels adjustments earlier than making your proxies otherwise you’ll should manually connect them.

Here’s a extra detailed walkthrough:

Select your supply clips in a bin, then right-click and select Proxy->Create Proxies (or use your customized keyboard shortcut). Choose FastTime, after which both the ProRes Low Resolution Proxy or the ProRes Medium Resolution Proxy preset. For widescreen footage, Low Resolution is 1024×540 px, Medium Resolution is 1280×720 px, and High Resolution is 1536×790 px.

If you’re questioning “Why ProRes, and not CineForm?” it’s as a result of CineForm just isn’t solely resolution-agnostic. It wants the width and top to be divisible by 16, which may trigger issues with some body sizes. ProRes is extra forgiving. Plus, at present there’s no help for CineForm on Apple silicon techniques in Premiere Pro, so ProRes is your most secure wager.

The proxies will robotically match the supply media audio channels, body price and side ratio.

Tip: use search bins to kind out sure file-formats to make proxies for.

Tick Add Watermark if you would like a burnt-in proxy icon overlay in your proxy information. I additionally like to save lots of the proxies to a devoted proxies folder, making it simple to delete them, copy them, or transfer them. Even although they’re proxies, saving them to a quick drive is beneficial, ideally SSD or NVMe drives on a quick connection—or inside.

What about H.264. Nah. For virtually all functions, use ProRes proxies. Only use H.264 proxies if you’re happening a visit to distant areas together with your laptop computer, and don’t have the storage capability wanted for ProRes proxies, or if somebody in your group is working remotely, and might’t obtain the originals.

H.264 is extra demanding on the system, and Premiere Pro doesn’t at present help multi channel H.264. So for digicam codecs with extra audio channels, it could additionally trigger some audio bother—and relinking issues, ought to you might want to reconnect the information. This is why Premiere Pro throws a warning and cancels the proxy job when you do this.

“It’s best to only make proxies for the clips that need it.”

I don’t advocate making proxies robotically at ingest—particularly when you’ve made your individual customized proxy presets. Most tasks could have supply materials from completely different cameras, utilizing completely different codecs, body sizes, body charges, and so forth.—and a few clips could also be shot for gradual movement.These want completely different therapy, so it’s finest to solely make proxies for the clips that want it, and to decide on the very best therapy of all sources.

When you’re creating proxies, the progress in Adobe Media Encoder is displayed within the Progress panel. Choose Window->Progress… to see it, or click on the Open Progress Dashboard button within the higher proper nook of Premiere Pro. You can undock the panel. Just right-click the icon and select Undock or click on Window->Progress Panel. The icon within the prime bar adjustments when a progress is operating, so search for a button that appears like considered one of these.

Every proxy job will present a standing or a development circle, or an error message if the job failed for some purpose.

When creating proxies, you possibly can cancel the complete operation whereas the “Creating Proxy Jobs” dialog is open. After that, you’ll have to modify over to Adobe Media Encoder to cease or pause the queue.

While creating proxies in Adobe Media Encoder, you possibly can pause the queue with out destroying the connection to Premiere Pro. When you restart the queue, proxies will robotically be connected because the queue progresses.

If you cease the queue in Adobe Media Encoder, a dialog will pop up, asking you if you wish to end the present file. If you say sure, the file will likely be completed, and connected. If you say no, any connection between the proxy and the unique file is misplaced, and no proxy attachment is completed for that file.

If you restart the queue, the remaining proxy jobs will likely be finished, and connected—however the file that you just selected to not end will not have a proxy. Not even when you duplicate the job within the queue and restart the queue, which solely creates an orphaned file. You’ll have to start out the Create Proxy routine once more for that file or connect the proxy manually.

You don’t should hold Premiere Pro operating whereas proxy jobs are processed in Adobe Media Encoder. You can stop Premiere Pro, and proxies created whereas Premiere Pro was not operating are robotically connected if you open the challenge once more.

Create Proxies clearly doesn’t work with offline clips. Attached proxies aren’t supported for interchange choices akin to Project Manager, Render and Replace, AAF, Final Cut Pro XML, EDL, and OMF. Proxies can get misplaced with these export options, and solely the unique information will likely be used for such exports.

Tip: The proxy file takes its identify from the clip identify in Premiere Pro, not from the unique file identify. If you’ve got renamed the clip in Premiere Pro, the proxy file will take its identify from the brand new clip identify, adopted by _proxy. If you need the proxy information to take their identify from the originals, you must make proxies earlier than you begin renaming clips.

Roxy Proxy panel

If you need a better technique to create and handle proxies, take a look at Roxy Proxy—a free macOS only panel extension from MoovIT GmbH. It might help you automate H.264 your proxy creation in addition to getting across the audio channel limitation talked about earlier, because it makes use of a MOV wrapper.

Now that now we have proxy automation constructed into Premiere Pro, making customized proxy presets just isn’t as essential because it was once—but it surely’s nonetheless helpful for vertical video and different body sizes. Different sources would possibly want completely different proxies. Proxies are depending on decision, pixel side ratio, and variety of audio channels.

If you select to create your individual proxy presets it’s essential to actually, actually know what you’re doing. It includes a couple of steps:

1. Make a brand new Export preset in Media Encoder.
2. Create a brand new Ingest preset in Media Encoder based mostly on that Export preset.
3. Save the Ingest preset as a file.
4. Add that Ingest preset to the drop-down menu within the Create Proxies dialog in Premiere Pro.

Again, be sure to haven’t made any Modify->Audio Channels adjustments earlier than making proxies.

Step 1. Create an export preset

Select one of many supply clips in a bin, right-click on it, and select Export Media. Yes, I do know this isn’t what the official information says, however this has the benefit of instantly supplying you with the proper body measurement and side ratio. This opens Export mode the place you create a brand new Export preset.

Choose FastTime underneath Format, ProRes Proxy underneath Video Codec (within the Video part), after which un-tick the Match Source verify field for Frame Size, select Custom within the drop-down menu, and your enter new numbers.

Note: When making proxy presets, you possibly can both match the body measurement or the body price. If each are set to Match Source, Premiere Pro gained’t acknowledge that preset as a proxy preset. Instead, it is going to be categorized as a Transcode preset. If both the body measurement or the body price just isn’t set to Match Source, then the preset is categorized as a proxy preset.

I like to stay to identified numbers for video folks, like 720, 540, 1080, and so forth. for both width or top—and if the lock icon is lively, Premiere Pro calculates the opposite quantity for you. You need the side ratio of the proxies to match the originals to keep away from black bars. When unsure, at all times divide the unique measurement by an entire quantity (integer) to keep away from any side ratio points.

If you’re unsure what measurement to create, listed here are the sizes of the built-in presets for comparability:

• Low Resolution: 1024×540
• Medium Resolution: 1280×720
• High Resolution: 1536×790

Under Scaling, underneath the preview picture, choose Stretch to Fill. This is to ensure it matches all side ratios, so that you don’t get black bars in your proxies.

If you need to add a customized watermark—and I like to recommend that you just do, as a result of the built-in one tends to get stretched to bizarre sizes for vertical video footage—tick Image Overlay underneath Effects, select the watermark picture, and place it the place you need it. Note that simply the file path to the picture is saved within the preset, not the picture itself. If you progress or delete the picture file, the preset will fail so as to add the watermark.

When you’re glad together with your selections, click on on the ellipsis/meatball (…) menu subsequent to the Preset Name (which now says “Custom”) and provides it a descriptive identify, like Export_Proxy_ProRes_720. You can now cancel the export.

Step 2. Create an ingest preset

Now let’s use the brand new export preset to create an ingest preset. Locate the Preset Browser panel in Adobe Media Encoder. Click the plus signal (+) and choose Create Ingest Preset, or choose Preset->Create Ingest Preset. This opens the Ingest Preset Settings dialog.

Under Preset Name, identify your preset Ingest_Proxy_ProRes_720 or one thing related. Choose Transcode information to Destination underneath Transfer and select your default proxies folder. For format select FastTime, and underneath Preset, select the brand new one we made. It needs to be on the prime of the listing.

Now click on OK to save lots of the Ingest Preset.

Like the one we created right here, the built-in presets are set to Stretch to Fill, to allow them to deal with completely different side ratios. The video could look appropriate when connected to footage in Premiere, however distorted if you’re trying on the proxy file by itself.

Note from Premiere Pro on-line assist: If Copy is enabled within the ingest preset, the preset turns into accessible in Premiere Pro’s Ingest Settings dialog underneath the Copy and Copy and Create Proxies choices. It just isn’t accessible within the Transcode and Create Proxies choices. If Transcode information to Destination is enabled within the ingest preset, the preset turns into accessible in Premiere Pro’s Ingest Settings dialog field underneath the Transcode and Create Proxies choices, it’s not accessible within the Copy and Copy and Create Proxies choices.

For the nerds: If you forgot to decide on Stretch to Fill if you made the preset, you possibly can change it by modifying the .eps file. Just change CropType in your .epr file to worth 5.

Delete the outdated preset within the Preset Browser after which import the edited preset.

Step 3. Save the ingest preset to disk

Now save the preset from Adobe Media Encoder to disk as an .epr file. To do that, proper click on the brand new preset within the Adobe Media Encoder Preset Browser, and choose Export Preset—or choose the preset and click on the Export Presets button within the prime left nook of the Preset Browser. Select a location on disk for the .epr file.

Step 4. Add your ingest preset to the Create Proxies dialog

Now we’ll add the brand new preset to the Create Proxies dialog in Premiere Pro. Select the supply information in a bin, right-click and select Create Proxies. Click on Add Ingest Preset, and browse to the newly saved .epr file. It will likely be accessible within the drop-down menu any longer.

(If you selected so as to add a customized watermark, ensure that to un-tick Add Watermark.)

Ingest presets are saved as .epr information in Documents->Adobe->Premiere Pro->[version]Profile-[profile name]SettingsIngest Presets. This is the place you possibly can delete undesirable customized presets.

Pay shut consideration to the Audio Channels

With its built-in proxy creation workflow, Premiere will robotically match the channelization and pattern price of the supply file (the bit depth doesn’t matter). It will ignore any channelization and pattern price setting within the preset if the chosen proxy format helps the settings.

For FastTime proxies, that is virtually by no means a problem, as a result of FastTime helps arbitrary audio channelization. For H.264, it’s a unique story. H.264 and the AAC exporter solely help a restricted variety of channels for export; mono, stereo, 5.1, and 4-channel (for ambisonic audio).

Premiere Pro wants the variety of audio channels to match when attaching proxies. There’s no approach round it. For multichannel audio, it’s higher to create a FastTime ingest preset utilizing ProRes Proxy. Multichannel audio ought to simply work when you use that type of preset and go away the audio values to their defaults.

Making proxies just for clips within the timeline

You could need to create proxies just for the clips you’ve got utilized in your timeline. Here’s a recipe from Matt Christensen on the Premiere Pro group on utilizing a Search Bin to perform this.

1. Pick a metadata column that Search Bin helps that you just aren’t utilizing. For instance, Log Note, Comment, Description, Client, and so forth.
2. Select all of the clips in your sequence.
3. Open the Metadata panel and underneath the Clip part, discover the metadata column you recognized in Step 1
4. Add some distinctive textual content to the sphere, it might simply be “Proxy”
5. In your Project panel, click on the folder icon with a magnifying glass in it to create a Search Bin. Change the primary drop down menu to no matter metadata column you selected in Step 1, and within the Find field, put in your distinctive textual content from Step 4. Create the Search Bin.
6. In your Project, open the brand new Search Bin and choose all of the clips, proper click on, then select Proxies->Create Proxies

Adobe Help has some great info on making custom proxy presets here.

They even have a well-made video on YouTube that explains the method.

It’s widespread for bigger productions to create proxies exterior of Premiere Pro. When you need to relink or connect your proxy or full-resolution clips, it’s beneficial that the proxy media is called with the suffix _Proxy. Let your DIT know this.

Having the very same filename for the unique clips and the proxy information just isn’t beneficial, because the filenames can get related to incorrect clips if there are clips sharing the identical identify on the system. Also, having the proxies and originals in the identical listing can lead to incorrect auto affiliation.

Full-res or proxy clips with the identical identify (like, C0001.mxf, C0001.mxf, C0001.mxf) or a number of variations of identical identify with appended quantity (like, CoolClip_Proxy.mov, CoolClip_1_Proxy.mov, CoolClip_2_Proxy.mov) could cause some confusion with the Attach and Link Media dialogs when they’re set to Relink Others Automatically. This can lead to attaching the flawed clips. To keep away from points, you possibly can deselect this selection and connect clips one after the other.

Audio channels should match

If your footage has 4 audio channels, and the proxies have been made with simply two, you’re out of luck. You want to coach your DIT. I extremely advocate that you just do a check with simply two or three information, check the workflow, and see if it really works. Then make the proxies for the true challenge.

Don’t begin with solely the proxies

There’s no simple technique to relink to your unique footage when you begin by importing solely the proxies. Premiere Pro’s proxy workflow was not designed for this. You could should manually overcut each clip within the timeline.

Instead, begin with the unique media imported, both manually or by way of an ALE file. You can connect proxies however hold the originals offline and edit utilizing solely the proxies within the conventional method.

Attach proxies

You can connect current proxy information to unique video clips within the Project Panel even when the originals are offline. Right-click your clips within the Project panel or Bin and select Proxy->Attach Proxies.

This launches the Attach Proxies dialog field. You can select between Media Browser or OS dialog to connect your proxy clips. You can even use Attach Proxies if you wish to reattach proxy information to Offline clips.

Premiere Pro permits attachment of proxies with solely a choose vary of body sizes and pixel side ratios. As talked about earlier, different parameters akin to fields, body price, period, and audio channels should additionally match.

Attaching clips with mismatched audio channels will throw a warning and be unimaginable, however different mismatched video parameters is not going to do that and will end in points later. See the part “Limitations in Premiere Pro Proxy Workflows” for extra particulars.

You can assign a keyboard shortcut for Attach Proxies within the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog to hurry up the method.

If you open a challenge, and the proxy information went offline since final time the challenge was saved, you robotically get the Link Media dialog the place you possibly can relink your proxies. If you click on Cancel, you’ll have to make use of the Attach Proxies dialog to hyperlink the proxies.

If you select Offline or Offline All after which save the challenge, the Link Media dialog is not going to seem the subsequent time you open the Project.

Reconnect unique media

If you solely have proxy clips on-line, use Reconnect Full Resolution Media to connect the unique clips to your proxy clips. Choosing Reconnect Full Resolution Media in the identical right-click menu as for Attach Proxies launches the Reconnect Full Resolution Media dialog, which is sort of equivalent to the Attach Proxies dialog.

When utilizing this selection, the chosen clip strikes into the proxy state and the clip you choose within the Reconnect Full Resolution Media dialog turns into the brand new Full Res unique clip.

I feel that Reconnect Full Resolution Media is a little bit of a misnomer, because it’s additionally potential, and fairly widespread, to have proxies in the identical decision as the unique information.

If a proxy was already connected to your clip, then it retains the proxy clip and solely the Full Res portion is changed. Reconnect Full Resolution can’t be undone, however you reconnect one other clip.

You are allowed to connect new media, even when a Full Resolution file is already connected.

If one of many unique information goes offline after the challenge file was saved, you get a Link Media dialog if you open the challenge once more. If you need to hold the originals offline, click on Offline All or Cancel. If the unique clip goes offline if you are working in a Project, you’ll get the Link Media dialog.

Once the Project is opened, you possibly can nonetheless use the Link Media or Reconnect Full Resolution Media choices.

Assign a keyboard shortcut to Reconnect Full Resolution Media to hurry up the workflow.

Detach Proxies

You can detach a proxy if you wish to recreate a brand new proxy or when you don’t want proxies any longer. Right-click the clip within the bin and choose Proxy->Detach Proxies. When you detach a proxy, Premiere Pro doesn’t delete the proxy information on disk, to keep away from deleting information or proxies that may very well be referenced in one other challenge. You can determine to maintain the proxy information or delete them manually.

Assign a keyboard shortcut to Detach proxies to hurry up the workflow.

Since RED RAW is compressed utilizing wavelets, it’s already bought 1/2, 1/4, and 1/8 decision built-in, and performs again very easily with decreased decision on most techniques. So if the system has sufficient storage (and it’s quick sufficient), a proxy workflow shouldn’t be vital. No relinking points or different points, no fuss.

Just cut back the Playback Resolution in your Program Monitor and Source Monitor to make use of the built-in decreased decision of the RED RAW information. If you’re enjoying again a number of RED RAW information concurrently—as you’d for a Multicam edit—you could have to create proxies anyway, relying in your storage, GPU and CPU.

After Effects just isn’t depending on real-time playback in the way in which Premiere Pro is, so the proxy workflow can also be a bit completely different—and never as helpful, for my part. To make a proxy, right-click a clip within the Project panel and select Create Proxy->Movie (or a nonetheless picture when you don’t want the motion).

After Effects creates a composition for every supply file that’s chosen, and provides them to the Render Queue. When you hit Render (or ship it to Media Encoder) it creates a film file or a Photoshop nonetheless picture. On Windows the video file goes to be an AVI file by default, however I like to vary it to a ProRes proxy MOV file by clicking the identify of the Output Module. I’ve additionally saved an Output Module named ProRes Proxy.

When the job is completed, your information get a proxy indicator within the Project panel. After Effects additionally places the file into a brand new Composition with the scale from the unique information, so to use proxies with a decreased decision.

Being uncompressed by default, the proxy motion pictures you make in After Effects will in all probability be so much bigger than your originals. As an instance, my 28-second, 201 MB UHD clip resulted in an HD AVI file 4.87 GB in measurement and 8-bit. As a comparability, the proxy file made with Premiere Pro (ProRes Low Resolution Proxy) is 66.5 MB and 1024 x 540px in measurement, and 10-bit.

You can even create proxies for comps in After Effects, which can be extra helpful. Anyway, with the enhancements which were made in After Effects the previous few years; multi-frame rendering, rendering timeline when idle, {hardware} accelerated decoding of some codecs, and so forth., I discover myself utilizing proxies in After Effect so much lower than I used to.

Proxies by Dynamic Link

We now have Dynamic Link help for proxies. This signifies that if you ship a clip that’s bought a proxy connected in Premiere Pro to After Effects by way of Dynamic Link, the proxy tick field is accessible in After Effects. Ticking it can allow the proxy file from Premiere Pro. If you select so as to add a watermark when making the proxy, that watermark will present in After Effects when proxy is enabled for the clip.

Note that it’s essential to disable proxies for the Dynamically Linked clips (and different clips) in After Effects to see the unique by Dynamic Link in Premiere Pro—even if you export. Premiere Pro has no concept what proxy settings After Effects has, and simply reveals no matter comes out of After Effects, full with proxy watermarks and all.

Note that After Effects has separate shade settings for the primary clip and the proxy clip underneath Interpret Footage, discovered within the right-click menu within the Project panel. So when you see a shade change from Log to regular colours when toggling proxy on/off, that is the place you’d repair it.

Proxies and MOGRTs

Just like with Dynamic Link, the proxy footage will likely be collected into the MOGRT export whether it is lively. If you flip the proxy change off, then the unique supply footage will likely be packaged with the .mogrt file.

When you make MOGRTs in Premiere Pro, the unique video file will likely be utilized in MOGRTs, even when proxies are enabled.

I’ve helped many consumers out of issues they’ve gotten themselves into when utilizing proxy workflows in Premiere Pro. Most of the time, if not each time, the issues happen as a result of folks don’t perceive the constraints of proxy workflows on Premiere Pro, or the way it works.

Why do my proxies have black bars?

This is a quite common query. The blunt reply is “Because whoever made the custom proxy preset didn’t know what they were doing.” You should comply with the rules on this article, underneath Making Proxies in Premiere Pro.

The commonest state of affairs for that is when folks have 4k supply information, and make proxies which can be meant for UHD, typically misnamed as 4k UHD. It’s probably not 4k, however shut. UHD is 3840×2160 px, whereas cinema 4k is most frequently 4096×2160. The distinction in width is what creates these black bars.

Create your proxy presets with Stretch to Fill, or use the built-in presets, and the issue is solved.

My proxies don’t align with the originals

This can occur in case your proxy information have a unique body price than your unique supply information. Using the strategies described on this article, this could now not occur—but when your challenge was began in an earlier model (particularly 2022.3 and older) it might nonetheless occur.

I might advocate that you just both create new proxy information, or detach and reattach the proxy information, and do the required Interpret Footage workaround, as defined underneath Interpret Footage is now not a no-go.

There was additionally a bug in model 2023.4 that will trigger all transcribed clips to start out at body 1, dropping the in-point set by the consumer, however this has been fixed in version 2023.5.

I can’t get Toggle Proxies to work

This is most frequently brought on by a corrupted Preferences file. If you encounter any points with Toggle/Enable Proxies not working, and also you do have proxies connected, stop Premiere Pro, and maintain down the Shift, Alt, or Opt keys whereas launching Premiere Pro once more. Choose Reset App Preferences. This ought to repair the issue most often.

I’ve scaling points, and Match Frame seems bizarre

This doesn’t occur typically, however when it does, it may be complicated when you don’t perceive what’s happening. It occurs when the DIT has given the proxy information the very same identify because the originals, as is widespread in some offline modifying workflows the place you’re not utilizing the proxy workflow per se.

It works high quality on the preliminary set-up, however when the challenge is moved to a different folder, drive, or system, the information have to be relinked. When Premiere Pro asks you to level to the place the file is saved now, you hyperlink to the proxy file as an alternative of the unique—and the hyperlink to the unique is gone.

This is why it’s beneficial to at all times add _Proxy suffix to the proxy file identify. Premiere Pro will can help you connect the identical file as each the digicam unique and the proxy. But solely briefly; if you save, shut, and reopen the challenge, it can ask you to relink once more.

So you’ll be caught in a loop the place you’ll should Attach Proxies each time you open the challenge. Plus, if you do a Match Frame to the unique, it could not seem like what you have been seeing within the timeline. You could also be modifying in an HD timeline with 4k footage, and scaling will likely be off, for the reason that flawed file is connected.

Don’t inform Premiere Pro that the proxy information are your digicam originals! In addition to the unusual points with scaling, you’ll ship the flawed information to paint grading if finished exterior of Premiere Pro, and also you’ll should do some file acrobatics to repair the issue.

There is a technique to repair it: Make all the things offline, rename or transfer your proxy folder, relink/connect digicam originals utilizing Reconnect Full Resolution Media. Save, Attach Proxies, and save once more.

If you need an virtually computerized proxy workflow, let Premiere Pro make proxies utilizing the automated technique. If you want customized proxies, comply with the rules within the Making Proxies in Premiere Pro—Manual Method part on this article. Pay consideration when you’re shifting or sharing the challenge.

If taking the route of importing digicam proxies, or proxies made by another person with the intention of reconnecting to the originals later, check that workflow forward of time with a couple of clips to ensure it really works as anticipated. It could not.

Thank you

I need to thank David Heidelberger, Software Quality Engineer on the Premiere Pro group for terribly beneficial enter when writing this text. I’d additionally prefer to thank Luisa Winters for permission to make use of her drone footage.