

This doesn’t require seeing high-quality clips. The rough-cut is where you spend the vast bulk of your time in editing – trying to figure out the best way to tell your story visually. One you ascertain that the master files have the overall quality and specs you’ll need for the final master, you don’t need to access the master files until you have a solid rough-cut complete.

They are not designed for final effects, color grading or output. They are designed for simplifying the rough cut process, especially for higher-resolution media.

Generally, proxies use lower resolution and lower bandwidth to reduce file size. Proxy files are reduced-quality copies of your camera-native media. Personally, I’d rather focus on getting the job done faster with the least stress possible.Īnd, if you edit using Premiere, there’s a very nice way to set up an automated proxy workflow that allows you to switch between proxies and masters at the click of a single button. Many editors feel that editing proxies is a sign of weakness. Proxies allow you to successfully use less-powerful hardware for editing, reduce your storage requirements, and allow you to focus on creating the best possible rough-cut, rather than worrying about whether your computer is powerful enough to edit the dailies. Editing using proxies can relieve your stress.
