FCPX - Proxy files almost as big as original media?

[Borjan]

Hi there.

So I have a FCPX event, I go into the folder. And I see this. Original media ~ 22GB and the Proxy media as ~ 15GB. Looking at individual files confirms this as well. What gives? I thought the Proxy files were supposed to be significantly smaller...

Cheers for any help.

 

[HumpYourWayUp]

😱 I think you misunderstood the concept of the ProRes Codec.

Your Original Media like m2ts-files are (usually) always the smallest files because they are compressed the highest.

Now: Because the original Media like for example mp4 are compressed so high they are hard to edit because they need a lot of processing power from your computer.
For example scrubbing over a 1080p50 m2ts clip is quite choppy even on maxed out computers.
This is where the ProRes Codec comes into play.
The ProRes Codec does not compress the video very high so the computer doesn't need so much processing power to decode these files. So scrubbing over clips works like a charm for ProRes Media. However those ProRes files are quite bigger than the original media but are better useable for editing in FCPX.

There are two ProRes variations:
Proxy or Optimized

Optimized Media is are very big files.
Proxy Media files are not as big as optimized files but still bigger than the Original Media files.
Optimized Media is looking almost as good as the original files.
Proxy Media looks not so good.

When rendering your final video the original media is use by FCPX for maximum quality 😎

Remember: Proxy and Optimized are not used to get smaller file sizes. Their purpose is to offer comfortable editing.

 

[martinX]

I thought the Proxy files were supposed to be significantly smaller...

...than full ProRes quality files. They are 🙂

While you can edit compressed media like MP4s etc, it's not that great for many reasons. The best outcomes come from converting your capture codec into an editing codec, editing, then compressing into a distribution codec.

This (perceived) problem has only arisen because consumer camera manufacturers are able to squeeze pretty good looking images into tiny file sizes. They look good, but they are not intended for editing. Professional cameras have file sizes along the lines of ProRes or higher. At that level of operation, no-one complains that "ProRes is too big", let alone ProRes Proxy.

 

[Borjan]

Thanks for the help guys, and clearing up some confusion! Now that I think about this, I think I knew it all along!