Using Camera Generated Proxies in FCP 

I love the tip at the end about creating a proxy only library for on the go! so good.

I have to stop and say THANK YOU for this!! I'm a relative newbie in this space, even though i've been working with Final Cut Pro for years lol I have been searching for a way to understand this for sooooo long. Not only did this educate me on proxy file management it also gave me a great tip on my FCP workflow as well. Thank you !!!

you just made my life so much easier, thank you so much

Oh my gosh. If only this had come out a month ago this would have saved me soooo much headache. Will definitely be using this from now on!! Thank you Mark as always!

OH YES! THANK YOU. The second workflow (real proxies) is def. the best.. But yeah, I really had no idea how to use the in-camera generated proxies from my FX3.. now I can use the full power of this feature.

Ripple Training once again having the easiest and most helpful FCPX tutorials on RU-vid. Have been learning for years and have no plans to stop. Thank you, Mark!

Thanks! I regret not having found this before. Now I can even work on UHD 50p 10 Bit on my ten year old MBP. On FCPX 10.5.4 I dont even have to delete the metadata files. I found an even faster workflow: Just copy the proxies to your local hard drive and rename them as you said (delete S03). In FCPX first link to media from the SD-Card, then link to proxies on local drive and work with proxies while media is copying. When copying is done, just relink the original files to the copied media (and generate optimized media in the background..)

This is the best and most clear video I have seen regarding a7s3 proxy work flow! Thank you so much! Very helpful!

You all are so awesome! thanks again for an informative video!

You are God-sent! thank you so much this is such a relief .

WOW! This was so wonderfully explained and detailed. I had no idea how to use the in camera proxies on my new FX6 camera. This saved me having to upgrade my computer! Thanks so much

Just got the A1. This was very helpful. Thank you!

I almost never work with proxies because performance isn't usually an issue on my 2017 iMac, even with 4K 10bit media. Still, I really appreciate this explanation of various proxy workflows, and I can imagine some scenarios where I'd find it handy. FWIW, I almost didn't watch this one because I don't have a camera that can generate proxies... but I'm glad I did watch it!

This was so well explained!

Been editing with FCPX for 5 years and i always wondered what these proxies are for. Thank you! But i prefer going with the Option 1 as it saves time and space for me. Also my Macbook aint too strong so this is very good. Less stress for my macbook when editing small size proxies.

Pure gold! Thanks a lot, you save me a lot of work Mark

This is genius, can’t wait to try in my next shoot!

Amazing, thank you so much for sharing. And the last step, the travel library with only proxy media is fantastic as well. Many many thanks for always making wonderful content.

Thank you! This was incredibly helpful before I dove into a rather daunting project!

I'm a slow learner so imma have to rewatch this over and over. I have a 2015 MacBook air and my next camera might be an a7siii or ev e1.

You covered it all, awesome video, thanks a lot

Great video Mark! I use the relink all the time to swap between base-graded files from Resolve to actually graded clips down the road, but didn't realize you could do the same with proxies! This is huge, especially considering the 10 bit A7siii files aren't as buttery as other formats. I'm going to try this out with the camera generated proxies now. Love this tip!

VERY useful. THANK YOU!

great video. well explained & being put to use! thanks !

Finally!!! Thank you for this 🙌

Thank you for this explanatory video it's really very useful!

Another good one!

Thanks for the truly excellent tutorial

amazing!! very helpful ♥️

Fantastic, thanks for this!

Great, that really helped. I have a workflow that needed this, thank you!

I have been looking how to do this on final cut omg thank you so much

Thanks. Subbed for the great info and details

thanks Mark..

Simplest tutorial! Thanks a lot, will try this very soon

extremely helpful!

Mark the GOAT

Great video tutorial. Helped me a lot. 👍😉😊

Great video. Thank you.

Thank you for this video!

WOW. THANKS FOR THIS TIP, YUR SAVE MY DAY!

Thanks. Very useful.

Man this awesome.!

Very... helpful. Thank you so much.

reaaaally nice tip!

This is what im looking for🔥

Mark, you can set the option in the camera to put just a counter and not a timecode. That should make the clips match. But, yes, there are some cons too.

BIG THANKS TO YOU!!

Thanks!

Thanks a lot =)

Just to be exact I had been wondering for a while now, why you haven’t give a chance to one those Sony Cámaras, they are fantastic ‘cause I know you always been using your Panasonic! And you look way better with that cámara in your hands lol.

Intresting

there is also a open source app called mediainfo to inspect the media type. been using it for year. love it.

life saver!!!!!!

The challenge I've had in the past is that batch relinking, in either scenario faux or real proxy workflow, doesn't work in either case for Canon cameras, because the filename extensions are different. In this Sony example it works because the originals and proxies are both .mp4 filename extensions. With Canon, you either record raw .CRM or XF-AVC .MXF files, then have options for proxies to record MXF or .mp4. Only MXF will truly work because it retains all audio channels (usually 4 channels), where mp4 proxies convert audio to stereo. So the audio structures won't match and validate relinking in FCP. If you use MXF, it works, but you have to individually select each file in the relink panel. It won't auto-recognize the folder. For a day of documentary shooting with 100+ clips per day, it's mostly a no-go.

What cameras other than Sony can do this process of generating proxies? This would work so well on my older laptop! Thanks for the video and keep up the GREAT FCP Education!!

Thanks for this video, Mark! I'm assuming this workflow also applies to multi-cam clips? So that after I've imported my proxies, created my multi-cam clips (3 - 4K Canons), assembled my edit using these proxies, the multi-cam will also be re-populated by the full-res files?

Since you asked... my workflow is that I never ever work with proxies. Never have and never plan to. I've never needed them. In the rare case I get something that's been encoded on a Windows PC that doesn't play buttery smooth, I'll just generate optimized media, but that's pretty rare. I think proxies are for people who work on lesser devices like laptops. I do all my work on a desktop. If I'm away from my desk I want to be doing something else other than editing. Hey... you asked! :)

This is so awesome! But maybe you or somebody else knows how to preserve original timecode while implementing this faux proxy technique? Maybe fiddling with XML files copied to the Faux Proxy folder before import..

Is there any sony camera that records four channel audio in proxies as well? Otherwise you cannot use this workflow for four channel files.

My camera’s RAW file extension is different than that of its in-camera proxy. In your example, both end in .MP4, so it work well. But how can I link if the extensions are different?

Hey there, just wondering: If I use the faux proxy workflow do I need to also have an event with the original files in the library or can I only have the proxy and relink to the original files stored on my drive? I'm trying to save space on my drive (and in the FCP project) which is why I'm asking. For some reason the real proxy workflow will not work on my FCP (I've contacted support and it looks like its something that the engineers need to get involved with) so I cant do it that way. Thanks!

I just bought DJI Pocket 3 which generates proxies as LRFs. It is easy to change the extension but the FCPX doesn't link proxies with originals because the frame rate is different (I shoot originals in 60 fps, proxies are 30 fps). Any solutions?

Just tried this tuts, this came out "20 name matches were found, but 19 files are not compatible. Relinked files must have the same media type and similar audio channels as the original files, and must be long enough to cover all the clips that reference the files. Select a single item at a time to get information about why it is not compatible." Can anyone help me with this? :( I followed this tuts exact same way.

What are the downsides of recording the proxies in camera? Have you found any extra battery or camera performance drain? Is it just taking up that extra data and that's the only downside?

Really hope someone can help me...I am halfway through a long edit using both a mix of the Sony a7siii in camera-generated proxies and the original media. Is there a way I can simply relink the proxies in the timeline already to the original? I have all the proxies and original files in separate folders, thanks!

I tried Scenario two and I wasn't able to get it to work. Shot on EOS R5 and created 4K video files. I then in the compressor created ProRes Proxy files to import at a later date (Server is off site). I followed your instructions and when I select the files it won't allow me to import them. All video files are named exactly. Is it because the originals are .mp4 an the proxies are .mov? My goal was to avoid generating proxies in FCP to allow me to prepare media before reaching my work location.

What lens are you using with that A7?

But it still doesn't explain the workflow if i were to further bring this into a flame machine, a resolve machine. The XML would be a wreck as all the time codes starts at 0.00 =/ Went through a real headache trying to fix that in my previous project.

It's so god damn complicated, that it's better to disable in camera proxy creation and let FCPX do the proxy. Apple always think they can do better themselves

Your proxy-only library is only going to contain the clips already in the project, not the whole library. Would have been better easier to copy the whole library.

Thanks!