Proxy workflow

A proxy is a small, cheap-to-decode copy of a heavy clip: same timecode, same length, much lower resolution and a friendlier codec (usually ProRes Proxy, DNxHR LB, or a low-bitrate H.264). You cut with the proxies so scrubbing is instant, then flip one toggle and the editor relinks to the original camera files for the final render. Premiere calls them proxies. Resolve keeps two separate things: Proxy Media, external stand-in files you can generate, hand around, and relink, and Optimized Media, internal cache renders it manages for you. They are not interchangeable, so check which one a Resolve tutorial is actually talking about. Final Cut generates both proxy and optimized media too.

Reach for it the moment playback stutters: 4K or 6K footage, heavily compressed phone or drone H.265, long-GOP mirrorless files, or any project cut on a laptop away from fast storage. Generating proxies costs one slow pass up front and buys back every hour of the edit.

Gotcha: color decisions made on proxies can lie. Low-bitrate proxies crush shadows and shift saturation, so grade with proxies off. The other classic trap is moving or renaming original files after proxies are attached: the export then either fails to relink or quietly renders your low-res stand-ins at full frame size, which looks soft and mushy and nobody notices until delivery.