Proxy question regarding media encoder and proxy sizes and 4k

[Chris Wright]

if you had highly compressed 4k, then the slightly less compressed proxy might be a little bigger. the main difference is the ability to scrub and play the timeline smoother. Another option, depending on the codec, if you used smart rendering it would greatly decrease rendering time.

https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/using/smart-rendering.html
https://blogs.adobe.com/kevinmonahan/2012/10/11/smart-rendering-in-premiere-pro-cs6-6-0-1-and-later/

[Jake Frader]

Hi Chris,

Thank you for your response!

Just to clarify what you’re saying; the large file size doesn’t inhibit the ability to play the Premiere timeline smoothly (in my case where I have proxy files that are similar in size to the original footage)? Is this correct? Instead smooth playback is a result of transcoding 4k to a different format, ie 1080P?

I don’t see the smart rendering option. Can’t seem to find more info on it. Is it located in Media Encoder, near Codec settings?

Thanks again.

[Ole Kristiansen]

“I don’t see the smart rendering option.”

[Jake Frader]

Thanks for the reply. I must not have this option due to my old processor but good to know.

If anyone could confirm my 4k question above that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again

[Alexandre Brandt]

Hello there,

You should read this page about the Proxy workflow
https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/kb/ingest-proxy-workflow-premiere-pro-cc-2015.html

Because your editing hardware is a bottleneck in your workflow, try to work with light proxies, HD of even SD with a small bitrate. You can try to make HD proxies in Apple ProRes Proxy codec (matching frame rate) for example and see how this works on your system.

Good luck !

—
Producer | Filmmaker
Geneva – Switzerland
https://vimeo.com/channels/800406

[Jake Frader]

Thank you for this, Alexandre. I have made ProRes proxy 1080p files from my original 4k footage. However, I was a bit surprised to see how large my 1080p proxy files are, very similar in file size to my original 4k footage (ie 64 gb proxy vs 67 gbs for 4k)

So my main question essentially is, does the actual file size of my 1080p proxies affect processing speed and ability to play footage in my Premiere timeline, or is timeline efficiency strictly the result of converting 4k files to 1080p?

Thanks

[Ole Kristiansen]

I know this is Davinci Resolve but maybe you can use some of it with respect to proxy editing in Premiere !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2rojooy0D0

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[Alex Udell]

Hi…

if your 1080 files are nearly identical in file size to the 4k files, that should give you an indication of just how heavily compressed the 4k material is to make it that small.

This means that the computer has to work very hard to display the 4k in terms of decompressing the frames for playback.

The 1080 requires much less decompression and is simpler for the computer to display which is why playback would be smoother even though the file size is similar.

So it’s not the data rate of the materials that is causing you a problem. It’s the compression.

Alex Udell
Editing, Motion Graphics, and Visual FX
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[Jake Frader]

Got it. Thanks for your reply, Alex. Very much appreciated!