RED proxies on Final Cut Pro 7

Apple Final Cut Pro Legacy

RED proxies on Final Cut Pro 7

Posted by Manuel Bauer on August 31, 2009 at 5:17 pm

Hi all
I’m working on a project shot in RED One, and editing with the new version of FCP, 7.0.0. I heard that with this new version one could use the QT proxies from RED One camera without having to render them once imported to FCP. In older versions of FCP with the Unlimited RT enable
I used to get an orange render line over my clips in the timeline. The same happens with this new version, when I thought I wouldn´t need to render them at all. What I´m doing wrong? Should I forget about the proxies and transcode the raw material into ProRes?

Thanks

Manuel Bauer
Spain

Tanvi Mehta replied 14 years, 1 month ago 4 Members · 5 Replies
5 Replies

Russell Lasson
August 31, 2009 at 5:54 pm

[Manuel Bauer] “I heard that with this new version one could use the QT proxies from RED One camera without having to render them once imported to FCP.”

New version will still need to render or change the playback settings to Unlimited RT. Where did you hear that it would playback without needing to render?

-Russ

Russell Lasson
Colorist/Digital Cinema Specialist
Color Mill
Salt Lake City, UT
http://www.colormill.net
Manuel Bauer
August 31, 2009 at 6:12 pm

Hi Russ
Thanks for answer so soon. A fellow editor told me that. Have you ever work with proxies? This is a long project, a feature for TV, I heard that working with proxies is ok if you work in a short project, but it´s not my case, I will have a lot of material. I worked with RED before, and transcode all the material to ProRes. So I´m just afraid that QT proxies won´t be reliable, should I keep transcoding? What do you recommend?

Thanks again
Manuel
Lance Moody
August 31, 2009 at 8:14 pm

Actually using proxies is not the recommended (by Red) method.

There is a new white paper at the Red site.

I am a big fan of converting the material one of the ProRes formats.
This can be slightly time consuming (as it converts) but once converted the material plays back much more robustly, quickly and reliably. And it is higher quality than the proxies.

FCP7 does this conversion automatically for you using the Log & Transfer window.

Lance
Russell Lasson
August 31, 2009 at 9:07 pm

I’ve never been a fan of editing with the proxy files, even though some people really like it. I would much rather convert everything to a low res file for offline. You can have tiny files sizes that process quite quickly if you use ProRes Proxy at SD resolutions by using ClipFinder or REDRushes to process them with a quarter debayer.

How you edit the project will also depend on how you’re finishing the project.

-Russ

Russell Lasson
Colorist/Digital Cinema Specialist
Color Mill
Salt Lake City, UT
http://www.colormill.net
Tanvi Mehta
March 23, 2012 at 4:31 am

Hi Russ,

I have a similar query. I’ve got about 20 minutes of footage shot on Red. The project will be cut on FCP 7 and then taken to the lab for a colour grade. The filmmakers were advised to edit with proxies. Does it make sense to use proxies, or should I transcode to ProRes? Also, Red seems to provide a plugin for FCP that converts the R3Ds to QTs to allow you to edit in FCP. What would be the best workflow to enable a quick transfer back to the lab to relink with the original files?

Thanks for your help,
Tanvi

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