How to Create Proxies in Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve

TL;DR: A proxy is a small, easy-to-play copy of your camera footage that you edit with instead of the heavy original. In Premiere Pro, select the clips in the Project panel, right-click, choose Proxy > Create Proxies, pick a frame size and the ProRes QuickTime Proxy preset, then use the Toggle Proxies button while you edit. In DaVinci Resolve, right-click the clips in the Media Pool, choose Generate Proxy Media, and set Playback > Proxy Handling > Prefer Proxies. Switch back to the originals before color and the final export.

You open a 4K timeline on a laptop and every scrub stutters. The footage is fine. The problem is that 4K, 6K, RAW and the long-GOP H.264 or HEVC files from mirrorless cameras, drones and phones take a lot of work to decode, frame by frame. Proxies fix that without new hardware: you edit on light copies, then switch back to the camera originals when it is time to finish.

This guide covers when proxies are worth it, which format and size to pick, the exact steps in Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve, and how to get back to full quality for the export.

Table of Contents

• What a proxy file is, and when you need one
• Pick the proxy format and frame size
• How to create proxies in Premiere Pro
• How to create proxies in DaVinci Resolve
  • Inside Resolve: Generate Proxy Media
  • Outside Resolve: Blackmagic Proxy Generator
• Switch back to originals for the final export
• Keep proxy folders under control
• Proxies are not review copies

What a proxy file is, and when you need one

A proxy is a lower-resolution copy of a clip, encoded in a format that is easy to decode. The editing app links each proxy to its camera original. While you cut, you see and play the proxy. When you finish, the app goes back to the original, so nothing in the final export is lower quality.

Proxies are worth making when:

• The footage is 4K or larger, or RAW (BRAW, R3D, ProRes RAW).
• The files are long-GOP H.264 or HEVC, which most mirrorless cameras, drones and phones record. These are small on disk but heavy to decode, because most frames are stored as changes from other frames.
• You edit on a laptop, cut multicam, or stack several layers of 4K.
• Someone else edits remotely and can't copy terabytes of originals.

You can usually skip them when the footage is already 1080p in an editing format such as ProRes or DNxHR and your machine plays it smoothly.

Pick the proxy format and frame size

The format matters more than the size. A good proxy codec stores every frame on its own (intra-frame), so the app can jump to any frame without decoding the ones around it. That is why ProRes Proxy and DNxHR LB scrub smoothly even though their files are bigger than H.264.

For frame size, divide the original:

• Half resolution: UHD 3840 × 2160 becomes 1920 × 1080. Sharp enough to judge focus and framing.
• Quarter resolution: UHD becomes 960 × 540. Lighter still, and the right pick for long projects, multicam or older laptops.

Whatever you pick, three things must match the original, or relinking breaks later:

• Frame rate. Never conform or retime a proxy.
• Timecode. The proxy has to start at the same SMPTE timecode as the original.
• Audio channels. Same number of channels, or the app can refuse to swap the files.

If you are new to codecs and containers, video file formats explained covers the difference between ProRes, H.264 and HEVC, and how to calculate video bitrate shows why an H.264 proxy is so much smaller.

How to create proxies in Premiere Pro

1. Import the camera originals into the Project panel.
2. Select the clips or bins, right-click and choose Proxy > Create Proxies.
3. Set the options in the Create Proxies dialog:
   • Frame size: Half or Quarter (see above).
   • Preset: ProRes QuickTime Proxy is a safe choice on Mac and Windows.
   • Watermark: optional. A watermark on the proxy frames makes it obvious when you are looking at a proxy and not the original.
   • Location: Next to Original Media, in Proxy folder keeps each proxy beside its source, which makes moving the project and relinking easier.
4. Click OK. Premiere encodes the proxies in the background (older versions send the job to Adobe Media Encoder) and attaches each one to its clip when it is done.

Then turn proxies on and off with the Toggle Proxies button in the Program Monitor. If it isn't there, open the Button Editor (the + under the monitor) and drag it in.

For new footage, you don't have to do this by hand every time. Premiere's Ingest Settings can create proxies automatically as clips are imported, with the same preset and location. On a team, one shared ingest preset keeps the frame size, codec and folder identical for every editor and assistant. Adobe's Create proxies guide covers the options in detail.

How to create proxies in DaVinci Resolve

Resolve gives you two ways to make proxies: inside the app, or with the separate Blackmagic Proxy Generator.

Inside Resolve: Generate Proxy Media

1. Import the footage on the Media page and keep the camera folder structure.
2. Set the proxy format and resolution in Project Settings > Master Settings, under Optimized Media and Render Cache.
3. Select the clips in the Media Pool, right-click and choose Generate Proxy Media.
4. Play the proxies with Playback > Proxy Handling > Prefer Proxies.

The same Playback menu has Use Optimized Media if Available. Optimized media is a different thing: a cache Resolve manages for you inside its cache folder. Proxies are separate files you can see, copy and hand to another editor, which is why shared and remote workflows usually use proxies.

Outside Resolve: Blackmagic Proxy Generator

Blackmagic Proxy Generator is a small app that comes with recent versions of Resolve. You add a watch folder, choose a proxy format, and it makes proxies for every clip that lands in that folder, while you keep working in Resolve or before you even open the project. It saves them in a Proxy folder next to the originals, and Resolve links them when you import the clips.

It is the better option when an assistant or DIT is offloading cards: point it at the card copies and the proxies are ready by the time the editor starts. Test a few clips first and confirm they link before you process a whole shoot day.

Switch back to originals for the final export

Proxies are for cutting. Color, finishing and the final export should use the camera originals.

• Premiere Pro: exports use the originals unless you tick Use Proxies in the export settings. Leave it off for the master. Toggle proxies off before color work so you judge the real image.
• DaVinci Resolve: switch Playback > Proxy Handling to Prefer Camera Originals before grading and the final render, and play a few shots to confirm the originals are online.

If a clip won't go back to its original, the cause is almost always one of the three things above: a different frame rate, a timecode offset or a different number of audio channels. The timecode calculator helps check whether two clips start on the same frame.

Keep proxy folders under control

Making proxies is easy. Cleaning them up is where projects get messy. Teams keep proxies long after delivery because nobody owns the cleanup, and archive drives fill with copies nobody needs.

A simple policy works:

• Keep proxies separate from the source archive.
• Use one naming rule, such as a _proxy suffix, and one folder scheme for everyone.
• Delete proxies after sign-off and the final export check. You can always make them again from the originals.
• Write down where the originals live, so anyone can relink the project later.

If storage itself is the problem, see how to reduce video file size. Compression saves space and transfer time. Proxies make editing faster. They solve different problems.

Proxies are not review copies

A proxy is built to decode fast inside an editing app. It is not what you send a client. ProRes Proxy files are large, they need a player that supports them, and a watermarked quarter-resolution proxy is not how you want a cut to be judged.

For review, export a normal H.264 MP4 of the cut, then share it in a way the client can play straight away. Sending files by email or download links means the client waits for a download and you never know if they watched. The best way to share large video files compares the options.

With vitelnk you upload the review cut (MP4, MOV or WebM, up to 10 GB) and send a link. The video streams in the browser with HLS, so the client doesn't download anything. You can add a password or an expiry date to the link, and the client can leave notes on the cut right under the video, with how far they had watched. When the cut is approved, the same link can deliver the original file under its real name.

If you send cuts to clients for review, vitelnk gives every cut a private link that streams in the browser, shows you who watched and how far, and collects the client's notes under the video.