## TL;DR
- [**Video proxies are copies of your footage prepared for smoother editing.**](#what-is-a-video-proxy) Lower resolution or an easier-to-decode format can improve playback and scrubbing when working with demanding video, including 4K recordings.
- [**Editing with proxies preserves final quality when you export from the originals.**](#will-editing-with-proxies-reduce-export-quality) Keep your source files and check which media your editor uses for export.
- [**Codec matters as much as file size.**](#why-a-different-codec-can-matter-as-much-as-resolution) Formats such as ProRes Proxy encode frames independently, making them suited to editing—even if they aren’t the smallest files.
- [**Keep proxy frame rates consistent with the originals.**](#should-proxies-have-a-lower-frame-rate) For conventional Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro workflows, reduce resolution rather than converting 60 fps footage into 30 fps proxies.
- [**Use proxies when footage slows down your workflow.**](#when-are-proxies-worth-the-preparation) Generating them takes time and additional storage; projects that already run smoothly may gain little.
- [**Proxies don’t solve every performance problem.**](#proxies-playback-resolution-and-render-previews-solve-different-problems) Complex effects may need rendered previews, and smoother editing doesn’t guarantee faster final exports.
You drag the playhead across a recording and wait for the preview to catch up. You overshoot the moment you wanted, move back, and wait again. A simple cut starts taking longer than it should.
Yet the same recording plays smoothly in a video player.
Proxies can help when the source footage is making editing difficult. They give the editor an alternative version to work with while preserving the original for finishing. The useful part is knowing what to change in that working copy—and what needs to stay consistent.
Why playback and editing put different demands on your computer
A player usually moves forward through one video. An editor must also respond when you jump to another moment, move backward, or combine several clips and effects.
Consider a tutorial with a screen recording, webcam overlay, animated title, and a blur over private information. The preview has to combine those elements every time you inspect the sequence.
Resolution and compression both matter. Adobe notes that highly compressed footage and formats with high data rates can be difficult to display smoothly at full playback resolution.[1] File size alone therefore tells you little about how responsive a recording will feel in an editor.
What is a video proxy?
A [proxy](https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere/desktop/organize-media/ingest-proxy-workflow/ingest-and-proxy-workflow.html) is an alternative copy of a source clip, prepared for use during editing. It commonly has lower resolution or uses a format that is easier for the computer to handle.[2]
For example, a 3840 × 2160 recording might have a 1920 × 1080 proxy. Both represent the same content and timing. The editor associates the two files with the same project clip, allowing you to switch between them.
Creating that copy doesn’t modify the original.
Lower resolution is common, but it isn’t essential: Final Cut Pro supports proxy frame sizes up to 100% of the source dimensions.[3] “Proxy” describes the file’s role in the workflow, rather than a particular resolution or extension.
### How the workflow fits together
1. **Import the source footage.**
2. **Generate proxies or attach compatible copies.** Use the editor’s proxy controls so each copy is associated with the correct original.
3. **Edit with proxies enabled.** Arrange clips, choose cuts, and adjust the project.
4. **Finish using high-quality media.** Inspect the source detail and confirm the appropriate export settings.
Premiere supports attaching proxies created outside the application.[4] Importing a low-resolution file as an unrelated clip is a different workflow: the editor has not been told which original it represents.
With correctly linked media, switching versions changes what the editor reads. Your project still contains the cuts, timing, and effect settings.
Why a different codec can matter as much as resolution
A 3840 × 2160 frame contains about 8.3 million pixels. A 1920 × 1080 frame contains about 2.1 million—one quarter as many. Reducing those dimensions can ease the image workload, although it doesn’t make every part of the editor four times faster.
[Video compression](https://helpx.adobe.com/media-encoder/desktop/encoding-quick-start-and-basics/video-audio-encoding-compression.html) introduces another consideration: how the frames are stored.
With [**interframe compression**](https://helpx.adobe.com/media-encoder/desktop/encoding-quick-start-and-basics/video-audio-encoding-compression.html), frames can depend on information from other frames. With [**intraframe compression**](https://helpx.adobe.com/media-encoder/desktop/encoding-quick-start-and-basics/video-audio-encoding-compression.html), each frame is encoded independently. Adobe explains this distinction in its compression documentation.[5]
For timeline navigation, the practical implication is that accessing a moment can involve reconstructing dependent frames. That is a technical explanation of why an efficiently compressed recording may still be demanding to scrub, rather than a promise of a particular speed improvement.
Apple’s [ProRes codecs](https://www.apple.com/final-cut-pro/docs/Apple_ProRes.pdf) are frame-independent, and Apple specifically connects that design with editing performance.[6] Premiere’s documented default proxy preset uses [ProRes QuickTime Proxy](https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere/desktop/organize-media/ingest-proxy-workflow/create-proxies.html) at half frame size.[7]
A proxy encoded in an editing-oriented format can be larger than a highly compressed original. Treat file size, decoding performance, and storage speed as separate considerations.
### Which kind of keyframe are we talking about?
The term has two meanings:
- [**Compression keyframes**](https://helpx.adobe.com/media-encoder/desktop/encoding-quick-start-and-basics/video-audio-encoding-compression.html) are complete coded images used within compressed video.
- [**Animation keyframes**](https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere/desktop/add-video-effects/control-effects-and-transitions-using-keyframes/about-keyframes.html) specify values such as position, scale, or opacity at particular times.
Adobe explicitly distinguishes them.[5] Changing a video’s compression keyframe interval doesn’t add or remove the zoom keyframes in your project.
For a custom compressed proxy, compression settings deserve testing. For an ordinary editing workflow, start with the editor’s supported preset rather than assuming that an arbitrary keyframe interval will improve performance.
Should proxies have a lower frame rate?
**Preserve the source frame rate for the conventional Premiere and Final Cut Pro proxy workflows discussed here.**
Apple’s relinking documentation explicitly requires matching frame rates for relinked original or proxy media.[8] Adobe’s published Premiere proxy reference likewise lists frame rate, duration, fielding, and audio channels among the properties that must match.[9]
Reducing a 60 fps recording to 30 fps is therefore different from reducing its resolution. A smaller frame can still represent the same instant. A lower frame rate provides fewer distinct pictures over the same duration.
In a simple conversion that keeps every other frame, 60 fps has a picture approximately every 16.7 milliseconds; 30 fps has one every 33.3 milliseconds. That makes the working copy a less complete view of quick cursor movements, clicks, and other brief actions.
### What about animation keyframes?
Both Premiere and Final Cut Pro describe animation keyframes as values at particular times, with the editor calculating values between them.[10][11]
That explains how a zoom or fade is represented in the project. It does **not** establish that a proxy with a mismatched frame rate is supported.
The practical recommendation is to keep source timing consistent and reduce dimensions or change the codec first. If you are using an application that explicitly supports proxies with different frame rates, follow its documented rules and check motion against the original.
When are proxies worth the preparation?
Test them when ordinary playback or timeline navigation repeatedly interrupts your work, particularly with high-resolution footage, several simultaneous video streams, or a computer that struggles with the originals. Adobe identifies demanding source footage as a reason to use proxies.[2]
There is also an upfront cost: transcoding takes time, and the extra files occupy storage alongside the originals.[3] For a short edit that already runs comfortably, creating them may save little time.
Before processing an entire project, make one representative proxy and try these checks:
- Play a section at normal speed and compare interruptions.
- Scrub forward and backward through the same passage.
- Switch between proxy and original at a recognizable action.
- Check that the picture and audio still represent the same moment.
If playback improves but the editor still responds slowly to unrelated actions, you have useful evidence that source decoding was only part of the problem.
How to choose proxy settings
Start with a supported preset. Adjust the resolution according to what you need to see, and keep the source timing consistent.
| Setting | Practical starting point |
| --- | --- |
| Resolution | For 4K footage, test 1080p before trying a smaller version |
| Frame rate | Match the source for these conventional proxy workflows |
| Codec | Start with a supported editing preset; compare performance on your hardware |
| Storage location | Use a reliable location you can keep with the project |
These are starting points for a test, rather than settings that guarantee smooth editing.
For a talking-head video, a modest preview may be enough to choose cuts. For a screen recording, you may need to read menu labels, spreadsheet cells, or code. A proxy that makes those details unreadable can slow you down in a different way.
Check the preview at the size you normally work with. When judging the sharpness of a zoomed interface, fine text, noise, or color, inspect the high-quality media at the intended output framing.
Proxies, playback resolution, and render previews solve different problems
Before generating more files, consider which part of the preview is struggling.
| Approach | What it changes | When to test it |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Proxy media | Uses an alternative source file | Navigating or decoding the footage is demanding |
| Lower playback resolution | Reduces the resolution used for the moving preview | You want a quick performance adjustment |
| Rendered previews or render cache | Stores rendered timeline results for reuse | Playback slows in sections with complex effects |
Premiere supports separate [playback and paused resolutions](https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere/desktop/get-started/source-and-program-monitor-adjustments/set-display-quality-for-the-source-and-program-monitors.html), so you can inspect more detail when you stop.[1] It also supports [rendering timeline sections](https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere/desktop/render-and-export/render-sequences-for-playback/render-a-section-of-a-sequence.html) for smoother playback in complex areas.[12]
As a diagnostic step, try lowering playback resolution first. If navigation remains difficult, test proxies. If the slowdown begins when you enable an effect, try rendering that section.
Proxies don’t remove the work of processing every effect or building the final composition. These approaches can also be combined.
Will editing with proxies reduce export quality?
It depends on which media the export uses.
Premiere uses full-resolution media by default, even when proxies are enabled for editing. Its Use Proxies export option lets you deliberately export from proxy files instead.[13]
Final Cut Pro instructs users to switch to optimized/original media before sharing a project.[3]
An export rendered from the original footage isn’t limited by the proxy’s lower resolution. Conversely, selecting 4K output dimensions cannot recover detail if the export is actually rendered from a low-resolution copy.
Smoother editing also doesn’t guarantee a faster full-quality export. When rendering from the originals, the application must process those files and the finished composition again.
### A short check before delivery
Confirm that the required originals are available, check the editor’s media selection for export, and review a short output containing a demanding section. Look at fine details, quick motion, and audio alignment.
Keep the original footage and project until you have checked the delivery. If you need to recover working storage afterward, generated proxies are replaceable: Final Cut Pro documents deleting and regenerating them from the retained originals.[3]
If you move the project to another drive or computer, open it there before you depend on it. A saved project and a folder of proxies do not, by themselves, provide the original source media.
References
1. [Adobe: Set display quality for Source and Program Monitors](https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere/desktop/get-started/source-and-program-monitor-adjustments/set-display-quality-for-the-source-and-program-monitors.html)
2. [Adobe: Ingest and proxy workflow](https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere/desktop/organize-media/ingest-proxy-workflow/ingest-and-proxy-workflow.html)
3. [Apple: Create optimized and proxy files in Final Cut Pro](https://support.apple.com/guide/final-cut-pro/create-optimized-and-proxy-files-verb8e5f6fd/mac)
4. [Adobe: Attach proxies to full-resolution media](https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere/desktop/organize-media/ingest-proxy-workflow/attach-proxies-to-full-resolution-media.html)
5. [Adobe: Video and audio encoding and compression](https://helpx.adobe.com/media-encoder/desktop/encoding-quick-start-and-basics/video-audio-encoding-compression.html)
6. [Apple: ProRes White Paper](https://www.apple.com/final-cut-pro/docs/Apple_ProRes.pdf)
7. [Adobe: Create proxies](https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere/desktop/organize-media/ingest-proxy-workflow/create-proxies.html)
8. [Apple: Relink clips to media files](https://support.apple.com/guide/final-cut-pro/relink-clips-to-media-files-ver26f5c8c9/mac)
9. [Adobe: Published Premiere Pro reference, proxy compatibility, p. 46](https://helpx.adobe.com/pdf/premiere_pro_reference.pdf) — older reference, updated November 4, 2019; the URL may redirect to Adobe’s current help index.
10. [Adobe: About keyframes](https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere/desktop/add-video-effects/control-effects-and-transitions-using-keyframes/about-keyframes.html)
11. [Apple: Intro to video keyframing](https://support.apple.com/guide/final-cut-pro/intro-to-video-keyframing-ver8e3f2325/mac)
12. [Adobe: Render a section of a sequence](https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere/desktop/render-and-export/render-sequences-for-playback/render-a-section-of-a-sequence.html)
13. [Adobe: Export proxies](https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere/desktop/organize-media/ingest-proxy-workflow/export-proxies.html)
---
Creating screen recordings with Pane Studio
For tutorials and product demos, editing performance is one part of the workflow. You also need to capture the right content and direct attention to the steps you’re explaining.
[Pane Studio](/) combines screen recording and editing on Windows. It supports screen, webcam, microphone, and system audio capture, along with automatic zooms, cursor smoothing, backgrounds, trimming, and reframing.
For software walkthroughs and lessons, those tools let you shape the recording after capture: shorten pauses, adjust the framing, and guide viewers toward the relevant action.
[Explore Pane Studio](/download).