How can I lower the playback preview resolution

[erikb1411621]

I have recently started experimenting in premiere pro cc 2017 and i have a 1080p video and i cant lower the preview to lees than 1/2

Is there any way to get it lower or not? (I dot mind if it means downloading another program)

Thanks in advance

[Ann Bens]

You can lower resolution of the preview codec in the sequence settings but thats it.

[lisamannmusic]

Could you please be more speciifc?  Thx

[Cole W.]

That is only for rendered video files as far as I know. Changing the video preview resolution doesnt effect the video files unless you render a video out from the sequence. Correct me if im wrong

[Cole W.]

Hmm. That is only for rendered video files as far as I know. Changing the video preview resolution doesnt effect the video files unless you render a video out from the sequence out. When you render a video out they get saved as a "video preview" file in a special folder on your hard drive. If you change the video preview resolution settings in the sequence settings to something like 1280x720 and render a video that is on your timeline that has effects on it, you can go to that video preview folder and find it in there. Then right click and choose proporties or get info. That will show the resolution and it matches the video preview setting you changed it to. But as far as i know, changing that preview resolution does absolutely nothing to your playback. Correct me if im wrong. I literaly thought the same thing for the longest time and couldnt figure out why my macbook with 32gb ram couldnt play through a sequence that I had changed to 720p through the video preview setting. Its because my footage is almost always 4k. So I did research and found out that changing that resolution in the sequnce settings doesnt do what you think it does. The only way to change the actual playback resolution (other than lowering the playback quality to 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, or 1/16) Is by creating proxy's. Never understood proxys and oone day I did research on them and figured out what they are. A proxy is a just a lower file size replica of the original. In video terms, a proxy is a just a copy of the video of your choosing but at a much lower resolution and links to the original so you can have smooth playback because the video file is actually 720p now. In premiere you can choose how low of quality you want and the codec. Never choose h.264. Its super compressed and terrible for playback. ProRes is one of the best in my opinion. But you usually want t export and deliver the project in h.264 to keep the file size small. After learning this I started thinking to myself  "Why is there a video preview setting in the sequence settings then? Why would I bother making a proxy if I can just change it right in the sequence settings?" Because thats not actually changing the resolution. Hope this helped. I'm not an expert so I im wrong about anything I just said please tell me so I learn too😂

[Jim_Simon]

The available options depend on the type of footage used.

Better than reducing Playback Resolution, however, is using proxies.  Choose Cineform.

Work offline using proxy media |

[Cole W.]

Omg I keep replying to the wrong anser smh

[Cole W.]

Never figured that out yet. 4k lets you go down to 1/8. 1080p lets you go to 1/4 and 720 p only lets you go to 1/2. Doesn't really make sense. The best thing you can do is create proxys. Do some research and watch a youtube video on premiere proxys. Changing the video preview resolution in the sequence settings does not change your playback resolution. That is for  video that you render out in the sequence. Notice the colored bar above you footage on the sequence. If its yellow its not renderable (Technically it is but ignore that because its confusing) If its red it means that there are some effects you added that may need rendered out depending on your computer specs. Either press enter/return on your keyboard or go to sequence in the top of your screen and click render. The red bar should be green when done. That video that just rendered was saved as a "video preview" within a folder on your hard drive and the file resolution is based on that video preview settings in the sequence settings. Change it to 1280x720 and any video you render will save itself in the resolution. Change it to 1920x1080p and the video is saved with those specs. It doesnt do anything to footage on your timeline that has a yellow bar. The only way to actually have your footage playback in a lower resolution other than changing it to 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, and 1,16 is to create proxys like I was originally saying.