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d0paminefiend
Participant
October 11, 2020
Answered

Resolution of ProRes Low/Medium/High Resolution Proxies

  • October 11, 2020
  • 13 replies
  • 27829 views

On Premiere Pro 14.4.0, right clicking a video file in the bin and selecting "Make Proxy" now shows "ProRes Low/Medium/High Resolution" but no longer shows the resolution of each as in earlier versions of Premiere. What is the resolution and bitrate of low, medium and high resolution? 

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer sahink

ProRes High: 1536 x 790

ProRes Medium: 1280 x 720

ProRes Low: 1024 x 540

13 replies

R Neil Haugen
Legend
July 18, 2022

M. .....

 

Yea, it would be so nice if the Adobe folks overseeing their document/information services actually provided more data. That is a continual and ongoing complaint that seems to run across nearly if not all their applications.

 

LIke you, I prefer hard data always, and don't see why that isn't included. But then, I've also been 'around' the way Adobe apps function for some time.

 

Some of us that have been using the apps for a while probably get a bit jaded about this at times. Or, answer simply from a practical perspective. As in, "this" is what you can do, now ... and "this" ... like getting more detailed information .... probably just ain't gonna happen in this lifetime.

 

Their Premiere Pro UserVoice is the place to go give feedback to the devs and the M&E people above the program teams that control this stuff. This forum is actually user to user 'help'. 

 

Neil

Everyone's mileage always varies ...
lehestro
Inspiring
October 26, 2022

I, for one, found this thread because I wanted to know what the resolutions are. Even if I'm working with proxies, I still want image fidelity to be at a certain level. I don't want to have to be toggling back and forth all the time. Everyone has different preferences. It's never hurtful to be better informed.

MyerPj
Community Expert
Community Expert
October 27, 2022

The bottom line is, make the proxies in the same aspect ratio as the originals, and you should be good to go.

Participating Frequently
July 18, 2022

It would be great if the proxy options could show more information. Right now it is not clear what High, Medium and Low mean from the interface itself, which is bad for a variety of reasons.

 

I really don't understand why some people respond with: "you don't need to know" or "find out yourself". Firstly, some of us clearly do need to know, otherwise we wouldn't be looking it up. Secondly, I found this thread through a google search, which took me 10 seconds — making various proxies to check it out would take me much longer. Especially when you consider the fact that, as of now, it's not clear whether the Low, Med, High options scale or not; if I input a 4K file, do I get the same Low res resolution as when I input a 1080p or 8K file? Or, if I input a 4K file, do I get the same aspect ratio as with a UHD file? I would have to make quite some proxies before I found out how the proxies actually function. Besides, the software allows you to create your own proxy presets, what use does that have when you don't know what the available options actually are?

MyerPj
Community Expert
Community Expert
November 18, 2021

BTW: Check the size of the main folder and proxy. The Cineform proxies are actually smaller than the 4K - UHD footage.

 

 

 

MyerPj
Community Expert
Community Expert
November 18, 2021

Sorry, I hit the mark as correct by accident.

 

Use 1080p proxies then. Just no h.264. Use the Cineform or ProRes proxies. Experiment as to bitrate / quality. Next project I'm going to try ProRes LT proxies and remove the timecode window, so I can try a smart render, the advantages of that look worthwhile. If not, I'll stick with my 720p Cineform.

jfrfilm
Participant
November 18, 2021

Lots of drama here. But I'll explain why the proxy resolutions matter to me. Because I want to use the highest quality proxy possible for my system in a particular editing situation. When it comes to multicam tracks, and there is a lot of footage to convert, I don't want to waste time creating proxies more than once if I can make an informed decision in the first place. Actually, I'm surprised that High Resolution isn't 1080, especially with so much 4K and upwards footage being used these days. 

R Neil Haugen
Legend
November 18, 2021

So it sounds like you don't toggle between proxies and original while working? Asking just for clarity. As anytime I've ever had a question on quality, tap-tap and I'm looking at original, tap-tap back to proxies for playback.

 

But everyone works differently than anyone else, of course.

 

Neil

Everyone's mileage always varies ...
MyerPj
Community Expert
Community Expert
October 19, 2020

I've been reading Neil's posts for several years, and I've not known him to be sarcastic, neither do I see sarcasm in this thread.

 

With that said, I don't understand why you didn't just test it? It's one of those easy things. Three options and see what you get. Before my first Proxy project and first Multicam project I must have created 50 projects testings from Ingest to final output. And once I knew what was happening, I created my project knowing what I'll get.

 

I agree with you that proxies with bars would be just plain wrong. When I was testing I realized why that was happening and could simply change the resolution to match what I was encoding. I also add a TimeCode window so I can see that I'm using the proxies at any time.

 

 

 

 

R Neil Haugen
Legend
October 19, 2020

Yes, Ann, you are most correct. IF you are wanting to export from the proxies, then the AR is quite important. I'd not thought of that specific thing as I think I've only once in how many years exported from the proxies.

 

But I should have thought of that possibility ... my bad.

 

Neil

Everyone's mileage always varies ...
Participating Frequently
October 19, 2020

Your sarcasm is just lousy as your attitude. Of course it is not about exporting using proxies. It is about seeing what you are doing! If you work with varying bars on your videos or stuff coming in and going out of frame then your proxies are totally misleading you. If you come up with heavy effects, you can never see what you did until you export or render it at full quality. In my workflow, it is important to see what I’m doing! Your bad is actually underestimating others’ needs and asking “why would you need that” questions instead of coming up with useful information. 

R Neil Haugen
Legend
October 19, 2020

Sahink,

 

I've no clue where you're seeing sarcasm. I'm writing as directly as possible, and I don't use sarcasm for online responses as without a personal presence how is anyone to know it? It just causes mis-apprehensions.

 

As I noted when Ann corrected me, especially if one is perhaps going to export from the proxies then of course aspect ratio is crucial. I should have thought of that at the least, and so ... I was off about the question in at least that respect. My apologies for not thinking of that workflow.

 

Perhaps a major place where you and I disagree is on switching between original & proxies. I at times use rather quite a bit of effects, and to check I will cut back to original really quick with a keyboard tap. And thankfully "toggle proxies" is a full app-wide short and not a panel-specific one.

 

I have long since also gone to r&r for the simple expedience of getting the best quality besides editing experience, along with speeding final exports. So I oft r&r 2-3 times in my projects, especially at a break period. I found if applying several heavy effects on a clip ... and processing them all at the same time ... Premiere is far more likely to add artifacts and such.

 

Which is an issue all on its own, really.

 

So if I do apply several things, I'll process an r&r part way through, then continue working. I get less crud that way.

 

Neil

Everyone's mileage always varies ...
R Neil Haugen
Legend
October 19, 2020

When I've got proxies up, I'm not paying any attention to "exactness" ... I'm just doing basic editing, cutting & such. To check something, it's a quick keyboard tap to original, then back to proxies. So what concern are black bars?

 

Many of the editors I know of use watermarks on their proxies to ensure they know when proxy is up or not. For me, the bars are the same thing, and I know plenty of editors who prefer having bars show rather than watermarks.

 

Neil

Everyone's mileage always varies ...
Ann Bens
Community Expert
Community Expert
October 19, 2020

I think he has a point as of version 14.4 one can export using proxies.

R Neil Haugen
Legend
October 18, 2020

Proxies are designed to use simply for easing playback. In general, they are not a replacement media ... just to give you an adequate view and let the app play through complex timelines easier. Therefore, in nearly all circumstances, the important parts of a proxy format/codec are 1) how well it allows Premiere to play complex timelines versus original media and 2) if the visual quality is adequate to give you a decent idea of your basic editing ... cuts/pacing & such.

 

For that, knowing the exact resolution is not necessarily any more useful than low, medium, or high.

 

Neil

Everyone's mileage always varies ...
Participating Frequently
October 19, 2020

I guess you will still insist on not understanding the importance of the proxy resolution. If you had noticed that only ProRes Medium is 16x9 and other two are not 16x9, you wouldn’t back what you just wrote here. Please use proxies other than Medium and struggle with those black bars while editing your footage until you step back.

 

Summary: Only ProRes Medium is usable in terms of accurate interpolation and keeping the same aspect ratio of the original footage. 

Ann Bens
Community Expert
Community Expert
October 19, 2020

Please embed your screenshot.

sahinkCorrect answer
Participating Frequently
October 18, 2020

ProRes High: 1536 x 790

ProRes Medium: 1280 x 720

ProRes Low: 1024 x 540